Detective Inspector John Rebus has come to a bleak point in his life. He's nearing retirement and he has little to show for it: no family, a stalled career, and a drinking problem. Many of his peers think of him as a "bent cop." At very least, they see him as an unpredictable maverick. He does have a loyal protégé, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke. He also has a girlfriend Jean with whom he is faltering towards a relationship. But, overall, in the twilight of his police career, his life looks grim.

Therefore, no one (except maybe Siobhan) is surprised when Rebus loses his temper one day and throws a mug of tea at his commanding officer. This earns him a quick trip to Tulliallan, the Scottish police college that sits outside a remote village halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. This will be his new home for the next several weeks.

Scottish Police College is where you get sent if you're a corrupt law enforcement officer who needs to be straightened out. The reprobates who are enrolled here are known as "the resurrection men." They are all nearing retirement and are all being given one last chance to redeem themselves before, presumably, being arrested or kicked out minus their pensions.

These cops are battle-hardened and thoroughly corrupt men who are used to doing things their own way. Most are just impossible to get along with. But one particularly hardcore group known as the Wild Bunch are suspected of much worse: planting evidence, committing murders, and stealing on a grand scale. As part of their atonement, these cops must labor together on cold cases to learn the virtues of teamwork.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Rebus acted on orders when throwing that mug of tea. He has been recruited by higher-ups to infiltrate the Wild Bunch as a spy and gather evidence on their illegal activities. He has to earn their trust fast: at the conclusion of the Scottish Police College course, the other five men in the Wild Bunch will fade off into retirement with their ill-gotten gains. They are a genuinely hard-bitten group, which Rankin infuses with poisonous energy.

That right there would be a great plot for a mystery novel. Instead, we get handed two additional plots along with five different character lists with which to keep the action straight. Rebus must come up with a scam with which to ensnare the Wild Bunch without getting arrested himself. Rebus and the Wild Bunch must also pursue Edinburgh's worst gangster through their cold case. In addition, Detective Siobhan Clarke and her rookie partner must solve the murder of an art dealer, and their efforts also bring them into the orbit of Edinburgh's worst gangster.

Resurrection Men got a little too complicated for me, and I'd recommend that you start at the beginning of the Inspector Rebus series with Knots and Crosses (1987) instead of jumping recklessly into the series as I did with this, the 13th book. Resurrection Men is available on Amazon through this link: Resurrection Men: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Novels)