Solid. Interesting character development. I'm coming in at book 18 and don't feel lost in the story, but am interested in the backstory. Doesn't fall into any of the trappings that annoy me in candy. ( )

The most disappointing thing to me about Standing in Another Man's Grave is that it exists at all. With Exit Music, Ian Rankin made it clear that he felt Rebus' story arc had come to an end and that he had ended the story in the way that felt appropriate to him as the author. Now, a few years later, Rebus is back. One can't help but feel that this is an example of commercial motives over-riding an author's considered artistic judgment.

Now that I have that whinge out of the way the point is, how does this stack up as a Rebus novel? Well Rebus himself as the same as ever, pugnacious, flawed and committed to getting the job done any way he can. He still leaves a trail of destruction in his wake. Rankin has worked Malcolm Fox from his Complaints series into this book, and it looks like that will continue.

A feature of Rankin's work has always been his sense of place; Edinburgh is a powerful presence in nearly all of his work. Now that Rebus is investigating a series of disappearances whose common thread seems to be the A9 highway, Rankin extends this presence to parts North as well. His descriptions of the bleak weather in Inverness and Aberdeen, of the grim loneliness of truck stops along the deserted highway, even the vagaries of the traffic along different parts of the road; all of this brings you right into the novel and makes you feel as if you are looking over Rebus's shoulder as he nurses his ancient Saab around one more bend in his lonely road towards solving the crime.

This is a pretty good effort from Rankin, which means it's a heck of a lot better than a lot of the detective fiction on the shelves these days. I will certainly be reaching for Saints of the Shadow Bible very soon, despite my earlier misgivings. ( )

At some serious misses, Rebus is back in form. Well done. ( )

There's a certain comfort I get from reading a Rebus novel. For now, I can't say that about Rankin generally, because I've only read the Rebus series, and now I'm through the lot completely (again). Good stuff.

Rankin's 18-volume psychological study really taught me the difference between a procedural and a mystery. Until the point I'd read [b:The Names of the Dead|376629|The Names of the Dead|Stewart O'Nan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1174289222s/376629.jpg|1070092] (bought it cheap at B&N, then started from the beginning), I'd only read mysteries and books with "twists" when I was in the mood for that kind of thing. Now, detective fiction is perhaps my favorite genre, and I've created and taught a class on it. I wasn't wild about NotD, but the character of Rebus stuck with me. I was curious how he got where he was in that (at the time) penultimate volume, so I found out.

There generally aren't that many twists in a Rebus novel, thus my awakening to the procedural as a sub-genre of detective fiction. In these books, it's more about how the crime is solved than about the surprising solution itself. It's about Rebus, ultimately, as are all the great detective series. After awhile, nothing's surprising, but create a compelling character, and at least this reader will come back.

In [b:Standing in Another Man's Grave|14781507|Standing in Another Man's Grave (Inspector Rebus, #18)|Ian Rankin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358953071s/14781507.jpg|20434573], Rebus is retired and working as a civilian attachment to the Lothian and Borders cold case division. I've seen this done before, with Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch-- another favorite, but not as good, series--and it makes sense. Rebus isn't the type to go quietly into that good night, and really, what is he going to do?

One frustration I had with Bosch in retirement (he's sense come out retirement, somewhat unbelievably considering that he must be quite a bit older than Rebus) was that he had to operate without the accoutrements that aid your typical cop. It was a nice wrinkle that made things interesting within the American tradition. Here, Rebus is essentially armed as he was when he was on the force, as Scottish detectives only carry guns when there's an express need (I could be wrong here, but Rebus and Co. only ever pulled a warrant card when arresting someone-- rarely any guns). So aside from no parking and no authority, there's really no difference in the day-to-day of Rebus' job. One thing that is new is exactly the same is Rebus' wondering about his place. Not his sense of place, that is quite clearly Edinburgh. Rather, he isn't dating anyone, is distant from his only daughter, and quickly recognizing that his only friends were colleagues such as Siobhan Clarke, a favorite supporting character who has finally been promoted to detective inspector, and isn't it about time?

Other than that, this is a very good addition to what I've come to expect from Rankin and his exploration of the Rebus character. Not the piercing insight of a Denise Mina, just the slow, steady, stubborn refusal of an old cop who doesn't, thankfully, know when to stop. ( )

Enjoyed it. Rebus is a lot cleverer than me so I missed the key points but still enjoyed it. Tailed off a bit towards the end as it needed a lot of wrapping up. ( )