It's November, 2006. A body is found on King's Stables Road. DI John Rebus and DS Siobhan Clarke are on the case. Rebus knows this is his last case and Clark knows she will replace him — and she's already chosen her assistant, Todd Goodyear.  The department uses the CCTV to follow the victim's last moments. The CCTV leads to other types of surveillance. The victim turns out to be a Russian, which leads to a group of Russian businessmen, Scottish politicians and bankers. Conspiracy theories abound, but leave it to Rebus to be consistent by following his own theory and working his final case his way. This tenacious detective seems to have a never ending skill for rubbing people the wrong way. You'd think it would finally catch up to him....

Rebus and Clarke make quite a team. And it shows when they meet resistance in the case; their loyalty breaks the barriers and reveals the truth. Ultimately, with Exit Music, we are reminded of Rebus' lonely personal life and his passion for his job. So how will retirement work for him? We are left wondering.

As always, Rankin draws us into Edinburgh, showing us a darker side with no shades of hope. If this is the last in the series, Rebus is a character to be missed — just as we still miss Inspector Morse from author Colin Dexter's series.

The audio version is read by Scottish actor James MacPherson. MacPherson has also narrated previous Rankin novels. I realize some may think MacPherson isn't the physical version of Rebus, but he has come to be the voice of this dogged detective. So, to me, he is Rebus, which is why I prefer the Hachette audio books over the TV series.

Ian Rankin's Exit Music is another great listen in an exceptional series.