The Impossible Dead (Malcolm Fox, #2)

by Ian Rankin

The Complaints: that's the name given to the Internal Affairs department who seek out dirty and compromised cops, the ones who've made deals with the devil. And sometimes The Complaints must travel.

A major inquiry into a neighboring police force sees Malcolm Fox and his colleagues cast adrift, unsure of territory, protocol, or who they can trust. An entire station-house looks to have been compromised, but as Fox digs deeper he finds the trail leads him back in time to the suicide of a prominent politician and activist. There are secrets buried in the past, and reputations on the line.

In his newest pulse-pounding thriller, Ian Rankin holds up a mirror to an age of fear and paranoia, and shows us something of our own lives reflected there.

• ISBN10: 0316078778
• ISBN13: 9780316078771
• Publish Date: 6 November 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[mackhazelwood]

Another great mystery novel by the great Scottish author Ian Rankin.

[Lianne]

This was my first Ian Rankin novel and I absolutely enjoyed it from start to finish. The case itself was a bit of a slow burn as Malcolm and his team were initially in the town due to investigate Detective Paul Carter, only to stumble onto a larger case with wider implications. Nationalist politics, radical movements, espionage and cover-ups, it really held my interest as you follow Malcolm trying to piece everything together and figure out what was really going on.

What I especially enjoyed about this novel was how as the story unfolds and the mystery deepens, I found myself learning more about Malcolm himself, like his character was also unfolding before my eyes. At first I thought he was a pretty straightforward cop–humourless, organised, to the book, the usual. But the more I read, the more I learn that there’s a lot to Malcolm Fox, his dedication and perseverance in a department that’s despised amongst police circles, his rather dry humour and his family life. His personal storyline regarding his father and his sister was just as interesting and a very telling inclusion about who Malcolm is as a character.

While the writing feels clinical at times, it sets the tone of the story perfectly. Fans of crime and mystery novels will enjoy this title.

You can read this review in its entirety over at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/12/06/review-the-impossible-dead/