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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Rebus?, September 12, 2008
Ian Rankin has crafted one of the best mystery series ever written. While many novelists fade after half a dozen books, in "Exit Music" Rankin has kept the character of John Rebus as fresh, human, and complex in the seventeeth novel in this series as he was when he first appeared in "Knots and Crosses."
The sense of inevitability, frustration, and a man out of sorts is palpable. Rebus, ten days away from mandatory retirement, tries to tie up a career's worth of lose ends through the murder of a Russian expatriate poet. The connections between the "underworld and the overworld", the threads that run through the fabric of Edinburgh's society, once again weave a rich and satisfying story. There is vintage Rebus, verbally abusing a senior member of the force and breaking all the rules but none of the laws. There is the shadow of Big Ger Cafferty, Rebus' Moriarty, falling over the city. There is Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, the London transplant, who tolerates, understands, and reveres her iconoclastic partner.
In a trip to Scotland in late 2005, we spent a couple of days in Edinburgh. The city itself has always been one of the richest characters in Rankin's work. We peered down Fleshmarket Close, visited the Parliament building, stood near the Mound, and had a whisky at the Oxford Bar. All have featured in one or several of the novels.
A strong sense of character, a strong sense of plot, and a strong sense of place make the John Rebus series literature.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Here's to the twilight years.", September 13, 2008
In Ian Rankin's "Exit Music," Detective Inspector John Rebus is ten days away from retirement, a prospect that appeals to him as much as root canal. His superiors eagerly await the departure of this maverick, with "his mistrust of teamwork" and his "two-decades-plus of bets hedged, lines crossed, and rules broken." Although John gets results, he rarely does anything by the book, since he has little regard for authority or proper procedure. It is a miracle that this chain-smoking and whiskey-guzzling detective has lived long enough to turn in his warrant card. Rebus's protégée, Detective Sergeant Siobhan (Shiv) Clarke, has mixed feelings about her friend and mentor's departure. She is grateful for everything he has taught her. On the other hand, his unorthodox methods are troubling and she is impatient to get out from under Rebus's imposing shadow.
Their final case together begins as an apparent mugging that results in the death of Alexander Todorov, an émigré Russian poet living in Edinburgh. Todorov was a dissident who was vocal in his criticism, not only of his former government, but also of the new class of Russian oligarchs. He considered these multi-millionaires to be materialistic, corrupt, and greedy--selfish men who spend their ill-gotten gains on fancy clothing, high-end cars, pricey real estate, precious metals, and expensive artwork. Was Todorov bludgeoned to death to silence his scathing criticism of his countrymen? A subsequent murder adds to the mystery, and Clarke is placed in charge of a team with a challenging and time-consuming mission. They must ascertain if the two crimes are related and if so, who was behind them. Rebus is intrigued to learn that his archenemy, a gangster knows as Big Ger Cafferty, may be involved. Before he walks off into the sunset, Rebus would love to bring down this vicious thug who has been a thorn in his side for years.
"Exit Music" is an incredibly complicated and dense police procedural with a large number of characters, suplots, and red herrings. This four hundred page novel, which is sluggishly paced at times, could easily have been trimmed with no loss of coherence. On the other hand, the author gets high marks for depicting police work realistically, demonstrating the tedium of endless conversations with potential witnesses (some of whom lie or omit information), the sifting of every bit of physical evidence, and the search for a key fact that could break a case wide open. He also brings Edinburgh to life and deftly portrays the political and economic changes that may lead, one day, to Scotland's independence from Great Britain. Rebus is a delightful rogue who is content to say and do what he likes now that he is days away from packing it in. Although he is not in charge of the investigation, John blithely goes off on his own to follow his hunches wherever they may lead.
What makes this book memorable is Rankin's stunning epilogue--a tour de force of superb writing and dramatic surprises. The fact that the ending is not neat and tidy makes it a fitting coda for the checkered career of Detective Inspector John Rebus, a man who has always lived on the edge and thumbed his nose at conventional wisdom.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
parting is such sweet sorrow..., September 13, 2008
John Rebus is facing mandatory retirement from the Edinburgh police in nine days as EXIT MUSIC opens. Rebus has lost many things over the course of Rankin's marvelous series. A few years ago they banned smoking in the pubs. That was a heavy blow. Now in November of 2006 Rebus is on the verge of surrendering his badge.
Rankin is prescient in his plot. Russian oligarchs are infesting Scotland. Making deals. Building networks of contacts in high places. Perhaps even ordering murders? Rebus doesn't like it.
His arch enemy Big Ger Cafferty is still on the loose, mocking Rebus. Over the years they have built a strange fraternal bond. Pursuer and the pursued. Rebus will miss him mostly because he won't be able to arrest him.
Siobhan Clarke has taken over most of the duties Rebus once savored. He is being put out to pasture sooner than later. They pull him off a big murder case. Fans of this series would expect that. They also know that John will ignore the commands of his superior officers.
Is this the end for Rebus? I don't think so. Rankin will surely start a new series about Siobhan Clarke and Rebus will be a valuable resource and sounding board for her as he savors his retirement.
Rebus will be playing his music. Nursing a single malt. Puffing away. His cell will ring. Rebus will be back on the case.
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