Whilst working on an old World War 2 crime, John Rebus gets wrapped up in one of the worst gang wars in Edinburgh after his daughter is involved in a hit and run, leaving her in a coma. Rebus does everything he can, including turning to crime boss `Big Ger' Cafferty for help, to take down a new-comer on the gang scene, Tommy Telford.
I've read all of the Rebus books and this is without a doubt one of the most exciting and most multi-layered of them all. So much is going on the whole time with so many great characters that it doesn't have chance to slow down for a single paragraph. Some old faces return as well as some new ones (which are in later novels) are introduced. Rebus' character really evolves in this novel, showing more of his family background and his love for his daughter Sammy as well as being more passionate than ever to stop a gang war getting out of control. THE HANGING GARDEN is a very fluid and easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and look forward to reading the next in the series now. Although there are many excellent British crime authors about these days such as Simon Beckett and Mark Billingham, it's books like this one that really prove that Ian Rankin is the best of them all.
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