Dead Souls by Ian Rankin (Paperback)

In Dead Souls, Detective Inspector John Rebus must navigate a tangle of tragedy, guilt and moral complexity. When his colleague Darren Rough is spotted photographing children at the Edinburgh Zoo, Rebus takes a personal—and controversial—interest. But Rough’s past is far darker than it seems.

Meanwhile, Cary Oakes, a convicted killer recently released from a US prison, returns to Edinburgh with unfinished business. As Rebus investigates Oakes’s motives, he uncovers ties to a string of chilling crimes and a network of corruption that spans decades.

When Jim Margolies, one of Rebus’s colleagues, commits suicide, Rebus is forced to confront uncomfortable questions about his fellow officers and what drove them to tragic ends. And then Damon Mee, the missing son of Rebus’s former flame, resurfaces under mysterious circumstances. His disappearance had haunted Rebus for years—and now the pieces may be coming together.

Bound together by their sins and their secrets, Rebus, Rough, Oakes and Mee navigate a city where fear, redemption and betrayal blur the lines of justice. Dead Souls asks whether redemption is possible—and if some ghosts can ever truly be laid to rest.