Customer Reviews

The Impossible Dead

I didn't think that Ian Rankin would ever be able to create another character who could compete with Rebus. I was wrong.

The first book in his new series, The Complaints, was good but this second one is even better. As members of the Professional Standards team, Inspector Malcolm Fox and his team are in Fife, looking into possible misconduct in the force there. When an ex-copper is found dead, Fox becomes aware that he had been looking into an old case - the death of a political activist which at the time had been classed as a suicide. Now Fox and his team have two cases on their hands.

One of the things I like most about Rankin is the way he sets his books firmly in the real world. With references to actual events and people, his plots become entirely convincing. He tells modern Scotland like it is - neither all good nor all bad. The short period in the eighties when Scottish nationalism turned briefly into terrorism is used for the main strand of the book. Rankin shows the contrast of those days, when fervent nationalists felt the democratic process held no hope for them, to the Scotland of today, with its devolved government, more confident and comfortable in its skin, with nationalism a question to be debated rather than won by force.

Malcolm Fox is turning into just as interesting a character as Rebus, if less of a maverick. Working in the Complaints, he has to face the obstruction and sometimes contempt of fellow officers, but he believes in what he's doing and wants to do it well. This time though a comment of his father makes him wonder if he has what it takes to investigate a real crime and that doubt acts as a spur to him to step outside his normal boundaries. In this book we also get to know more about his colleagues, Kaye and Naysmith. The interactions between them come over as convincing and enjoyable - three team players working well together. Fox's relationships with his father and sister are further developed and this glimpse into his life outside work makes him into a more rounded and believable character.

I'm delighted to hear that Rankin may bring Rebus back to us but I sincerely hope that Malcolm Fox is here for a long run too. Highly recommended.

I've enjoyed dozens of Ian Rankin's books and felt a pang when the Rebus series finished. However, the arrival of his new detective, Malcolm Fox, in The Complaints filled the gap and heralded a fine new series. To my disappointment, this second book in the new series, is not as good as the first. It is very slow to get going: there are pages and pages of chit-chat between Fox and his two side-kicks, Kaye and Naysmith, with descriptions of journeys around Fife, the scenery as they drive to and from Edinburgh and their problems over police inter-departmental friction. Yet, with all this descriptive stuff I never really get a picture in my mind of Fox who is two-dimensional, in contrast to Rebus, who is so clearly pictured in my mind by the books that when Ken Stott appeared in the TV series he was perfect. In the first book in the new series I welcomed the fact that Fox wasn't the usual hard-drinking, smoking stereotype of most detective series, but I don't feel his character has been developed enough for the reader to identify with him in his quests for truth.

Only when one gets well into the book does the action begin and then it goes off into all sorts of tangents: terrorism, police corruption, MI5, under-cover police activity, murder, suicide plus diversions into Fox's stormy relationship with his sister and worries over his father's deteriorating health. Having been a bit bored by the first half of the book I became confused over the plethora of story-lines in the latter part of the novel.

Readers were first introduced to DI Malcolm Fox in a previous Rebus story (The Complaints, 2009).

Ian Rankin has made a seamless transition over to this new protagonist and with the author's usual easy writing style has come up trumps with a well developed character that will no doubt enthrall readers in an exciting series of tales.

Malcolm Fox is an intriguing mix of apathy and action; he is a solid character, single, drives a Volvo & doesn't drink alcohol any more, just sticking to water or Appletiser.

These stories see police procedurals from a different perspective - Rebus often broke the rules whereas Fox enforces them. He heads up a team in the Professional Standards Unit, more commonly known as 'The Complaints' of Lothian and Borders Police, the cops who investigate other cops. His cohorts in this story are DS Tony Kaye and DC Joe Naysmith.

Fox is quoted as stating: 'Maybe I want to make sure the {police} force is on the side of the angels.' For Malcolm Fox, the appeal of the Complaints was its focus on rules broken rather than bones, on cops who crossed the line but were not violent men.

Readers are taken on a journey through Edinburgh, Stirling, St Andrews and Fife - even to the State Mental Hospital at Carstairs in Lanark - as Fox and his team is asked to investigate three colleagues from the neighbouring Fife constabulary.

In the background, Fox struggles with the dilemma of balancing his work duties alongside appeasing his sister's frustration at the time and resources needed to care for their elderly father's illness.

As the story progresses, Fox is drawn into looking at the suspicious death of lawyer and nationalist Francis Vernal who was found dead in his car having crashed on a country road in Fife. There was also a gunshot wound to his head and the incident had never been fully investigated when it occurred some twenty years earlier in 1985. This part of the story bears striking resemblances to the non fictional case of nationalist Willie MacRae whose death occurred in the Highlands in 1985 in similar circumstances.

Rankin's writings are ever topical and the plot reflects the SNP and its activities in the mid 80's - perhaps especially pertinent at the moment, as the SNP party has just staged its first conference in Inverness this weekend.

EDIT: ** PLEASE SEE FictionFan's excellent comment on this review - she has kindly clarified the inaccuracies in my sentence above. **

The author's excellent descriptive skills are used to advantage to develop the personalities of his characters as well as eloquently taking readers on a journey through central Scotland.

I enjoyed this story immensely and I'm sure others will to. Rebus can surely sit back and relish his retirement!

In The Complaints Rankin introduced his new detective, Inspector Malcolm Fox, who has his second outing in "The Impossible Dead". I struggled there not to write "his new, post Rebus detective..." and really feel I ought to review the book in it's own terms and not mention the previous series. It's hard though. It seems that in many respects Fox is constructed as a not-Rebus - teetotal (albeit with a less sober past), less of a loner, a policeman who, as part of The Complaints, investigates the Rebuses of this work. Ignoring that seems to miss the point. Also, to construct a compelling story - which this is - Rankin has to take Fox on a little trip to... well not perhaps Rebusland, but somewhere close. After all, the obedient, rule following policeman doesn't tend to engage in the kind of confrontations - against superiors, authority, procedure or villains - that make for a page turning crime novel.

So here we have Fox and his team making slow progress across the river in Fife with a routine case involving low level corruption and cover-ups, when a murder happens. Although it is only tenuously connected to their own case, and is out of their Force's area, Fox bends his enquiry beyond breaking point to follow up the murder, eventually taking in a mysterious death twenty five years before, gun running, Scottish terrorism in the 80s, and much more. The story goes at a breakneck pace with the villain confronted in a dramatic climax. All great fun, even if the ending seems unlikely (more so, actually, than most of the Rebus stories). And some genuinely interesting thoughts about the recent Scottish past, and the half familiar, half strange world of the 1980s whose atmosphere of paranoia is a key part of the background to this book.

However, I wasn't sure whether, with Fox, Rankin is going to be able to go on having his cake and eating it much longer. The sort of behaviour that Fox gets away with in this book, with only the occasional slap on the wrist, was sort-of credible for an edgy loner like Rebus, but Fox is in the spotlight, in a role where he must, like Ceasar's wife, be above suspicion. Either he's in the wrong job and will soon be out of the Complaints, or it will get more and more difficult to suspend belief enough to enjoy these stories - which would be a pity, so I hope that Rankin takes the other course and lets Fox become the detective he seems to want to be.

With the Malcolm Fox novels, Ian Rankin is exploring pretty much the same territory as he did with John Rebus, but from slightly different perspectives. We're still in Fife, still exploring what happens when politics and crime mix, and also still looking at the corruption that goes on inside the police and the consequences of this.

The Impossible Dead is readable enough, and certainly reminds of you of why Rankin is top of the list at this sort of thing: his dialogue is sharp and polished, gritty enough to sound like film script material, and witty enough to keep the pages turning at a fast rate.

But beneath this, there isn't that much going on that's new and exciting. Fox is a toned down Rebus; a man who doesn't drink, and who has family issues to juggle with his pressurised and often unpopular job. And, like Rebus, Fox encounters career politicians and coppers, and manages to rub them up the wrong way in his search for justice and fairness. To all intents and purposes, these are Rebus re-treads.

After a fairly complex and involved storyline here, featuring shady dealings from 1985 and the search for Scottish independence through violent means, it's something of a surprise and let down that the book ends with a rather rushed, shoot 'em up finale that doesn't quite fit with what's gone before. A little bit unlikely to be honest.

The Impossible Dead feels like Ian Rankin is treading water a little. The book is much better than the first non-Rebus title he came out with (Doors Open) - but Rebus is still leaving quite a big hole in need of filling, even though Fox is a strongish character on which another series seems to be unfolding.

I was looking forward to this second outing for Fox and the Complaints team. The premise though just doesn't work and the early exchanges are the same cliched response of cops dislike the other cops investigating their own. However, the germ of the real story is excellent and shows Rankin at his best it is just hung off the wrong peg. Much to enjoy and a fast final 100 pages will not disappoint you, with excellent character development leading one to hope the series will continue. Fox though is too good a detective to remain in Complaints and the nuances of that line of work have been exhausted. Rankin must decide to either write stand alone novels or reposition Fox so he can grow and prosper in a credible back-story.

I am sorry to say the above, as I have read and enjoyed all of Ian Rankin's books until this one(he is one of my favourite authors). I unfortunately have to agree with the more negative reviews on this site. It was an effort to finish this book.

Normally I finish a Rankin book within a day or two, this one took about two weeks. I just could not engage with the plot or the characters. I felt the author was just going through the motions. The story plodded along with little action and in the end I could not care less what happened to any of the characters.

That said, I had no problem with the Fox character in 'The Complaints' and quite enjoyed that book, though it was not a 4-5 star book, but had potential for the future, or so I thought. I am sure that if you have never read a previous Rankin book then you would probably enjoyed this one, however, this book does not compare to the same standard.

I sent for this book pre-publication as have read all of Rankin's previous work and looked forward to reading it. I would say (and it almost hurts me to say this) that I was a little disappointed with it. I just never felt the plot had much bite to it, it seemed slightly bitty and confused at times. I do think the character of Fox is developing slowly and you can almost feel Rankin working this out sometimes on the page! The relationship with his sister though, is very well drawn and only too believable. To be honest, I think a lot of this is because Rankin takes chances in his work, pushing himself than staying in a cosy corner with Rebus, for instance. I've heard it said before, that some find his work variable in standard. Actually, I would think its probably down to this risk taking factor. All artists have to push themselves to go forward and the "birth" process can be difficult. Rebus took a while to get off, and the books became better with time as the character developed and the plots became more believable. I would still rather that an intelligent author do this than not, its still a pleasant read, just probably not his best.

Yes, it's OK, it's very readable, well-written as you'd expect but it's left me unsatisfied. I'm not going to be one of those who harp on about Rebus but I really can't see where Rankin's going with Malcolm Fox. I even wonder whether he's got a tongue in his cheek. Fox is almost the opposite of Rebus and is no better for that. I can't see that there is any depth to him whatsoever and little to like; in fact, I'd go as far as calling him 'wet'. Neither can I understand the choice of the 'Complaints' as a basis for novels. These are guys who all coppers must dislike much as teachers loathe Ofsted inspectors and I can't help but be disposed against them. And the thing is, in this novel, the fact that Fox and his oppos are looking into 'unprofessional' police behaviour is soon put aside as if Rankin isn't really interested in it and Fox reverts to what he, presumably, used to be - a CID Inspector. So why do it in the first place? Fox begins to dig into the pasts of characters involved in [more modern] moves for Scottish independence though ironically there is a meeting arranged at one point beneath the Wallace memorial in Stirling ['those days are passed now...']. Fox doesn't drink; he has a failed marriage; he's had a one-night fling with a policewoman which he somehow can't come to terms with; he has an ailing father and a difficult sister. Which kind of sums him up really. I've heard rumours of a Rebus return which to me seems to say that Rankin himself isn't over happy with his new creation. And who exactly is/are the 'impossible dead'? Rebus? Braveheart? We'll see what comes.

I was uncertain after reading The Complaints if I could really warm to Malcolm Fox in the same way I did to John Rebus but after reading this I am certainly beginning to. Another very good novel with an interesting and contemporary theme featuring a somewhat flawed main character