THERE’S a special joy in seeing a familiar character in an unfamiliar place. Take John Rebus. Solitary curmudgeon he may be, but Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh detective is a man engaged in his world, be it the city mortuary or the Oxford bar. Take him out of that world, as Rankin does in John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues, and you have a character in search of definition.
Self-isolating during the Covid-19 crisis, this Rebus is left with nothing but memories, beer bottles and his record collection to fill the time between socially distanced visits from protege Siobhan. It’s simultaneously funny and sad. [READ MORE]
