The Impossible Dead http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Impossible-Dead-Ian-Rankin/9780752889542

By Ian Rankin

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About the Author

Ian Rankin is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. His books have been translated into 36 languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian is the recipient of four CWA DAGGER AWARDS and in 2004, won America's celebrated EDGAR AWARD. He is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, Hull and Edinburgh and received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

Prizes

Malcolm Fox returns in the stunning second novel in Ian Rankin's new series...

Reviews

Insp. Malcolm Fox proves a worthy successor to John Rebus in Rankin's satisfyingly layered second novel featuring the Edinburgh Internal Affairs cop (after The Complaints). Fox and his two colleagues receive a frosty reception in Kirkcaldy, where they must decide whether a disgraced officer's three fellow cops helped cover up his misdeeds. Det. Constable Paul Carter, found guilty of sexual misconduct, intrigues Fox because it was Carter's ex-copper uncle, Alan, who turned him in. Since interviewing the belligerent Carter and his mates leads nowhere, Fox turns to Alan for insight. He discovers the elder Carter was hired by a prestigious lawyer to look into the 1985 "suicide"-or possible murder-of Francis Vernal, a fellow attorney, well-known orator, and vocal supporter of the fringe Scottish separatist movement. Soon Fox's attention is divided between following up scant leads in the Carter investigation and unearthing decades-old secrets about Vernal's life and associates. Rankin elegantly weaves together the two story lines without forcing a connection. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Edinburgh cop Malcolm Fox, introduced in The Complaints, once again finds that what appears to be a simple case of police misconduct is a much more complicated mystery, one that reaches back nearly three decades to the events surrounding the Scottish National movement. As he did in his Inspector Rebus books, Rankin has created a protagonist who is flawed yet sympathetic, written a mystery that is complicated but compelling, and provided a deft send-up of the creaking wheels of justice as run by a bureaucracy. What sets Fox apart from John Rebus though are his teetotaler ways and his closer relationship with family members. The Fox books are also less gruesome in their crime-scene depictions, which should allow them to appeal to an even wider audience. Verdict Longtime Rankin readers will be pleased, as will new mystery readers. [See Prepub Alert, 5/16/11.]-Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.