Blurb........
Nobody likes The Complaints - they're the cops who investigate other
cops. Complaints and Conduct Department, to give them their full title, but
known colloquially as 'the Dark Side', or simply 'The Complaints'. Malcolm Fox
works for The Complaints. He's just had a result, and should be feeling good
about himself. But he's middle-aged, sour and unwell. He also has a father in a
care home and a sister who persists in an abusive relationship.
In the midst of an aggressive Edinburgh winter, the reluctant Fox is
given a new task. There's a cop called Jamie Breck, and he's dirty. Problem is,
no one can prove it. But as Fox takes on the job, he learns that there's more
to Breck than anyone thinks. This knowledge will prove dangerous, especially when
murder intervenes.
Confession time here, I’ve been a devotee of crime
fiction for 20-odd years and shock-horror in all that time I have only ever
read one book by Ian Rankin! After this venture north of the border that is
something I’ll have to address.
The Complaints is the first in what is hopefully
going to be another long running series from the author. There’s definitely a
second outing for the team, as the back of my edition offers the first chapter
in this follow-up, The Impossible Dead. Happily I have a copy of this somewhere
at home that will be demanding some attention later on in the year.
I thought the pace was slightly slow in the first
half of the book, as Rankin seemed intent on introducing Fox and the team to
the reader- mainly Fox. We learn about his family, his problems with alcohol
and his job as one of the peeping Toms, spying on his fellow cops. It picked up
speed in the second half as all the strands of the investigation came together.
Enjoyable and entertaining with a satisfactory
conclusion. Interesting characters throughout, though I was slightly less fond
of Breck than Fox.
My wife read this late last year, and it’s good to know we’re on the same page, as she liked it too.
4 from 5
My copy was a bargain obtained from a local charity
shop.
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