NOVEL: Resurrection Men

An art dealer is killed and the suspects include his clients, his customers, his lover and at least one jealous artist that he may have cheated. It's the stuff of Midsomer Murders and Inspector Morse, or at a pinch Dalziel and Pascoe.

But this is a novel by Ian Rankin, creator of Inspector Rebus, and you won't find anything cosy in his pages. You'll find characters, situations and places for which the word "gritty" was invented: and prose that grips from the first page to the last.

Rebus is hardly ever in his superiors' good books, but this time he has excelled himself. He is thrown off the Murder case, exiled to a refresher course at the police training school after throwing a coffee cup at his commanding officer.

He and his classmates, all detectives with attitude problems, have been given an unsolved murder to investigate. The case is uncomfortably close to home for Rebus, but other cops on the course may have even smellier skeletons to keep in the closet.

Meanwhile on the art case, Rebus' protg Siobhan uncovers clues that point to her mentor's long-time nemesis, notorious gangster Big Ger Cafferty. His empire is crumbling, and Rebus must use his connections to offer Big Ger's deputy a deal.

Confused yet? You certainly won't be if you read the book, for Rankin is an expert at juggling several plot strands without ever losing the thread.

Resurrection Men is as good as the best previous Rankin novels, and superior to the TV version of Rebus' adventures. Set aside a few hours and enjoy!

DAVID KNIGHTS