Dead Souls: From the iconic #1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

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One reason Rough is back in town is because there is a big paedophile trial going on, and he might testify. Cary Oakes, just released from prison in the United States and deported back to the UK, is just the thing. Finally, Rebus also gets drawn into a missing persons case: the nineteen year-old son of Janice and Brian, an old flame and a friend from the old neighbourhood, has simply disappeared. The book has a real sense of place and I can feel myself walking the streets of Edinburgh with Rebus. Despite the novels being set in totally different countries, for me it is quite easy to view John Rebus in much the same light as Michael Connelly's "Harry Bosch".

Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh.Rebus sort of lives with Patience, but that doesn't seem to be going too well, as he seems to spend more days sleeping elsewhere. If you stop and think about how many criminal seem to "get away" with their crimes (as defined by not being charged/tried), it's not that satisfying. Rebus finds himself on a treacherous precipice both professionally and personally, dealing not only with the death of a long-time friend and colleague, Jack Morton, but also disturbing cases both past and present. Rebus, while following Rough, observes him taking pictures of the animals or is the children at a zoo. The other case – the focal point of the novel – involves Cary Oakes, a serial killer born in Scotland, imprisoned in the States, and released to his native country on a technicality.

Fortunately, Rankin doesn't get over-explicit like this too often, generally conveying Rebus' tormented inner self more subtly (and effectively). Rankin being Rankin, there are a panoply of other features with which Rebus has to contend: a third case involving the missing adult son of two of Rebus' childhood friends; a fling with an old high school flame; thinly-veiled criticism of the 1% (fifteen years before it was popular); the fallout from his daughter's near-death experience in the previous book; the responsibility of the media not to turn killers into celebrities; and so on. Each time I picked the book up I'd need to review what I'd already read to remind myself who was who, whether the character presently in the spotlight had previous mentioning; or I'd be bogged down attempting to decipher the "abbrevs" (to coin one myself! When he sees a known pedophile taking photos, he gives chase and, while he is going after the pedophile, the poisoner almost is able to do the deed yet again.And coincidence would have it that one of the criminals that really got to both Rebus and Margulies, the paedophile Darren Rough, is back in town. The tale is a loose patchwork of four stories that thread together as Rebus chases the individual strands down. There is in fact some sense of marking time in Dead Souls, a hint that Rankin, like Burke, may be outgrowing his chosen form.

There's very little light in this novel, there's introspection, there's despair, there's hatred, fear, prejudice, and opportunists taking advantage of all of that.

Realising this, Stevens joins forces with Rebus in trying to find out what Oakes’ real object is in Edinburgh. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons. Well, it's not a series with a sunny outlook, by any means, and Inspector Rebus is not an altogether sympathetic central character. No longer do I expect the tale to unravel in a planned way and that only adds to the enjoyment of Rankin's books.