Lord Minton, a retired Crown prosecutor was murdered. No weapon was found, but a death threat was found in his wallet. Not long after, a crime boss, "Big Ger" Cafferty is shot at; he's uninjured, but he also had received an intimidating note. Then a mobster from a rival family is killed; what could be the link between gangsters and a man above reproach. Police Scotland has formed a special investigating team, because of the murder of a peer or the realm, and the assembled officers don't precisely see eye to eye on how to proceed. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke and her friend Malcolm Fox are on the team, and as no one knows Cafferty better than retired Inspector John Rebus, they ask for his help. Rebus, retired only for one month, is bored to tears, and as always he is bound to ruffle more than a few feathers.

EVEN DOGS IN THE WILD reunites beloved characters from Ian Rankin's books as we follow this painstaking enquiry, where the lines between honourable and criminal have never been more blurry. As more details surface, the more mystifying the case appears, and not only for the reader! Power plays abound between the various players, on both sides; some officers of the law are not that sympathetic, some gangsters are somewhat endearing. The enquiry becomes a muddle that leads nowhere; it progresses at a snail's pace, the process is slow and confusing, which makes it quite absorbing, because the reader doesn't know more than the characters. A few humorous passages lighten the tone of the book, especially Rebus' repartees and regarding the stray dog. As expected in an Ian Rankin novel, EVEN DOGS IN THE WILD concludes in rather stunning fashion, and I'm sure not many readers will have guessed how the story will end until the last pages. A great read from one of the masters of suspense!