Ian Rankin is one of the most successful crime writers in Great Britain and, increasingly, in the United States. The series of novels featuring Inspector John Rebus has garnered praise from reviewers commensurate to a commercial success so widespread that, at one point, eight volumes from the series appeared in the top-ten list of best-sellers in Scotland, a feat that earned the author a citation from the Guinness Book of Records. The popularity of Rankin's books has led to their adaptation for broadcast on British television. Each new addition to the series over the years has been greeted by further critical and popular acclaim, while the series as a whole has been hailed for the complexity and ingenuity of the plots, the depth of characterization, and the insightfulness of its depiction of contemporary Scotland. The same characteristics that make the novels outstanding examples of the crime genre also...