Death Is Not the End: A Novella (Inspector Rebus Mysteries)
Inspector John Rebus of Edinburgh's finest has been knocking readers'  socks off for years, in 10 full-length police procedurals by Ian Rankin  that star the thoughtful, intelligent Scot.  In this neat little novella, he  does in 73 pages what many of his peers take three times as long to do--set an  interesting scene, solve a crime, develop a character, and allow him to grow and  change without sacrificing either pace or plot. Agreeing to track down the  missing son of his high school sweetheart and her husband, a friend of his  youth, Rebus takes the reader into the gritty back streets and criminal byways  of Edinburgh, following Damon Mee from the nightclub where he was last seen  through gambling casinos, football matches, and face-to-face encounters with the  mobsters who may have been involved in his disappearance.  Along the way Rebus  confronts his own mortality, the choices he's made, and the obligations he owes  his past.  The theme of vanishing was spun off fromDead Souls, a full- length novel; according to Rankin, he wrote this brief but fully-realized piece  first, then cannibalized  part of it as a sub-plot forDead Souls, "while  altering the histories of the characters involved so that both can be read  independently."  Which is why American fans who haven't yet readDead  Soulswill pick it up right after this one.Death Is Not the Endis  short enough to read on a shuttle flight and still have time for a nap.  But  like Rankin's other solid Rebus stories, it will stay with you even after you  wake up.--Jane Adams