Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Saints of the Shadow Bible: An Inspector Rebus Mystery" by Ian Rankin

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Review of "Saints of the Shadow Bible: An Inspector Rebus Mystery" by Ian Rankin

In this 19th book in the 'Inspector Rebus' series, Rebus investigates a suspicious car accident and comes under investigation for 'police misconduct' that occurred three decades ago. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.

*****

John Rebus, previously retired, is back working for the CID in Scotland. Having accepted a demotion Rebus is now supervised by his previous mentee Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke.

They're investigating a car accident in which Jessica Traynor, the daughter of influential businessman Owen Traynor, was injured.

Jessica claims she was the sole occupant of the crashed car but Rebus and Siobhan suspect someone else may have been driving - perhaps her boyfriend Forbes McCuskey, son of the Justice Minister.

Meanwhile, Rebus and his former colleagues are being investigated by Inspector Malcolm Fox, who probes charges of police misconduct.

Fox is looking into a 30-year-old murder case that occurred during Rebus's first posting at Summerhall. The murderer, Billy Saunders, escaped prosecution because the shady police badly mishandled the case. 🙁

Rebus was a junior officer at the time and had little involvement with the Saunders fiasco. Now, however, his former colleagues are pressuring him to deflect the investigation. But Rebus - inherently honest - feels compelled to find out what REALLY happened 30 years ago.

Before long the Justice Minister is badly injured during a robbery, Billy Saunders disappears, illegal drugs get involved, a mummified dead body appears, and the game is on.

As usual Rebus resists following orders and goes his own way, pissing off the brass and getting into trouble.

This is a good mystery book with familiar well-liked characters. 👍💕

Rating: 4 stars

2 comments:

A Voracious ReaderSeptember 30, 2018 at 9:42 PM
This sounds like a series I'd like. I won't jump into it in book 19, but I'm going to mark book 1 to check out. :)
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Barb's Book Reviews

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Review of "Saints of the Shadow Bible: An Inspector Rebus Mystery" by Ian Rankin

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