The Heights by Ian Rankin

The Heights is the new novel by Ian Rankin. Published on 8th October, it is his first standalone novel for about 20 years. I’m a huge Ian Rankin fan, so I preordered it for half price from Waterstones and got it on publication day. I finished reading it on 12th October!

The Heights is set in London, in a stunning new building of the same name, populated by the super-rich. Among the residents are a couple of celebrities and some who didn’t make their fortune through legal means.

When the concierge is murdered, all of the wealthy residents find themselves under suspicion. And they all seem to have something to hide.

Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish is on the case, juggling her time with caring for her mum, whose health and behaviour are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Gish lives in Tottenham Hale, with a real sense of community, a million miles away from the anonymous glass and chrome of The Heights.

Gish and her colleagues try to piece together what happened on that night. There was a party and a scuffle, but where is the CCTV? Did someone get inside or was it one of the residents? Did the paparazzi and fans almost permanently outside the building see anything?

I don’t want to give anything away, but this is a brilliant read and a real page turner. There is a huge cast of characters, so you definitely need to concentrate! Ian Rankin always moves with the times in his writing, so all the references in this feel completely up to date.

I’ve read just two of his standalone novels before – Witch Hunt (which is definitely his worst book in my opinion) and Doors Open, which I read very recently (review coming soon). As soon as I started The Heights I thought there was a theme they shared, but The Heights is a much better read, in my opinion, and everything is much bigger.

I was lucky enough to see Ian at Cheltenham Literature Festival (for the third time!) only three days after publication. He wouldn’t commit, but I suspect we haven’t seen the last of Gish. And we probably haven’t seen the last of Rebus either – who was in prison in the most recent book, Midnight and Blue.

If you like a proper police procedural type of detective story, I would definitely recommend The Heights (and all of Ian Rankin’s Rebus books).