" Whitemire - a detention center for asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East. Knoxland - a low income housing estate, run by the Council. Fleshmarket Alley - a sleazy area in Edinburgh. The Nook - a bar in the Fleshmarket area where the skeletons of a mother and child have been recently unearthed from beneath a concrete floor. The Bane - a bar in Baneville that is frequented by a recently released rapist.[return][return]The mix of these places is integrated into the story, but I found it all a bit forced. Rankin's detective John Rebus and his current police partner Siobhan carry out their separate investigations - the one of Rebus starts with the skeletons, the one of Siobhan starts with the rapist - and the writing is always interesting. But it felt to me that Rankin had an agenda, and that took away from the story itself.[return][return]This is my least favorite of the Rankin books I've read so far. "
— Mary, 1/5/2014