A review by the_discworldian
The Falls by Ian Rankin

4.0

This was a good one. I spotted the murderer almost instantly and couldn't help feeling that Rebus really should have, too, but I didn't mind the ride. I also have to say I was so very, very relieved that Rankin has yet (in my experience anyway) to use the popular dark, gritty technique of

Spoiler

"fridging" (killing off a female character so the male character has a reason to be dark and tortured). I was really worried he was going to do this to Jean for a while and would have been so pissed at Rankin if he'd killed her off.

I also particularly enjoy the books that show Rebus' sympathetic side, and it's sadly refreshing to me how non-creepy he is. At this point I want more Ellen Wylie, too, because I thought she had a very interesting character arc in this book (and also I got so mad on her behalf). Siobhan has absolutely the worst luck interacting with men who aren't Rebus, though! Thank goodness

Spoiler

Bain showed up towards the end and seemed able to interact with her as a non-creeper. I enjoyed the Hood/Wylie duo in the previous book and was sad that one half of the pair turned into a creep and the other half got shat on for pretty much this entire book. Better things for Wylie and worse things for Hood from now on, I hope, although knowing Rankin I'm probably hoping for too much

. And as always, the denouement was too short, but c'est la Rankin, I guess.