Dead Souls [Anglais] [Broché]

Sounds dark, no? But that's one of the reasons I love the Rankin mysteries. No one is better than Rankin at setting the scene of Edinburgh: from the crowded, tempestuous housing projects to the smoke and lager filled pubs. But it's the characters, razor-sharp dialogue, and personalities that make Rankin the master he is: once again Rebus is the troubled hero, his time and attention divided between his complicated personal life and police cases. He doesn't just make an attempt to figure out whodunit, he digs deep into the human mind to find out "why"...and drags himself deeper into his own personal hell in the process. He is motivated by a sense of justice--whether or not it conflicts with the law or the wishes of his long-suffering superior "The Farmer." We aren't along for the ride to watch Rebus crack the cases--we're along for his personal triumphs, no matter how small, and for his darkest moments, from alcoholism to cigarette addiction to remembering the loss of his innocent youth. These moments, set to Rebus's own personal "soundtrack" of classic rock music when he retreats to his armchair with his headphones for just one moment of peace, make this dark, nuanced, and many-layered psychological crime series a classic.

For those keeping score of the Rebus mysteries: several of the subplots in this book were first used in Rankin's novella "Death is Not the End." I gave that one four stars as a great introduction or brief look into the psychology of Rebus. "Dead Souls" gets a full five stars: as a full-length novel, Rankin's dark and nuanced writing continues to show that he's one of the top talents in British crime fiction today. If you want a British mystery with a clever-clever ending and a witty twist solution, this one might not be for you. But if you want some of the best writing about all the aspects of Edinburgh society...the best in *and* out of a crime novel...then run, don't walk, to grab a Ian Rankin novel.

With a tangled web of sub plots featuring a coworker's suicide, a pedophile, a serial killer, and a missing person I found myself turning pages. In addition we are allowed a glimpse of Rebus's past and made to worry about his present in a way I haven't done since Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder started drinking again. Personal dilemmas and professional questions haunt Rebus across every page of Dead Souls. Present day ethics and morality are explored in such a seamless way you don't even realize that you along with Rebus are indeed pondering "Is there such a thing as free will?" And of course there's Scotland itself, presented as no travelogue ever would, but as perhaps, it is.

For the mystery fan who enjoys their protagonist's layers being peeled away like birch bark no series currently being written offers more for a reader to chew on,savour and spit out. Here's hoping neither the author or we ever get to the core of the man.