Tooth and Nail

Ian Rankin

6/24/2004

There is a serial killer in London who slices women's throats, performs some sexual mutalition, then bites their stomachs. The "Wolfman" was given the name because the first body was found on Wolf Street, but the name fits the macabre nature of the killings. Someone in Scotland Yard knows they need more help. A request is sent to Edinborough specifically for John Rebus to come south and lend his expertise.

Rebus doesn't understand why he is requested. He doesn't feel he is an expert in serial killers. But here he is in London trying to help Scotland Yard solve the bizarre murders. George Flight, his temporary superior, sees Rebus more as a hindrance than a help. Flight has done good police work, Rebus can see. Flight is methodical, Rebus is impulsive. When an attractive female psychologist steps forward to help profile the murdered, Rebus quickly uses her methods to help identify the man. Unfortunately, Rebus' tendency to follow his own lead without help leads some of the team into more danger than any of them are prepared to handle.

Tooth and Nail is the second Inspector John Rebus novel I have read. I think the interaction between Flight and Rebus, as well as Rebus and the detectives in the Yard murder room, is well done. The Yard detectives know they need help, but it's demeaning to have someone come in from the outside and solve their case for them. Flight handles it well, considering, because his main goal is to catch the murderer.

Rankin also gives the murderer's perspective in Tooth and Nail. That adds to the suspense, and helps throw a few red herrings in the way as well. Tooth and Nail is a good detective read.

You can find this book at or your local library.

Knots and Crosses
Hide and Seek
Tooth and Nail
Strip Jack
A Good Hanging
The Black Book
Mortal Causes
Let It Bleed
Black and Blue
The Hanging Garden
Dead Souls
Death is Not the End
Set in Darkness
The Falls
Resurrection Man
A Question of Blood
Fleshmarket Alley