“Tooth and Nail” by Ian Rankin is one of the earliest Rebus novels, so it’s a bit shorter than the later ones. Having said that, the story packs a punch.
Rebus is sent down to London as an “expert” on serial killers to help the Met with a killer of their own. He battles bigotry as he tries to track down the killer that the media has dubbed “Wolfman”.
The story plods along a little, right up to the big reveal of the killer, and that point the story explodes. I was laughing with sheer delight by this point. I don’t think any other writer could have got away with what Ian Rankin did. In fact, I know they couldn’t have, because I know any other writer would have had me throwing the book against the wall with cries of “Bollocks” and “This is ridiculous crap.”
Much of the story is set around parts of London that I know and love, which made it much easier for me to visualise the action.
“Tooth and Nail” is, I think, the book where we first got to see just how special Ian Rankin is as a writer.
Highly recommended.
margysmusings 
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