Bears all the qualities that have established Rankin as one of Britain's leading novelists in any genre: a powerful sense of place; a redefinition of Scotland and its past; persuasive dialogue and a growing compassion among its characters.
I didn't like this book as much as I liked the other Rankin books with the detective Rebus. That's because the main theme had to do with gun running though there are a couple of other, to me, more interesting subplots. But as usual, I loved the details about Scotland, especially Edinburgh. Some of my favorite books have to do with reading about a locale and/or period of time where I feel like I'm actually there.
