Even Dogs in the Wild (Rebus 20)

Author/Guide: Ian Rankin

Why a Booktrail?

2000s:Rebus may be retired but his Edinburgh is still revealing its darkest secrets. He can’t keep away.

ISBN: 978-1409159360
Genre: Crime, Hitman/Gangster, Thriller

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What you need to know before your trail

To say that Rebus and Retirement do not happy partners make is an understatement. The chance to roam around Edinburgh and its beautiful streets and gardens are not an option as Rebus still sees the city through jaded police eyes and so when DI Siobhan Clarke asks for his help on a case, Rebus doesn’t need long to consider his options. She has been investigating the death of a senior lawyer who was found with a note beside the body carrying a threat…

Meanwhile, Big Ger Cafferty – Rebus’s long-time nemesis – has also received an identical note as well as a bullet through his window. A crime family from Glasgow are unwelcome players in this latest game and nothing wil stop them getting their prize.

Rebus is back and his city needs him.

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Travel Guide

Dogs in the wild – and a dog eat dog world. Welcome Back Rebus – welcome to Edinburgh, the city you know in ways that no one else does. This time, a gang from Glasgow are here too to take a bite from the raw meat being torn to shreds. The title of the book apparently comes from a song by The Associates a Scottish band, which looks at how people within families treat each other and how actions can pass down the generations. Edinburgh’s streets are the potential scene for open gang warfare and with Big Ger Cafferty. The three main characters are back and then some for their trails around the city come together in ways no one could have foreseen.

Rebus’ Edinburgh has lost none of its charm or gritty realism and you can understand why he’s not going to be sitting happily in Princes Street gardens.

Lord Minton, senior lawyer and former Lord Advocate, lives in the nice posh West End of the city and compared to the other side of the city – the other side where Rebus’s nemesis lives, it’s an Edinburgh of light, shade and every shade of grey in-between. The Glasgow link adds an added risk – Glasgow and Edinburgh traditionally embroiled in a friendly war of wanting to be Scotland’s top city, are now really in a battle of wills. Edinburgh’s bad guys are nervous and turf war likely.

Edinburgh is Rebus and Rebus is Edinburgh’s best chance to survive.