John Rebus has trouble in the form of a paroled murderer, a pedophile and the missing son of a former sweetheart, all coming together in a mystery that could cost him everything.

Inspector John Rebus investigates a body found in a Queensbury House fireplace, the suicide of a homeless man in possession of a fortune, and the murder of an ambitious politician--three deaths with ties to one of Scotland's most notorious criminals.

Edinburgh detective John Rebus gets involved with the case of a missing young woman. His only clues are an Internet-based role-playing game and a wooden doll stuffed into a tiny casket.

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is investigating the death of a senior lawyer during a robbery. The case becomes more complex when a note is discovered, indicating that this may have been no random attack. When local gangster Big Ger Cafferty receives an identical message, Clarke decides that the recently retired John Rebus may be able to help. Together the two old adversaries might just stand a chance of saving Cafferty's skin. But a notorious...

"In Edinburgh you're never far from a peaceful spot, or from a hellish one either. Now, in the heart of summer, in the midst of a nationalist festival, Inspector John Rebus is on the murder case of a young man left hanging in a spot where his screams would never be heart. To find the victim's identity--and his killer--Rebus searches from Edinburgh's most violent neighborhood to Belfast, Northern Ireland, among petty thugs, gunrunners, and heavyweight...

"When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it's not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days. Rebus fears the worst--and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect. He wasn't the best father--the job always came first--but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective? As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast--and a...

Two Scottish detectives investigate the disappearance of a hitchhiking teenage girl, their only clue a photo sent from the missing girl's cell phone. Rebus has never shied away from lost causes, one of the many ways he managed to antagonize his bosses when he was on the force. Now he's back as a retired civilian, reviewing abandoned files. Necessary work, but it's not exactly scratching the itch he feels to be in the heart of the action. He's investigating...

Already tackling a murder in Edinburgh, Inspector John Rebus becomes involved when a copy-cat serial rapist called "Bible Johnny" begins striking in Aberdeen and must keep his wits about him in the center of the media circus surrounding the case.