The Complaints By Ian Rankin

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

In the United States this department is called I.A. or Internal Affairs. The Complaints Department deals with the force and any suspicions against them. No one in the Police Force particularly likes Complaints. They are seen as snitching and snooping on those who keep the peace. This is Ian Rankin's first story after his enormously successful Detective Rebus' retirement. He wrote those in chronological order and retired him when he would have been of age. So now we meet Malcolm Fox. His job is to investigate fellow officers.

I didn't know how I would feel about a different hero being such a huge Rebus fan, but Fox is quite brill. Obviously intelligent but also up to date on investigating. This story starts with the culmination of a case for Fox. He has finally brought enough evidence against a dirty cop and he is ready for his next assignment. Unfortunately he is sent to vice for a briefing about a cop suspected of using child pornography. As the story evolves we are introduced to Fox's sister who is in an abusive relationship with a man she swears she loves. What a position for a policeman to be in; stand by and watch your sister get beaten up or do something about it. Of course, she won't press charges. To add to Fox's stress level is his father who is living in an old people's home. He is doing well but is not completely aware of his daughter and her lifestyle.

The Complaints Department that Fox works for only has four employees. They keep things pretty tight to their chests and have very few friends throughout the rest of the police force. As is usual for colleagues, they know a lot about each other's lives. Malcolm's work mates are concerned about his sister as well and encourage him to think of how to remedy her situation. The story escalates dramatically when the boyfriend of the sister turns up dead. She is, of course, suspected due to the violence and her sporting a broken arm thanks to the victim. Malcolm is supposed to back off completely and not have anything to do with her case but realistically who can honestly say they will do nothing. To add insult to injury, one of the officers on her case is someone the complaints may be investigating. The plot does get stickier and stickier.

There are many different levels to this story but Rankin never leaves us out in the cold trying to remember which character is which. We meet quite a few nasty bastards and Fox gets into some very scary situations. To be honest I hope they televise these as they have done with Rebus - I think they would be great. You can imagine the Scottish underworld skulking around the back streets of Edinburgh in the wee hours. Anyway enough said - great book!

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/

The Falls By Ian Rankin

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

I am not quite sure when this book was written but it was a while ago - I just hadn't read it yet. This mystery has a certain eerie quality to it which I am not usually fond of but, because Rankin is a master of weaving stories, was very enjoyable. The beginning of the book has us meet a university student who is worried because his girlfriend has gone missing. We immediately think the worst, because this is a murder mystery, but there is no body.

Detective Inspector John Rebus has the case and members of the girl's family and her boyfriend's family immediately try to bully our John. He isn't having any of it and succeeds in annoying the higher ups at work as well as many people who seem involved in this girl's life. At first, of course, everyone paints a delightful picture of her but as the time wears on a little more information is given and Rebus and his team begin to see a different story behind the 'perfect' daughter and friend. Meanwhile it seems as though Rebus has a little romance in his life. A curator at the museum returns an interest in him and he is finally going out with someone other than his murder team. She proves helpful to the case as well because there are items in her museum which show up in places that seem to make no sense to anyone.

The Falls comes to play as a miniature coffin is found by them and the lady who calls in the story is only too happy to share her information with not only the police but also the local reporter. She becomes a definite burden for the force as they are trying to keep some information quiet about the details of the disappearance and amazingly the press themselves seem to be getting hold of pertinent details. The actual area known as the Falls is interesting too as it is really only slightly faster moving water with some elevation drops and hardly what one would call a fall but it has been known as the falls for as long as anyone can remember and just so happens to be very near to where the missing girl grew up.

Here is where the plot thickens, literally. The girl's mother seems remote and suspicious, her father bombastic and overly dependent upon a friend as opposed to his wife and a little background history which would give more than one person a great motive to want to punish their family. Typical Rankin right!

This is excellent stuff and a story that is guaranteed to confound you. I thought I had it figured out several times only to be surprised yet again.

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/