Exit Music

Just days before he turns 60 — which, in Edinburgh, means mandatory retirement from the department — Detective Inspector John Rebus gets one last case, the murder of a dissident Russian poet, in Ian Rankin’s Exit Music. But neither age nor impending leisure has mellowed Rebus, who’s as prickly as ever as he chases down clues with various bankers, politicians, mobsters, and academics. After 17 books, I’ve grown awfully fond of the old grouch; like the rest of his fans, I’m going to miss him terribly. A