The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin

This is the third book by Ian Rankin that I have read and I have to say that it started out very slow, at least in my opinion it was a slow starter. In The Naming of the Dead Rankin tries to show how one crime can infect society possibly one member at a time. Sometimes the victim of the crime may have been a criminal themselves so the police or detectives that are supposed to find a resolution to the case may not be inclined to give it their best shot. Or could the crime against the criminal be a case of vigilante justice? Could someone be seeking a stronger form of justice then what has already been handed out? These are interesting questions.

Detective Inspector (DI) John Rebus and Detective Sargent (DS) Siobhan Clarke find themselves in just such a case. They uncover evidence that a serial killer may be on the loose during the G8 Summit in Scotland in July 2005. Added to this there has been an apparent suicide of an MP. Rebus has been warned off this case because it will be too high profile and Rebus has a tendency to not follow the rules making his boss is a bit reluctant to have John involved.

The naming of the dead is done in some circumstances and in some places as a way to remember the dead. In this story both Rebus and Clarke spend time doing just that. They recite the names of the dead criminals in this case as a means to help them to remember that even though these people were criminals they were still people and as a result deserve to have their deaths investigated and as thoroughly as possible. Many officers on the force would just as soon not put forth too much effort on this case. There are times when the lines between right and wrong are blurred because the victims were criminals in life, even for the detectives involved,

As I stated previously, The Naming of the Dead started off slow. There is a different section for each day and the story itself covers many days. It does however pick up toward the end. It was a good story, not of the caliber I have become used to from Ian Rankin, but a good story non-the-less. It does have a twist at the end giving me an “I should have seen this coming” moment. I finished reading the story because I wanted to see if the police and detectives involved would really solve the case or if lines would become so blurred that the case would go unsolved.