The Complaints by Ian Rankin

The Complaints are cops who investigate other cops.  Here is the US we call the Internal Affairs.  Nobody likes them much no matter which side of the pond you live on.

This is a Reagan Arthur imprint published by Little Brown and will be available for purchase in March, 2011.  (Thank you for the ARC review copy.)

It's set in Edinburgh and Mr. Rankin has created a new character:  Malcolm Fox.  Besides his job (which has its own deep challenges), Malcolm has a father in a nursing home and a sister in an abusive relationship - which she won't change.  He also carries another monkey on his back.  He's an alcoholic who hasn't had a drink for five years, but still thinks about it daily.

Mr. Rankin has a really devious mind.  He pits his two main characters against each other and then puts them in a working relationship.  He pulls in past cases, family problems, current investigations and politics and mixes it all in a nice big bowl of confusion, making the answers dark and hard to see.

It has a good pace, there is plenty of action, lots of conflict, lots of misdirection and lots of retribution in the story.  It won't bore you.  This Scottish author gives you your money's worth.

If you'd like my ARC, leave a comment here on my blog and email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) with your name and address and why you would like to read it.

Happy reading!