Police detective John Rebus is
called down from Edinburgh to London to help with the case of a serial killer,
known as the Wolfman.  Rebus isn’t sure he is the right man for the job, since
he does not really consider himself an expert on serial killers.  Several of
the London police on the case are hostile to him too, seeing him as a Scottish
invader.  But the novelty of being in London and the possibility of a fling
with an attractive psychologist keep him on the case. 

Rankin, a seasoned mystery writer,
gives us a glimpse into the mind of the killer by showing his thoughts as he
kills, but does not disclose the murderer’s identity until the end of the
book.  What makes Tooth & Nail psychologically interesting is not so
much the ravings of the madman, which do not show much insight, is Rebus’
consideration of psychology.  He does not show much initial interest in
forensic psychology but when a woman called Lisa tells him that she is an expert
on the motivations of serial killers and could help him bring a profile, he
accepts her offer.  Rebus has his own methods though, and he is skeptical about
the speculations about the mind of the killer.  Rebus starts to play a game of
provoking the killer via the newspapers, in an effort to get the maniac to make
a mistake and betray his identity. 

Tooth & Nail is a rather
standard detective mystery from the 1990s that has recently been published as
an unabridged audiobook.  The performance by Samuel Gillies is strong, although
he faces a dilemma in his reading.  The Londoners that Rebus meets complain
that his Scottish accent is so think that they can’t understand him, yet
Gillies has to make his words comprehensible.  He ends up giving Rebus a mild
accent, which works well enough. 

The criminal psychology in the book
is uninspiring, although Rankin does attempt to give some explanation of why
the killer has such homicidal cravings.  The book is entertaining, especially
with its theme of the Scotsman learning to cope with English ways, and the
story flows well. 

© 2006 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.