FLESHMARKET CLOSE is another in a long list of titles that establishes Ian Rankin as the author anyone else writing series fiction must aspire to. In the sixteenth outing for D.I. John Rebus, Rankin has found yet another tone with which to take the reader upon a journey so far beyond police procedural you almost forget that it is the basic structure of the book.

“I’m not supposed to be here.” It is the first sentence of this book and both figuratively and metaphorically, a place for the reader to jump off. Rebus is a man grounded only by the city he lives in and the job he does. St. Leonard’s has closed and both Rebus and his sometime partner D.S. Siobhan Clarke are floundering in their new station until two parallel and yet connected cases take up the narrative of FLESHMARKET CLOSE. Rankin follows two plotlines in this book and does so with the deftest of prose.

John Rebus, the reactionary is contained of spirit in this novel. He seeks the answers behind the death of an asylum seeker. Rebus visits parts of Edinburgh he’s never been in and revisits some of our favorite characters from books past. His quest, to solve the opening murder and perhaps to make sense of what makes someone Scotch.

Siobhan is tracking a face from her past. Unfinished business takes her on a journey involving runaways, rapists, raves and a murder victim of her own. We see this by the book copper show her stripes and finally, some of her vulnerability.

The two meet and confab and in the end the reader knows they’ve seen good police work with not necessarily good results. This is what Rankin does like no other. He writes a situation, and book after book, is not afraid to show the reader new aspects to his characters personalities. Nor is the author afraid to keep us guessing as to what will happen next. The talent of Rankin’s pen makes every book outstanding and a stand-a-lone. If you’ve read this series before this is a mandated sit-down and if you’ve never read the series go ahead and pick it up. This will be a great read. But beware; you’ll need to acquire the other fifteen titles. Police Procedural? Yes. A great read? That goes without saying. A look at social situations and the Scottish society? Most definitely. One of the best books you’ll read this year? You bet. Vastly different than the books that came previously? Of course.

Time after time the reader opens a John Rebus book and finds within the most gifted scribe we have. Crack the book and enjoy.