A new Ian Rankin novel about John Rebus, retired DI, set in prison. I haven't read much Rebus over the past few years for various reasons, so some of the continuity of the last few novels - and especially why Rebus was in prison - passed me by.
This is a typical Rebus novel, and I don't mean that disparagingly. It's of high quality, but the formula is familiar, with several seemingly different strands becoming one. Several characters from previous novels continue to appear; I suppose that one day I'll have to make myself a Rebus database and track all the characters.
One person's characterisation has changed somewhat: DI Malcolm Fox, originally from The Complaints. Here he seems to be enthusiastic but incompetent.
I don't what to give away very much but I do have to comment on what is basically the primary clue. At the beginning, someone plays a piece of music -
He had switched on some music, which they listened to in silence for the first five or so minutes.
‘So who is this?’ Esson eventually enquired.
‘Pentangle.’
‘Is it recent?’
He took his eyes off the road briefly. ‘Late sixties. Seriously, you’ve never heard of them?’ She shook her head. ‘How about the Fairports then – Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson?’
‘Sorry.’
‘Incredible String Band? They were from Edinburgh.’
Later on we read a fair amount about 'The Great Valerio', from the classic "I want to see the bright lights tonight" album and receive an explanation of the lyrics. Ian Rankin used to weave the titles of Rolling Stones' songs in his books (there are books entitled "Beggars banquet", "Blacl and blue" and "Let it bleed" as well as other references) but now he seems to be channeling the late Peter Robinson and including Richard Thompson songs.
Internal links
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| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 211 | Wizz Jones: The legendary me - and musings on music samplers | Nice enough to eat, Fairport Convention, 1971, Dave Evans, The village thing, Wizz Jones | |
| 297 | Copper socks | Health, Copper | |
| 768 | User resistance | ERP, DBA | |
| 895 | Living in the past | 1970 |
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