Monday, April 22, 2013

Book Review: Tooth & Nail by Ian Rankin


Tooth and Nail is one in the series of novels by Ian Rankin featuring the character Inspector Rebus. Scottish detective Rebus is summoned to New Scotland Yard, in London, to help catch a serial killer, named by the media "The Wolfman". At first Rebus struggles with the investigation and this is not helped by the frosty reception he is given by his new colleagues but when he makes a couple of allies he gets on the trail of the killer and rather than wait to react to the crimes he attempts to provoke the killer into providing some clues.

This book, refreshingly, does not fall into the many cliches that are often found in serial killer novels. The reader will find themselves eager to learn about the main characters as they are developed in the early part of the story whilst at the same time the fundamentals of the investigation are outlined. The investigation proceeds as more killings occur and some help from an unexpected source adds the mystery and finally the twist that readers come to expect from a detective/thriller novel.