Ian Rankin's "The Hanging Garden" (1998), part of his John Rebus police detective series set in Scotland, pits Rebus' wits and hunches against gangs competing for the drug and prostitute trade, and maybe more. It also pits Rebus' willpower against his ever-present urge to drink and forget about it all.
SCORE: B+ ( )

Complex but well put together; very satisfying, both in plot line/s and Rebus's personal development.

John Rebus is investigating a crime from World War Two: A war criminal, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of French people, is supposed to have hid in Edinburgh since the end of the war. But Rebus is also drawn into a battle of different gangs in the city, and everything becomes personal when his daughter has an accident that might be connected to it.

I must say that to me this was the best Rebus book so far. All the strands of the story were equally gripping, and I enjoyed the style and atmosphere so much. Usually I am not a fan of the plots involving the Scottish gangsters and too many police persons from the different stations, but while it was still a bit hard to not loose track of who was who, it was easier than in the previous novels and did not distract from the plot. What a superb crime novel! I hope to continue with the series soon! ( )

El joven delincuente Tommy Telford ha llegado a Edimburgo dispuesto a barrer del mapa a Big Ger Cafferty, un capo del crimen organizado que está cumpliendo condena gracias al inspector Rebus. Cuando se desate la guerra entre ambas bandas, Rebus se las verá con la mafia rusa, con la Yakuza, con el servicio de inteligencia británico y hasta con un excriminal nazi. ( )

Decent Rebus. Plot strains a bit, too much of the international Yakuza stuff. Rebus not quite filled out as a character, still doing the annoying music-reference thing as a crutch for personality. ( )