Edinburgh ex-CID inspector John Rebus is now retired -- or is he? A few years older and working cold cases, he's just a tad less ornery, a bit more communicative and self-aware.
Feeling his age, Rebus continues to enjoy his music; he mishears the lyrics to a song and that gives rise to the title, Standing in Another Man's Grave, which proves strangely appropriate.
In Ian Rankin's other Rebus novels, beneath the dark crime stories, an undertow of humour bubbles up now and again, and this book is no exception. One priceless moment comes when Rebus glances in a shop window and shakes his head on seeing a pair of men's strawberry-coloured corduroys.
Readers of Rankin's fellow Edinburgh writer Alexander McCall Smith will recognize this reference to little Bertie of the 44 Scotland Street series, whose mad mother Irene makes him wear cords of just that colour, even though the other kids laugh.
In this book, Malcolm Fox (The Complaints, 2009) appears to be the nemesis of Rebus, who considers reapplying to CID when he realizes that a MisPer on the A9 is related to his cold case files. Annette McKie is just the latest in a series of young women who have disappeared on the same road over the past few years.
While Rebus extracts information by having a pint with a known gangster, Fox gets busy with the paperwork. When the cold case unit is closed, Fox warns warns Rebus off applying again, as he searches the files for something to pin on him.
Malcolm Fox thinks Rebus is too old-school, too much of a rule-bender, no longer relevant. The natural antipathy between the two policemen is exacerbated by the fact that Fox is a dry alcoholic, while Rebus is an inveterate boozer who sees no need to leave whiskey behind.
In this story, John Rebus works once more with DI Siobhan Clarke, his former partner, with whom he has developed respect and rapport. The case involves reporting to another policewoman called Dempsey, whose office controls the case because of the location of the last sighting of the most recent missing woman.
As a character, John Rebus is mellowing as he ages; he doesn't get Dempsey's back up as much as those of us who know him from other books might have expected. As for his problems with his daughter, and with anyone in authority -- well, as I said, at least he's more self-aware.
We'll probably be hearing more from John Rebus. And that is all to the good, as, along with his fellow characters and his relationships with them, good and bad, he continues to develop in interesting ways. As Siobhan gets a bit more experienced, and in all likelihood, rises in the ranks, I'd love to know a bit more about her too.
At a reading in Vancouver a couple of years ago, Rankin as good as promised there'd be one. Unless my fondness for the two of them is deluding me, the end of this book suggests that John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke, played in the Rebus films by Claire Price, may end up working some more cases together.
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