A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES by Ian Rankin

 How I have got through life without reading a single Ian Rankin novel, never having the pleasure of meeting John Rebus, I just do not know. Because here is a hero I want to read more of! Detective John Rebus has been around in since 1987 for goodness sake. He has a whole Wikipedia page! And his own TV show! The man is a legend. And this is his 24th outing. Surely the man is ready to fully retire by now?

But no. The book opens with him moving from an upstairs flat to the ground floor flat, mainly due to his breathing difficulties related to his long standing lung condition. He is being helped by former colleague, now good friend DI Siobhan Clarke  - a regular character in the series.  Rebus gets a distressed phone call from his estranged daughter Samantha, also a regular character in the series. Samantha's husband and father of her child - Keith -  has gone missing, so Rebus, now determined it would seem to make up for bad fathering,  drops everything and drives up to the remote area of Scotland that Samantha lives in - remote because mobile phone coverage drops out from time to time, and as we all now know, this is an essential ingredient in any modern day thriller! 

A parallel plot is taking place back in the big smoke. A young wealthy man about town is found murdered in a back street. Things just don't seem to add up for Siobhan and her colleagues,  so an investigation gets underway. It soon becomes clear that there are strong links between this case - one of the friends of the young man is the daughter of the land owner of an estate. Keith had become obsessed with the WWII history of a portion of this land that had been an internment camp for Germans/Italians and others during the war. Are the death of young Salman bin Mahmoud and disappearance of Keith connected? 

This is very good. Nothing happens quickly, excellent detective work and evidence gathering abounds. Rebus tries very hard with his daughter, there is tension, some danger. The whole thing walks along at a steady and always riveting pace  if that is possible. The best type of thriller. So having gone from knowing nothing about this character or the other regulars, I now feel I have learnt a lot about interesting, real and much liked people. Will read more.