Rebus may be aging...but this series remains as fresh and fierce and rewarding as ever! Threading together two compulsive storylines together, Ian Rankin delivers one of his finest reads yet.

It’s a shock to me to realize that I’ve been reading Ian Rankin’s books for over 30 years now. With writers like P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Reginald Hill gone, Ian Rankin is one of the few remaining of my favorite traditional British police procedural writers.

Rankin has allowed John Rebus to age, and he’s done it in a realistic way. Rebus used to be a heavy drinker and smoker. Now he’s cut way back on his drinking and he no longer smokes, but his old ways have caught up with him and he has COPD. As the book begins, he’s having to move from the Edinburgh walk-up flat he’s lived in for decades to a ground-floor place.

Rebus has been retired for awhile, but he still has boxes of old and cold cases and plans to work on them. But before he has any of those boxes unpacked, he gets a call from his daughter, Samantha, who lives way up north, asking him to help her. Her partner, Keith, father of her young daughter, has gone missing.

The book has two threads, playing out over the course of a week. One involves Rebus’s investigation of Keith’s disappearance. Rebus being Rebus, even when the actual police become involved, he refuses to step back. As you would expect, he doesn’t endear himself to them or many of the locals—or even his own daughter at times.

The other thread takes place back in Edinburgh, as Rebus’s old partner, Siobhan Clarke, and Malcolm Fox investigate the murder of a university student originally from Saudi Arabia. Was it a hate crime, a robbery gone wrong, or to do with his increasingly shady-looking connections to some rich locals? Could it even have a connection to Rebus’s investigation?

Any fan of police procedurals should enjoy this book. The storylines are tight, and enough bread crumbs are dropped that a careful reader will have a good shortlist of suspects for the crimes. The relationships among the characters fill out the story. It gave me a little thrill that Siobhan and Malcolm are working together. It’s a good way to expand Siobhan’s role, with Rebus edging off the stage.

One of the other things that I appreciate about this series is that while it’s gritty and realistic, it’s not gruesome and it doesn’t hammer you over the head with the social issue du jour. This series will age well and will likely be read and enjoyed for many years after it ends.

My only acquaintance with this author's police Inspector John Rebus character came several years ago via a short story co-written with Peter James for the "FaceOff" compilation. That was sufficient, though, for me to be very interested in reading one of the full-blown books - which I was able to do with a pre-release copy courtesy of the publisher (via NetGalley). Quite enjoyable, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next one.

As the story opens, a mostly retired Rebus, whose COPD has made stairs a challenge, has moved to a ground-floor flat in Edinburgh with sometimes grudging help from his not-so-old partner Siobhan Clarke. She and her team are working to solve the murder of the son of a man who is under house arrest in Saudi Arabia. As they are finishing up the moving (and trying to get Rebus's dog, Brillo, acclimated to the new digs), he gets a call from his daughter Samantha. It seems that her partner Keith, the father of her daughter, has gone missing.

Despite (or maybe because of) his rocky relationship with Samantha, Rebus wastes no time driving his ancient car to her place. What he finds isn't positive; no sign of Keith and no clues other than that he'd joined a local history group with an interest in an old World War II prison camp that they'd love to turn into a tourist attraction.

And here, the waters get murky; first, the local police seem to think Samantha may have played some kind of role in Keith's disappearance - putting Rebus at odds with the cops as well as increasingly concerned about his daughter. And second, the owner of the land now occupied by a local commune - sometimes visited by Samantha - has ties to a player in the murder case Clarke's team is trying to solve.

As for me, while the book stands alone well, I have no doubt I'd have enjoyed it more had I read previous books and been more familiar with the characters in them. Still and all, this is a clever story that's well-written - and as I said at the beginning, I don't plan on letting another one go by without getting my hands on it.

John Rebus I am so glad you are back in A Song for Dark Times.

Rebus having moved as faces a health set back receives a call from his daughter saying her partner is missing.

Rebus is off the north coast of Scotland ( lots of history in the story of interment camps) . The village and townsfolk are described so well you feel like you are sitting in the pub having a pint with them.

Rebus wears two hats: one as a Dad and the other as a detective. One he wears so much better than the other but he is really trying.

At home Sutherland, Clarke and Fox ( so enjoyed him in this book) are solving their own murder.

Cafferty does not let Clarke or Fox forget he is to be reckoned with.

I don't want to spoil the plot so I will let you the reader discover what happens.

The book has all the banter, they mystery that one expects from Ian Rankin and he does not let the reader down.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Song for the Dark Times and cant wait to get my hard copy , the space on my book shelf is waiting.

Thanks Ian Rankin for a great story.

Thanks to NetGalley , Little Brown and Company for allowing me once more into John Rebus's world.

John Rebus has just moved downstairs in his building because of his COPD when he gets a call from his daughter Samantha that her partner has gone missing. So he drives north to help. Meanwhile Inspectors Siobhan Clarke and Malcom Fox had the murder of a Saudi student to investigate. As the missing person case in the north turned into a murder investigation, the two cases started intersecting and intertwining like a very convoluted jigsaw. The ending for both cases and the sideshow with Fox was nicely done. It will be interesting to see what comes next for John Rebus and his colleagues.

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title.

This book is not one of the best in Rankin's Rebus series. There are two mysteries, set far apart geographically to give Rebus and Clarke the space to be independent, but neither one is particularly compelling. Even a side story about a threat to Big Ger Cafferty does not add much interest. I gained no new insight into the characters or the human condition in general. Recommended only for established fans of the series.

I’ve read all the books in the series and felt that this was different in that it was better written-not to put down the other titles. Some have seen more put them out quickly but this a much more nuanced telling and I have to admit I enjoyed it both for the literary merit and the mystery. A high five for this read.