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When Rebus discovers that Rough has been assigned an apartment with a view of a children's playground, he "outs" Rough to the other tenants with disastrous consequences. Their immediate superiors tend to let Rebus and Bosch operate somewhat independently, with little supervision, but as bosses they prepared provide the backup and support needed to ensure their 'star' detectives rein in the baddies in their own inimitable ways. Rankin overdoes it with some of what happens leading up to the resolutions -- Oakes, in particular, is just too bad to be true -- but everything is tied up particularly well, making for a satisfying (if not exactly happy) end. Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers.
Interfering Oakes, who knows way too much about everything, adds a good deal of excitement, especially when he latches on to Rebus and toys with him. There is in fact some sense of marking time in Dead Souls, a hint that Rankin, like Burke, may be outgrowing his chosen form.
Later Rebus tries to help Darren, thinking better of his action, but is unable to stop him being murdered. He is assigned to watch the comings and goings of a recently released and very clever serial killer who is also suspected in the murder of the niece of a retired police officer.
Two-time murderer, Cary Oakes is on his way to Edinburgh after being released from prison in the States. At some point it feels like we have to admit that some people's capacity to make the right decision has been fundamentally weakened by forces out of their control. Dead Souls by Ian Rankin was the winner of the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 2005, six years after it was published in the U. Rebus sort of lives with Patience, but that doesn't seem to be going too well, as he seems to spend more days sleeping elsewhere. James MacPherson’s home-grown Scottish burr is put to excellent use narrating Rankin’s 17th and possibly best crime novel featuring Det.Malcolm Fox proves a worthy successor to John Rebus in Rankin’s satisfyingly layered second novel featuring the Edinburgh Internal Affairs cop (after The Complaints).
His experience with both Rough and Oakes makes Rebus think out his prejudices and question how much a person is the product of his inherited nature, and how much nurture shapes that character. Enough that I was barely able to put the book down for the last day and a half of reading - and enough to want to give Rankin another try for sure.One reason Rough is back in town is because there is a big paedophile trial going on, and he might testify. Kudos to Rankin for the heightened drama of this police procedural beyond the usual crimes and their investigations.
Rebus, while following Rough, observes him taking pictures of the animals or is the children at a zoo. Fortunately, Rankin doesn't get over-explicit like this too often, generally conveying Rebus' tormented inner self more subtly (and effectively). Shortly afterwards, somebody outs him to his local community, in a council estate of tower blocks that overlooks Arthurs Seat. Add in a nasty, crafty villain, playing games with Rebus and his family and associates and you've got an excellent story. I mean, it's obvious to me that while some personality traits are clearly handed down from parent to child (case in point, I have my dad's social awkwardness and my mom's passive-aggressiveness – a winning combo!I didn't much care for one of the villains in this book and I didn't like how that particular thread was left at the end of the book because I really don't want to see this particular villain again. While investigating a poisoner at Edinburgh Zoo, Detective Inspector John Rebus sees Darren Rough, a known paedophile, seemingly photographing children and decides to 'out' the man, in spite of assurances that he wants to reform.
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