A review by judyward
Exit Music by Ian Rankin

3.0

What did I learn from this book? Easy. Don't come into a series on the 16th and final book. Why, you may ask? Because apparently the primary characters in the book have a long and complex history of which I was ignorant. And the author did little to bring a novice reader up to speed. I was urged to read this book by a long-time reader of Ian Rankin, who, apparently, also read them in order. Anyway, the book takes place in Scotland in 2006 as Detective Inspector John Rebus is facing imminent mandatory retirement. A highly honored Russian poet is found murdered and the fun (?) takes off from there. In mood, the book reminded me of a Henning Mankell book--honestly, these Northern Europeans need to lighten up. And the story meanders along several different tangents, including parallels between Russian and Scottish history and the possibility of the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom. I found myself plowing through the book about as fast as I could plow through a three foot high snowdrift. But then the last 75 pages made it all worth while. I'm not sure that I will pick up another Ian Rankin book in the near future, but if I do, I'll start with the first book in the series and get to know these people.