Journal Entry 1 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, February 15, 2004

A 2000 offering from Ian Rankin's "Inspector Rebus" series. The context for this murder mystery is the election of Scotland's first Parliament in 300 years in 1999. Much of the action takes place at the restoration/construction site for the new Parliament building at Holyrood (which five years later -- in 2004 -- has yet to be completed).

This book contained more information about Scottish history, politics and current events than any of Rankin's earlier "Rebus" novels, and I found this aspect of the book very enjoyable. I nonetheless found myself confused by the identities of the various characters, their relationship to one another, and the issues/events by which each was motivated. Looks like I'll have to resume keeping notes when I read mysteries...!

(For compulsives like me, who would prefer to read the whole "Inspector Rebus" series in order, here are the books in the series from the beginning: Knots and Crosses, Hide & Seek, Tooth & Nail, Strip Jack, A Good Hanging, The Black Book, Mortal Causes, Let it Bleed, Black & Blue, The Hanging Garden, Dead Souls, Death is Not the End (a novella), Set in Darkness, The Falls, Resurrection Men and A Question of Blood.) 

Journal Entry 2 by goatgrrl at Starbucks 6th and Columbia in New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, June 30, 2004