This British mystery follows inspector Rebus and a colleague as they track patches of fabric discovered at a minor tourist attraction back to the killer who cut them from victim's clothing. In the same region, a prominent politician has fallen to his death at a G8 summit; needless to say, Rebus suspects foul play.

The back drop to this detailed and cleverly-plotted story is a series of massive public demonstrations against G8 policy. Rankin places sympathetic characters on both sides of the police barricades, and throws in a collection of love interests, lowlifes, and an obstructive government official.

The heavy-drinking, wisecracking, rule-flaunting inspector is not a very likable character; it seems like he would have yielded faster results and burned fewer bridges if his personality wasn't stuck on "noir". Other characterizations are excellent by mystery novel standards, however, and the writing is very tight. The slow pacing (this is a British mystery, after all) may put some readers off, but I found myself reading in to the wee hours.

"The Naming of the Dead" is a John Rebus detective novel set against the backdrop of Live 8 and the G8 conference that took place in Edinburgh in 2005 (the one with a greater emphasis on African poverty issues pushed by Bono).

For those that don't know Rankin's main character, Rebus is an alcoholic Scotish detective with an attitude problem and an instinctive need to cross the lines in the sand that his superiors place before him (which makes him sound a lot like other modern detective thriller characters). While the main crux of Rankin's stories are the mysteries, he uses it to have a dig at politicians, the establishment and the grind of every day life there.

In this book Rebus is investigating the death of three rapists who have been killed by a serial killer. During this investigation he looks into the seemingly accidental death (or suicide) of a local MP (the 2 are loosely conected we find).

If you look at the crux of the mystery itself, it has a similar structure to a Hercule Poirot mystery. I won't tell you which though one because I can't remember the title and it'd give the story away. It's a better book than the Poirot novel, because it's better written, but (at its' heart) it still has that Poirot structure supporting it I think.

It's a good book because of the grainy grind that goes along with the story, but some people might feel cheated that all the got was a warmed over Poirot mystery, when they were expecting something more.

Struggled to finish this one third quarter of book a bit boring

Local and international politics and a side of terrorism invade Scotland...and Rebus is out of the picture. Or is he?

Rebus finds new ways to break the rules with his cohort in ... policing...

As usual it’s a cracker loved the confluence of real world events such as the G8 summit and the London bombings.

I absolutely love spending time with Rebus and Siobhan. What an immersive read. This one was set during the G8 summit in Edinburgh and the protests provided a lively backdrop to the hunt for a potential serial killer targeting local ex-cons. Some good juicy stuff with Rebus's old nemesis, Cafferty.

Another excellent Rebus novel from Ian Rankin. This time the seemingly unconnected murders happen to the back drop of the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005.

The language really conjures up the atmosphere of the place without being in anyway flowery. Rebus is such a well developed character over the series that the cliche of alcoholic cop breaking the rules to get results feels totally believable and natural, as does the dialogue.

A slightly contrived coincidence in the revelation of the killer is all that stops a 5-star review, but for the characters and writing Ian Rankin is still my favourite crime writer today.