Case Files on the Sequels

Autumn is a good time to catch up on favourite detectives. A sample of familiar men and women who are back with new cases

Exit Music
Ian Rankin
It is Rankin8217;s eighteenth John Rebus book and, as the title suggests, it could also be his last, since in Exit Music he retires. Rankin above is believed to be clear that this is the last outing of his Edinburgh-based detective, but his fans will live in hope. Rebus8217;s investigation into the death of a Russian poet has all the political and geostrategic dimensions that have become the staple of Rankin novels. But even by his high standards, the last few pages of the book are simply brilliant.

The Careful Use of Compliments
Alexander McCall Smith
Isabel Dalhousie is an unusual detective. This fortysomething resident of Edinburgh is an heiress who anonymously gives away large chunks of her income, edits The Review of Applied Ethics, and is mindful of the moral position of each happening in her daily life. And as she goes about her quiet existence, this good-natured and good-humoured mindfulness spurs her to do things that in the perception of her dear ones often amount to interference. In this fourth instalment of the Dalhousie series, she becomes a mother and so expect her meditations to become even more nuanced.

Friend of the Devil
Peter Robinson
This is the seventeenth Inspector Banks investigation from Robinson. As he investigates the death of a woman in wheelchair by the sea and another death after rape, Banks starts finding threads that connect his cases to a colleague.

Suffer the Little Children
Donna Leon
Guido Brunetti8217;s cases have, in the more recent Leon books, been making larger points about the moral crises not just in his native Venice, but globally: issues of immigration, copyright and exploitation, for instance. In this book out earlier this year, while investigating the death of a doctor, Brunetti gains a horrifying picture of the underground industry in child adoption and the horrifying collusion between pharmacists and doctors. As his regular readers know, his wife Paula8217;s political views will inevitably frame the telling of the investigation. As will the food and sights of Venice.

Stalin8217;s Ghost
Martin Cruz Smith
It could happen to anybody in Moscow on a cold winter night: s/he could well get the feeling that Stalin8217;s ghost has just passed by. But when passengers on a city train say they have seen his ghost, Arkady Renko must investigate. With many other investigations tying in, Stalin8217;s Ghost is one more way of understanding the lingering aspects of the Soviet communist past in Vladimir Putin8217;s Russia.