The culture clash between the London police and out-of-towner Rebus is more than a running gag - the sort of stuff Rankin does well.Ī bit less successful are Rankin's encounters with his former wife and daughter, now living in London.
The book is a decent police procedural, as the killer appears to be a few steps ahead of the police (and is very good at not leaving clues behind), while the police - and especially Rebus - try to get the Wolfman to slip up.Ī psychologist (who isn't exactly what she seems to be) also gets involved in the case - and with Rebus - adding to the psychological speculations about the nature of the beast. Rebus gets summoned to work on a London case because of his previous success working a serial killer case (see Knots and Crosses - though note that that was a very different sort of killer) - and that's what they have on their hands here, someone they call the 'Wolfman' (as the novel was also originally titled).Īs is often his wont, Rankin provides scenes from the killer's perspective as well, short sections describing the misdeeds it is useful here (sort of) because it alerts readers to what appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding by the police of who they are dealing with. It does allow him to present Rebus as even more of a fish out of water, and play up the Scottish angle (a Scotsman in London, barely comprehensible to the locals), but it does feel a bit odd. Ian Rankin's series of Inspector John Rebus novels are often praised specifically for his use of Rebus' home turf, Edinburgh, so it's a surprise that in this early volume from the series (number three) Rankin sends his hero to London and barely allows him to set foot in Scotland for the entire length of the novel.
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