Got into Rankin thanks to an interview he did on NPR, promoting his latest book, The Complaints. That novel is a story about the Edinburgh equivalent to Internal Affairs, but naturally the chat turned to the subject of Rankin's main character, Detective Inspector John Rebus. The man and his work sounded interesting, so off I went to check him out. I found his second Rebus novel, Hide and Seek as a "nook book," so I read that before this one, Rebus' first appearance.

Rebus is just a Detective Sergeant in Knots and Crosses which has him tracking a serial killer in Edinburgh. Rankin does a great job doing character exposition while keeping the plot moving. It's kind of interesting to go back and read a novel set 20 years ago, to see how police work has grown since then. Bottom line, though, is that tracking a serial killer is basically similar, and no doubt much of the internal politics that comes with being a cop in Edinburgh is the same. It's sort of sad that military references also apply today.

In any case, no regrets with going back to the beginning to read Rebus in canonical order. Looking forward to seeing his career progress.