Ian Rankin returns with Exit Music, the final outing in his long running series featuring Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus. I, along with many others, am a huge fan of this series, so it is with a little sadness that I read this book and write a review. A Russian dissident poet is murdered in Edinburgh while an elite delegation of Russian businessmen are trying to do business in Scotland. As usual, Rebus will defy the powers that be to solve the crime, while he hopes to put in prison his gangster nemesis Big Ger Cafferty.

As always, Rankin's narrative is brilliant and to the point. Like Michael Connelly, Rankin has the ability to make an ordinary scene thrilling, making his novels very belivable. He remains one of the most influential novelists of his generation, the Rebus books have changed the way British mysteries are written. The new generation of British crime writers have followed Rankin's lead, their books are dark, gritty and hardboiled. Whatever direction Mr. Rankin goes with his writing I know I will read them, he is one of the leading examples of the crime novel as today's modern literature. I will really miss Detective Inspector John Rebus, simply one of the finest characters in fiction history.

Richard