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Book Review of The Falls (Inspector Rebus, Bk 12)

The Falls (Inspector Rebus, Bk 12)
eadieburke avatar reviewed on + 1618 more book reviews


Edinburgh police detective John Rebus, Ian Rankin's popular series detective, is a brilliantly realized character, as moody, dark, and melancholy as Edinburgh itself. In The Falls, he's almost certain that missing university student Philippa Balfour is dead, but he's less sure how she died or what her misadventure has to do with the tiny doll in a hand-sized coffin that turns up near a waterfall on the Balfour family estate. It's not the first coffin found near the scene of a crime; could Philippa be the victim of a serial killer?

In this installment of Ian Rankin's Rebus we find Farmer Watson has retired and Gill Templer has taken his place as Rebus' boss. She quickly learns that Rebus is hard to handle and Rebus begins to think about retirement. Philippa Balfour has been playing a fantasy type computer game with the Quizmaster and Siobhan Clarke decides to play along in order to find out what happened to Philippa. Rebus soon finds out that there is a connection to the Burke and Hare case that was from the 1700. The model coffin found near the Falls of the Balfour Home also has a connection to the Resurrectionists and Arthur's seat. Once again there are a few sub-plots along with the murder of Philippa. I think I enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed the others. I found it very interesting and now I look forward to reading the next in the series. I would highly recommend this series to those who like mystery thrillers about Endinburgh, Scotland with action and adventure.