The Falls by Ian Rankin

 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Rebus has a new chief, a former girlfriend named Gillian.  But their relationship doesn't stop her from finding his tendency to go rogue something that needs to be nipped in the bud.  She is determined to make good in her new job and it doesn't matter who else gets hurt along the way.

As always, a new case comes along.  The daughter of a wealthy family has gone missing.  Is it a kidnap?  Something worse?  She had been headed out to a bar to meet some friends but never got there.  But she had argued with her on again, off again boyfriend that day also.  Was she taken off the street?  Murdered by her boyfriend?

As Rebus and the team investigate, something strange occurs.  A small wooden coffin is found at the falls outside the family's estate.  Rebus goes to pick it up and then discovers that there is a set of cases going back over several decades where women went missing and small coffins were found.  The cases were far apart and no one had put them together.  Was there a serial killer working who had never been detected?  Was this another case?  Rebus meets Jean, who works at the museum and who curates a collection of small coffins suspected of being attached to the Burke and Hart resurrection men case.  Is that connected?

This is the twelfth novel in the Rebus series.  Rebus is a typical Scotsman, fond of drinking and often morose.  He refuses to fit into the typical police mold but is so well connected and so good at solving the cases that mystify others that he has been allowed to keep his job.  Readers who already know the series will be thrilled to read another Rebus case, those who are new to the series have a treat ahead of them.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.