his was a pleasure. I'd forgotten how sharp the dialog and the literary references were in Rankin's work, or maybe I hadn't noticed before. In addition, it's a compelling mystery with surprising connections and lots of red herrings to turn around. A popular MP is set up in a brothel raid, and the burgeoning consequences involve his wild wife, his closest and oldest friends, among them a popular actor, a rare book merchant, a real estate developer, and others.I'm glad to return to the series; maybe it's cured my book funk. ( )

A well-liked MP is caught in a raid at an exclusive brothel, and the press is more than happy to play the scandal up as much as possible; when his party-loving wife appears to go missing, the scandal becomes juicer yet. DI John Rebus is initially interested in the story because DS Holmes lives in the MP’s riding and because the MP has a similar background to his own, but then the scandal turns to murder and Rebus finds the lives of the MP and his circle of friends are rather more unsavoury than he wanted to know….I’m slowly going through the Rebus novels, of which this is the fourth (published in 1992); it goes without saying by this late date that Rebus is one of the most complex and interesting characters in all of detective fiction. The city of Edinburgh is in itself a character, with both highly polished and terribly sordid sides, and Rebus’s ability to navigate between the two is something to behold. Highly recommended! ( )

I'm slowly making my way through all the Rebus books and this was the best yet. Rankin turns into the sort of writer that makes you despair of your own authorial hopes in this story. Told almost exclusively from Rebus' point of view, the whole thing drips with his character and it really feels like being inside the man's head. Rankin's written a lot more since this, of course, and I'm left wondering how much better he can get. ( )

Another blinder from Rankin. The mystery is good, but Rebus as a character is even better. ( )

These stories are a bit pedantic, yet I really like Detective Rebus! Not much else to say. ( )