Nearly every time I read one of Ian Rankin's novels, I think, "OK, this one is his best." Well, this one is going to be difficult for any of the others to beat, if only for its amazing scope. But it's never been about the money to you, Rebus, never just been a job."At another point Rebus sees himself as a janitor, cleaning up the messes everyone else leaves. As if there were not enough stress and anxiety going on that week in Scotland, on July 7, the second day of the summit meeting, multiple severe terrorist bombs wreak havoc, creating fear and causing considerable loss of life, in London.

Rebus consistently goes his own way -- a nice contrast to the many police officers in for the occasion, many of whom spend much of their time just waiting around for something to happen. The murderer had apparently taken a trophy, and that has now turned up -- along with evidence from the deaths of two other seedy characters.

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Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. The Naming of The Dead (Rankin took the title from a ceremony to honour those who had died in Iraq which took place in Edinburgh in 2005) has a nice initial premise. While every cop and his dog is pulling overtime to cope with the daily marches and demonstrations surrounding the summit, Rebus has been sidelined. Who wants him getting close to world leaders? But when a body is discovered in a spooky glade in Auchterarder (the location of the summit), Rebus, as the only person left in the office, is assigned the case and finds himself visiting the G8 after all. The Naming of the Dead is set at the beginning of July, 2005, during a busy time as everyone is preparing for (and then involved in) a G8 summit and the events surrounding it -- and all the protesters that come with that.

Rankin’s sixteenth novel in the Detective Inspector John Rebus series is set during the week of the summit, and the ceremonial reading of names captures some of the political resonance of the hundreds of thousands of people who came to Edinburgh during that week. The title also signals other deaths, such as the victims whose killer Rebus is seeking, and others murdered during the course of the novel. The novel opens with Rebus at the funeral of his younger brother, Michael, who had apparently died of a massive stroke at age fifty-four. On a much broader level, the naming of the dead suggests remembering all losses and the lament voiced by Rebus that often one can do little except name them. Despite that, Rebus is determined to seek justice and prevent further murders by at least one killer, a serial killer in the case at hand.Not only an intriguing murder-mystery but an excellent piece of reportage. Ian Rankin, despite his dodgy musical tastes, has produced yet another class act

obsessed and sidelined, thrawn and distrusted. Rebus had lost family and friends. When he went out drinking, he did so on his own, standing quietly at the bar, facing the row of optics." Literary significance and criticism [ edit ] The Naming of the Dead is a crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the sixteenth of the Inspector Rebus novels. It is set in Edinburgh in July 2005, in the week of the G8 summit in Gleneagles. G8 που έγινε το 2005 στη Σκωτία και το ίδιο καλοκαίρι, ενώ λίγο μετά έγινε η βομβιστική επίθεση στο μετρό του Λονδίνου - γεγονότα που εμφανίζονται στην υπόθεση. After getting out of prison Colliar had gone to work for Rebus' nemesis, 'Big Ger' Morris Gerald Cafferty, and Siobhan knows this is an opportunity Rebus won't let pass by:

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Edinburgh is preparing to host a trade summit where politicians and delegates from all over the world will be attending. Rebus's brother has just died suddenly of an apparent stroke, so we first find him at the funeral. He had not remained very close with his brother, but they had been very tight growing up and his memories color a lot of his thinking in this book. A well-known and disliked local lad has been murdered, not to anyone's surprise or regret. He was recently out of prison and was working as muscle for the local bad guy. But Rebus and his sergeant, Siobhan, still feel they should work the murder case. It is the eve of the G8 meeting in Edinburgh, so all of Scotland is involved in that, with many police from all over being reassigned to the meeting and the protests surrounding it.

By the end of the book, Clarke realises that she has grown closer than ever to understanding Rebus: Rankin again paints a corrupt world (even Bono's antipoverty crusade is suspect) in convincing shades of gray" - Will Boisvert, Entertainment Weekly The G8 conference is taking place in Edinburgh, and while all other officers have been deployed, DI John Rebus has not. During one conference event, a young politician dies. The police are calling it suicide; Rebus isn’t so certain. That investigation is supplanted by another case. A token is found in “clootie well,” a place where items are placed in remembrance of the dead. The token, and others near it, lead to the possibility of a serial killer targeting recently-released rapists. DS Siobhan Clarke is on the hunt to the riot cop who assaulted her mother during one of the G8 demonstrations. Indeed, take the pieces of the mystery together and it's all far too convenient -- so much is connected ! The title refers to: the ceremony Clarke's ageing left-wing parents attend, where the names of a sampling of the dead from the Iraq War are read out; the list of victims created by Rebus and Clarke as they try to unravel the crime; and also to John Rebus' evocation of grief in naming the many of his own friends and family who have died in the course of his life.Rebus may seem always to be running on something very near empty, but there is no sign that Rankin has lost any of the energy to continue this consistently impressive series." - David Horspool, Sunday Times Unquestionably a best from Rankin, The Naming of the Dead goes way beyond the scope of even the greatest crime thrillers to become an essential state-of-the-nation take on 21st century Britain. This is possibly the best novel you will read in your life full stop. Yes, it is that good