The Complaints by Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin, writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the first book by Ian Rankin that I have read. I am glad that I did. Malcolm Fox works in the Complaints and Conduct department of Lothian and Borders Police. This is the department that most cops do not care much for because the officers who work in this department take on the responsibility of investigating other cops. As an officer of ‘ the complaints’ Fox is not well liked by others on the force.

“ The Complaints” opens at the end of a case in which Malcolm Fox has had a result. He should be happy about this but there is something keeping him from being as happy as he should be. Personal problems plague Fox as he begins to look into a new case.

Jamie Breck, the new case assigned to the complaints department, is supposedly a dirty cop. It is up to Malcolm Fox and his team to try to gain the evidence needed to bring Jamie Breck to justice and end his career as a police officer. There is a problem with this however, no one can seem to prove that Breck is dirty.

The plot thickens as Fox’s sister, Jude’s, partner is found dead and Jamie Breck is one of the officers involved in the investigation. So we know have Fox investigating Breck as being a dirty cop and trying to find proof of this allegation and Breck investigating Fox as a possible lead in the murder of Jude’s partner.

This all makes for an interesting combination in plot twists. I found the book “ The Complaints” by Ian Rankin to be quite interesting and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good police mystery.