Book Review – The Impossible Dead

I am a dedicated Ian Rankin fan. In the past some may have called me a groupie. Anyway… Rankin is a master of the craft of crime fiction writing. He understands how to create detectives and criminals. He knows how to make settings come alive and become characters in his novels.

Malcolm Fox, Rankin’s new protagonist, is divorced, in his 40s, and he’s quieter than Rebus. He doesn’t drink alcohol; he enjoys Appletiser. He’s objective, and he’s a gentleman. He works for ‘The Complaints’ aka The Internal Affairs department that looks for ‘dirty and compromised cops’.

Fox and his colleagues, Kaye and Naysmith, arrive in Fife to investigate a station-house where everyone seems to have been compromised. But Fox finds too many links to the suicide of a politician, and he’s determined to find out the truth. Forget about Rebus and enjoy this new series. I did. This second book in the series is even better than the first, The Complaints.

4/5