Fleshmarket Close - Softcover

Rankin, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 075286467X ISBN 13: 9780752864679

Publisher: ORION, 2005

Synopsis

Fleshmarket Close is not one of the best of Rankin's John Rebus thrillers, but his second-best is still more than excellent. Middle age is catching up with Rebus--he currently has no desk as a none-too-subtle hint from his superiors that he should seek retirement--but he and his friend and protegee Siobhan, who is still not his lover, race around investigating a variety of seemingly unconnected cases… The sister of a dead rape victim is missing; stolen medical skeletons turn up embedded in a concrete floor; a Kurdish journalist is brutally killed; the son of a Glasgow ganglord has moved in to the Edinburgh vice scene. Much of the book is dominated by two new settings--a sink estate divided between racist thugs and refugees, and a small town whose economy is dominated by an internment camp for those about to be deported; this is one of Rankin's preachier thrillers, but it is never less than intelligent and evocative in its descriptions of a contemporary squalor that spreads beyond the inner city. These are never quite orthodox police procedurals--Rebus' method is a little too like the standard private eye's way of wandering around being rude to people until something comes loose--but they have a deep seriousness about the way we live now that transcends mere noir moodiness.-- Roz Kaveney

About this title

About the Author

Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960. In 1997 he was awarded the Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction for BLACK & BLUE. His subsequent Rebus novels have all been international bestsellers, and in 2003, he received an OBE for services to literature.

From AudioFile

In Rankin's most recent Scottish police procedural, DI John Rebus and DS Siobhan Clark investigate a murder in Edinburgh's Fleshmarket Alley. The story visits the city's seediest, most dangerous places and explores a modern fleshmarket, namely the trafficking of human beings. In spite of the length and expanding plot lines, Michael Page maintains the listener's interest and keeps us informed of the shifting story line. He also excels with voices, offering a range of believable British accents, as well as the accents of assorted immigrants, including Senegalese French. As always, Page delivers a sensitive reading of female voices, which isn't easy for male narrators. A very professional job. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: ORION
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 075286467X
• ISBN 13: 9780752864679
• Binding: Paperback