In this 21st book in the 'Inspector Rebus' series, the detective is retired, but still manages to investigate cases. The book can be read as a standalone, but knowledge of the characters is advantageous.
*****
Retired Scottish detective John Rebus is in his sixties, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a bit overweight.
Rebus's girlfriend, police pathologist Deborah Quant, is encouraging the detective to give up cigarettes and cut down on beer, and Rebus is trying.....for health reasons.
Rebus and Quant are dining at Edinburgh's iconic Caledonian Hotel one evening when the detective recalls an unsolved crime that occurred in the hotel 40 years ago, in 1978.
A socialite named Maria Turquand was strangled in her room, and - despite numerous possible suspects - no one was arrested for the crime. Persons of interest included Maria's banker husband; Maria's playboy lover; and members of a rock band staying in the hotel, several of whom had slept with Maria.
Rebus decides to re-investigate the Turquand murder, and wheedles the case files out of his long-time associate, DI Siobhan Clarke.
From the files, Rebus learns that detective Robert Chatham, who's now retired, looked into the Turquand cold case a few years ago.
Rebus contacts Chatham, and the two pensioners discuss the killing over breakfast in a café. Soon afterwards, Chatham's dead body is pulled from the River Forth.
With a fellow officer drowned in suspicious circumstances, Edinburgh's police squad is all over Chatham's death.
At the same time, the police squad is working on a couple of other cases. A rising young criminal named Darryl Christie, who owns nightclubs and betting shops, has been badly beaten; and a wealthy bank heir called Anthony Brough, who allegedly launders dirty money through Christie's enterprises, has gone missing.
The money laundering activities attract the attention of investigators at the Serious Crime Campus at Gartcosh, where DI Malcolm Fox - a former associate of Rebus and Clarke - now works.
Fox is quickly sent to 'help' the Edinburgh police, with instructions to report back everything he hears.
People who come to the attention of the police include Craw Shand - a crook who likes to confess to crimes he didn't commit; Big Ger Cafferty - a criminal kingpin, who's being squeezed out by younger bosses; Aleksander Glushenko - a Ukrainian mobster; gang members who do Christie's dirty work; and more.
Fox and Clarke work on the cases in their official capacity, and Rebus - who can't mind his own business - sticks his oar in as well. There are numerous complications before the investigations come together is an overly complex - but satisfying - fashion.
Rating: 3 stars
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