Review: Fleshmarket Alley

When an illegal immigrant is murdered in an Edinburgh housing scheme known as Knoxland, Detective Inspector John Rebus finds himself drawn into the case, despite the fact that it isn’t on his patch. His investigation takes him to Whitemire, an old prison converted to an “immigration centre,” really a holding tank for asylum-seekers awaiting deportation. Meanwhile, John and Alice Jardine ask Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke to look for their missing daughter, Ishbel. Ishbel’s older, idolized sister, Tracy, committed suicide after Donny Cruikshank raped her. Now that Cruikshank is out of prison, the Jardines fear the worst for Ishbel. Then Clarke and Rebus are called out to the scene of a gruesome discovery: a pair of skeletons, one of a woman, the other of an infant, beneath the concrete floor of a pub basement. The mystery only deepens when the skeletons turn out to be fake.

Fleshmarket Close is the latest in Ian Rankin’s much-lauded Rebus series. Quite frankly, Rankin deserves the praise. I was utterly amazed as I realized that each separate thread in each investigation tied into one massive conspiracy. Rankin is an absolute master of the genre. His work is infused with wry humour and deadly seriousness as he tackles some of the major issues of the day.

His characters, as always, shine. Rebus is nearing retirement, shuffled off to Gayfield Square after the closure of St. Leonard’s police station, where he’s quite clearly “surplus to requirements,” as he himself puts it early on in the novel. He refuses to let go of the job that’s given his life meaning, however, and ends up putting his nose into other districts’ cases. Clarke is disappointed at her reassignment to Gayfield Square, having been certain that she’d be sent to Headquarters, but she tries to make the best of things, even when the best of things involves keeping track of Rebus. Fleshmarket Close will undoubtedly garner Rankin some future awards.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM

Book Review: Fleshmarket Alley