Exit Music

By: Ian Rankin

Narrated by: James Macpherson

It's late in the fall in Edinburgh and late in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. As he is simply trying to tie up some loose ends before his retirement, a new case lands on his desk: a dissident Russian poet has been murdered in what looks like a mugging gone wrong.

Rebus discovers that an elite delegation of Russian businessmen is in town, looking to expand its interests. And as Rebus's investigation gains ground, someone brutally assaults a local gangster with whom he has a long history.

Has Rebus overstepped his bounds for the last time? Only a few days shy of the end to his long, controversial career, will Rebus even make it that far?

Macpherson reads even better than Rankin writes

Maybe even better than reading Rebus books which I find to be well written. Very good writers of detective fiction, probably all fiction, give just enough character development to make the plot completely believable. That is what make Rankin's books so enjoyable.

good ending to Rebus career

If you've made it this far, you must be a John Rebus series fan. Rebus is like the other good crime novel series I like, the detective is flawed but you can't help but like him and he gets the crime solved even if not always in a conventional manner.

This book has two murders and a solid beating that need solving at the very end of John's career. Working with his long time sidekick, DS Clark, John works the case(s) in his way, alienating coworkers and the bad guys along the way.

One side note to this book is answering the question, is this the last book in the series? The author makes references to Rebus' health throughout the book. He mainly smokes too much but Rebus also drinks too much, has a terrible diet, has to take breaks walking up steps to the point where you wonder if Ranking is going to have him expire at book's end as an end to the series. Well, you'll just have to listen to the book to find out.

One last thing, the narrator has a distinct Scottish accent. Usually in a book like this it takes a while to get your ear tuned into the accent. I first started listening to this book on my Amazon Echo and found the accent a bit tough due to the extraneous noise, I really had to concentrate. Then I switched to my Bose headset and found it much easier to conectrate and I didn't find the accent a problem at all. Later in the book I did go back to the Echo and it seemed much better. In the end I do like the accents that make a story even more realistic.

classic Rebus

I've been reading or listening to the Rebus series for years. This one was just as enjoyable as the previous ones. Classic John Rebus.

One of the Greats

I’m a crime process novel junky. This is completely satisfying craft. Character development is on a par with Michael Connelly which is my benchmark. This is great reading. I love the embedded humor of the Scottish mind. Booyah!

became boring

lost who was who & eventually lost interest. Difficult to understand the speaker. Difficult to follow the story.