I discovered Ian Rankin whilst in Edinburgh on a business trip. We had a lot of spare time, which is unusual on one of those trips, and Russ & I wandered all over downtown, checking out music shops, bookstores, and all the various historical sites (though we managed to miss out on a few, I found out later).

While in a bookstore, I was taken aback to find a whole shelf devoted to Ian Rankin, of whom I had never heard. Upon discovering that he was a writer of what might be called “hardboiled police procedurals” sort of in the vein of Michael Connelly, I picked up the first three books in the Inspector Rebus series to read on the flight home. Soon as I landed, I went on Amazon and ordered all of them.

Witch Hunt is out in paperback… I bought it in hardcover as soon as it came out, though, and finished it today while sitting in the doctor’s office. Yes, I’m a bit behind.

So how is it? Well, it’s not up to the level of Resurrection Men, not quite, despite a great ending. Of course, Rankin’s had many books over which to develop Rebus’ character (remember when he was into jazz? Somewhere along the line, it morphed into 60s rock ‘n’ roll). Here, the characterization feels rushed; splitting the main plot across so many protagonists (I count four seperate detectives, only two of whom have anything approaching an emotional arc) has weakened the power of his writing, despite a truly wonderful last paragraph that does reach for a satisfying conclusion and barely makes it.

Still, quite good. The setting is London this time, not Edinburgh, so I didn’t end up with my usual keen desire to go back. I really liked that city.

When I got home, I found the new Lemony Snicket waiting in the mailbox. Of course, there will be thirteen books in this series. How could it have been otherwise?