The Naming of the Dead is Ian Rankin's finest novel.

'(A) big, sometimes elegiac, read set against the backdrop of one of the most tumultuous weeks in recent Scottish history (.) That's a lot of plot (nor is it all of it), but the strength of the novel lies in the way that Rankin weds it to his exploration of character' - Peter Guttridge, The Observer.'Rankin vividly captures the bizarre pageantry of this political circus and gives Rebus’s partner, the warmhearted Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, a good reason for being in the thick of things' - Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review.Ein bisschen mehr wäre nicht schlecht.' - Rainer Moritz, Neue Zürcher Zeitung 'Thriller, die literarisch ernst genommen werden wollen, dürfen sich nicht damit begnügen, gesellschaftspolitisch brisante Themen aufzugreifen und knurrige Ermittler mit sich und der Welt hadern zu lassen.It feels as if written on the hoof by someone running round with a microphone, collecting soundbites of humour, fury and moral angst - like Dickens on speed, highly enjoyable, but ultimately breathless.' - Frances Fyfield, The Independent

It's page-turning, complicated crime, with some fine vignettes containing the only convincing pathos in the book.

' The Naming of the Dead is classic Rankin, and if you're in love with the unchangeable Rebus, you'll relish it.

'Rankin again paints a corrupt world (even Bono's antipoverty crusade is suspect) in convincing shades of gray' - Will Boisvert, Entertainment Weekly.

The Naming of the Dead is the sixteenth John Rebus novel.

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The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin