Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A shooting incident at a private school just north of Edinburgh. Two seventeen-year olds killed by an ex-Army loner who has gone off the rails. As Detective Inspector John Rebus puts it, 'there's no mystery'... except the why. But this question takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Ex-Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone. Army investigators are on the scene, and won't be shaken off. The killer had friends and enemies to spare - ranging from civic leaders to the local Goths - leaving behind a legacy of secrets and lies. Rebus has more than his share of personal problems, too. He's fresh out of hospital, hands heavily bandaged, and he won't say how it happened. Could there be a connection with a house-fire and the unfortunate death of a petty criminal who had been harrassing Rebus's colleague Siobhan Clarke? Rebus's bosses seem to think so...

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

If a butterfly bites the dust in Rotterdam, what's the fallout in Edinburgh? A web of delicate relationships lies at the heart of the latest entry in Rankin's benchmark Inspector Rebus series (after Resurrection Men). Rebus finds himself in hot water again, this time literally, with severely scalded hands, the result of either too hot dish- or bathwater. After the stalker of a colleague turns up dead-in a fire-suspicion naturally falls on Rebus, who is suspended for the duration of the investigation. Meanwhile, a school shooting reminiscent of the Dunblane massacre in 1996 leaves two students and the assailant dead, with a third wounded. It all seems elementary enough, until Rebus, with time on his bandaged hands, is called in as a consultant, complicating matters by unraveling the simplistic solutions. When everything falls into place, drugs, Rotterdam diamonds, and the Edinburgh goth scene are all shown to play a part. And as Rebus investigates the school assailant-a Special Air Service dropout and loner-embarrassing parallels develop between them that are appropriate enough to the city that spawned Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A good choice for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/03.]-Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

The 14th novel to feature the always compelling (and, as his name suggests, perpetually puzzling) John Rebus begins with what seems to be a uniquely American crime: a madman enters a school and starts shooting, killing two students and wounding a third before turning the gun on himself. But we're in Rankin country-a perpetually damp and morally bankrupt Edinburgh-with Rebus and Siobhan Clarke searching for the real story behind what seems an act of sheer madness. This immensely satisfying police procedural has plenty of forensic science, but Rebus knows that "none of it might make them any the wiser about the only question that mattered....The why." Why did Lee Herdman, a drop-out of the U.K. version of the Special Forces, go on a rampage? Why was James Bell, the son of a self-righteous Scottish M.P., merely wounded? And why are two Army investigators sniffing around the case? A subplot has Rebus himself under suspicion of murder: a minor criminal is found dead, burned in an apartment fire, and Rebus shows up with heavily bandaged hands the next morning. The detectives encounter every stratum of contemporary Scottish society, from angry teenage toughs and petty criminals to the privileged and the powerful. It's a complex narrative, perhaps too much so at times, but the plot is less important than Rebus himself, a brilliantly conceived hero who is all too aware of his own shortcomings. In an essentially amoral society, his moral compass is always pointed steadily towards the truth. (Feb. 9) Forecast: According to the English newspaper The Guardian, Rankin books account for 10% of all crime book sales in the U.K. Already a #1 bestseller in Britain, A Question of Blood is bound to enfold more American readers in the Rankin cult. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Those dialogues of the left-unsaid that have been plaguing Edinburgh copper John Rebus for years (but especially in Dead Souls, 1999) are making themselves heard again, this time in response to an ugly murder with ties to Rebus' own life and family. When a seemingly berserk veteran of the British army's special forces shoots himself after killing two teenage boys and wounding another, Rebus is asked by a colleague to help get inside the shooter's head. (Rebus carries his own scars from the army.) Meanwhile, the rule-breaking inspector is once again the object of an internal investigation, this time to determine if he was involved in the death of a lowlife who was stalking Rebus' partner, Siobhan Clarke. Rebus' demons may not seem quite as compelling a metaphor for the heart of darkness as they once did (Rankin has been mining this theme steadily through 15 books), but the character himself remains among the most fascinating in the genre. Cantankerously anachronistic, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, unrepentantly individualistic loner absolutely refuses to accommodate himself to a repugnant modern world full of white-wine-drinking, rule-following company men and women. About the only thing left in Rebus' world that he understands is the bad guys, which is why he pursues them so vigorously. Even if his demons have become familiar, his rants are like poetry to kindred souls. --Bill Ott Copyright 2003 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Once again up on charges, DI John Rebus defies suspension and scalded hands to work two difficult cases. Rebus's first problem is how to prove to his partner, Siobhan Clarke, and their boss, DCI Gill Templer, that despite severely burned fingers, he didn't set Martin Fairstone ablaze to avenge his stalking and brutalizing of Siobhan. Trying to circumvent Templer's wrath and needing Siobhan to drive until his hands heal, Rebus responds with her to DI Bobby Hogan's need for help with a pair of 17-year-old corpses in South Queensferry, one the son of a judge, the other the son of Rebus's cousin Allan. Also lying dead is the shooter, ex-SAS soldier Lee Herdman. Recovering at home with his dad, a publicity-hungry anti-gun Scottish MP, is the tragedy's sole survivor: wounded student James Bell. Why did Herdman target the youngsters, then kill himself? Rebus is stymied by two hostile SAS investigators who always seem to be in his way, perhaps covering up evidence, perhaps planting some. And too many people are distracted by nubile Teri Cotter's Web site, which shows her bedroom antics 24/7. Meanwhile, Siobhan has acquired a second stalker, and Rebus seems fixated on the antics of lowlife Peacock Johnson and his gofer, Evil Bob. A notch below quintessential Rankin (Resurrection Man, Feb. 2003, etc.) with a wrap-up that doesn't quite ring true and a Rebus too dependent on painkillers and single-malt. But Siobhan--now there's a lassie to admire. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Ian Rankin lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons.