published January 19, 2016
Little, Brown and Company
Fans of the well-established, well-loved John Rebus series will find much to like in this 20th outing. When a government prosecutor is murdered, Rebus is called out of retirement by his former partner, DI Siobahn Clarke, to consult. Then shots are taken at his old nemesis, gangster Big Ger Cafferty, in his home. It is soon apparent these cases entwine but the how is buried deep in the past. Meanwhile Rebus’ former work nemesis and ex-Complaints (a.k.a. internal affairs) officer DI Malcom Fox is assisting a visiting team doing surveillance on a Glasgow crime family that is after something in Edinburgh.
Fox and Rebus spend more time in each other’s company as colleagues rather than adversaries this time, giving grudging acknowledgment to the skills each brings to police work, helping to round out Fox’s character. Clarke is, as always, the perfect foil for Rebus, and took more of a lead in this book. But it is the evolution of the endless sparring match between Rebus and Cafferty, the underworld upheaval to fill the vacuum being left as aging gangsters like Cafferty fade away, and the pesky way that bodies refuse to stay buried in Edinburgh that makes “Even Dogs in the Wild” an exceptional entry in the series.
An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.
