A Song for the Dark Times by Ian Rankin

Published by Little, Brown and Company on October 13, 2020

The venerable John Rebus has a pulmonary disease that impairs his ability to climb stairs, but he isn’t letting retirement or disability stop him from solving crimes. In A Song for the Dark Times, his daughter Samantha is under suspicion for murdering her ex-lover. Some of the drama comes from Samantha’s fear that Rebus, who was never the best of fathers, suspects she’s guilty but is trying to protect her anyway. That fear might be legitimate, but regardless of his motivation, Rebus encourages the police to keep an open mind rather than pinning the murder on the most obvious suspect.

The murder victim is Keith Grant. He is the father of Samantha’s child and was her partner before she began a fling with Jess Hawkins, who is associated with a group that some describe as a New Age cult. Grant had been investigating the history of Camp 1033, one of several internment camps in Scotland that were used during World War II to house and abuse people born outside of the UK. Since Grant’s laptop was stolen (but not his wallet), Rebus wonders if the questions Grant asked about a long-ago death at the camp might be connected to his murder. Alternatively, he wonders if it might be connected to the cult or to the land that the cult and nearby camp occupy.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Clarke is trying to solve the murder of Salman bin Mahmoud. whose father “is worth squillions but thought to be under house arrest somewhere in Saudi Arabia.” Salman has been splashing his money around and emulating his hero, James Bond, in an effort to attract women. Salman’s involvement in a shady investment scheme might have something to do with his demise. The two murder investigations, as is usually true in thrillers with multiple killings, might be linked, but whether and how that could be true is for the reader to ponder.

A subplot involves ACC Jennifer Lyons, whose career with Police Scotland might be jeopardized by photographic evidence that her husband is cheating on her. The criminal who has those photos, Morris “Big Ger” Cafferty, contacts Malcolm Fox to act as an intermediary with Lyons regarding a proposition that might be regarded as blackmail.

Ian Rankin keeps the various plots in motion with his usual flair. He brings a number of supporting characters to the table, ranging from families of Germans who were held captive in Camp 1033 to a bar owner and locals who reside near the camp, from aristocrats doing business with Salman to police officers who butt heads with Rebus as he intrudes on their investigation. Rankin gives each character a unique and believable personality.

Rebus has always been portrayed as a character with a strong sense of justice — as he defines it — and an inability to play by the rules if the rules get in his way. The risk that Rebus will frame an innocent person to save his daughter lurks in the novel’s background, adding another spot of darkness to his blemished character.

The overlapping plots are complex but Rankin’s internal summaries keep the details fresh in the reader’s mind. While the solutions to the two murders are less than obvious, Rankin doesn’t strain credibility to produce surprising resolutions. Each plot thread is convincing, while the story as a whole is reasonably suspenseful. In short, A Song for the Dark Times delivers exactly the kind of murder mystery and strong characterizations that fans of Rankin’s twenty-something Rebus novels have come to expect.

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