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A review by plantbirdwoman
Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin
4.0
The rebellious bad boy of Lothian and Borders Police has finally gone too far. In a staff meeting, John Rebus' frustration with the current murder investigation boiled over and he hurled a mug at his boss' head. That was too much even for his long-suffering superiors and so, for his sins, he has been sentenced to return to police college for retraining on how to work as a team member. The other members of his training class are similar "bad boys".
Now, long-time readers of the Rebus saga will immediately smell a large rat in all of this. Rebellious and curmudgeonly Rebus may be, but it is entirely out of character for him to act in this way. He's more likely to toss a sarcastic retort than a mug. So what's up?
It turns out Rebus has been recruited to do a spot of undercover work and his temper tantrum in the staff meeting was his entre' to the group that he is to infiltrate. Some other members of the training group are suspected of being seriously bent cops. Rebus' assignment is to gain their confidence and find the evidence to put them away.
The group is assigned to work on an old unsolved murder case - as a team. The case is one that Rebus knows well and one that he may prefer not be solved. He's not the only one who has a history with the case. Other members of the bad boys group, known as the "Resurrection Men" because the training is supposed to help them resurrect their careers, also were involved with the original investigation. Is this a coincidence or is Rebus being set up?
While Rebus is on his course, Siobhan Clarke and the rest of the team continue their investigation of the current case involving the murder of an art dealer, the case which ostensibly caused Rebus to toss a cup. But the situation gets curiouser and curiouser and Rebus and Clarke begin to suspect that the two murder cases - the old unsolved one and the current one - might somehow be related.
Ian Rankin is known for his complicated and intricate plotting and this book, with its parallel investigations, stretches his talents in that regard to their limits. He does manage to keep all the balls in the air and keep the stories moving and it all comes out right in the end. But it is a near thing.
Now, long-time readers of the Rebus saga will immediately smell a large rat in all of this. Rebellious and curmudgeonly Rebus may be, but it is entirely out of character for him to act in this way. He's more likely to toss a sarcastic retort than a mug. So what's up?
It turns out Rebus has been recruited to do a spot of undercover work and his temper tantrum in the staff meeting was his entre' to the group that he is to infiltrate. Some other members of the training group are suspected of being seriously bent cops. Rebus' assignment is to gain their confidence and find the evidence to put them away.
The group is assigned to work on an old unsolved murder case - as a team. The case is one that Rebus knows well and one that he may prefer not be solved. He's not the only one who has a history with the case. Other members of the bad boys group, known as the "Resurrection Men" because the training is supposed to help them resurrect their careers, also were involved with the original investigation. Is this a coincidence or is Rebus being set up?
While Rebus is on his course, Siobhan Clarke and the rest of the team continue their investigation of the current case involving the murder of an art dealer, the case which ostensibly caused Rebus to toss a cup. But the situation gets curiouser and curiouser and Rebus and Clarke begin to suspect that the two murder cases - the old unsolved one and the current one - might somehow be related.
Ian Rankin is known for his complicated and intricate plotting and this book, with its parallel investigations, stretches his talents in that regard to their limits. He does manage to keep all the balls in the air and keep the stories moving and it all comes out right in the end. But it is a near thing.