Knots and Crosses was the first book in this excellent series by Ian Rankin. It was published in 1987 and set in Edinburgh introducing then Sargent Rebus and his city – charming yet broken at the same time.

20 years and 19 books later and Exit Music follows now DI Rebus’ last case before retirement. They are both older and in many ways better. Familiar themes and people (and bars) abound. Even at the end Rebus is always the rebel and finds himself suspended just days before he retires. Does that stop him from working the 3 different yet somehow related cases? No way.

And the end is a cliffhanger so look for book 20…