Exit Music
| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Books |
Exit Music is the seventeenth installment in Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus crime fiction series, released in 2007 by Orion Books.
The novel's name alludes to the Radiohead track "Exit Music (For a Film)".
Plot summary
The narrative unfolds from November 15 to 27, 2006, centering on Detective Inspector John Rebus during his concluding period within Edinburgh's CID. Rebus teams up with Siobhan Clarke to probe the murder of a celebrated Russian poet, discovered severely beaten on King's Stables Road. Shortly thereafter, a sound engineer linked to the poet perishes in a fire set deliberately. Rebus uncovers that the poet had his final meal with this sound recordist and subsequently met with Morris Gerald Cafferty, his criminal adversary, at a pub where Cafferty was in the company of a Russian oligarch and a Labour member from the Scottish Parliament. Although Cafferty engages in various illegal enterprises such as drug trafficking and exploitative landlord behavior, his principal ventures revolve around lawful property development.
Meanwhile, DS Siobhan Clarke, on the verge of promotion to DI and heading the investigation, strives to forge her distinct methodology while preparing to take over from Rebus. She also guides Todd Goodyear, a patrol officer from a background tied to minor criminality.
Following an incident where Rebus insults an influential Scottish banker in front of the Chief Constable, he faces suspension but persists with his inquiries, frequently collaborating with Clarke. After meeting Cafferty alone, Cafferty suffers an assault, and Rebus is subsequently framed for this attack. On his final working day, Rebus identifies the perpetrators behind the deaths of both the poet and sound recordist and ultimately reveals those responsible for framing him.
Place in the Rebus novels
Exit Music signifies Detective Inspector John Rebus’s retirement at age 60. Since 2000, Rankin had envisioned this milestone, acknowledging that Rebus "exists in real time" and initially expected retirement at 55; however, the character deferred it until reaching 60 (November 2006). In prior volumes (Fleshmarket Close and The Naming of the Dead), retirement frequently occupies Rebus’s thoughts. Rankin expressed mixed feelings about concluding the series with Rebus’s departure; in one video statement, he proposed that Exit Music "might be the final novel," presenting two potential conclusions: either Rebus is kissed by Siobhan Clarke or fatally stabbed by Cafferty. The actual conclusion remains ambiguous as Rebus revives an injured Cafferty.
After this book, Rankin paused publishing new Rebus stories for five years and instead introduced a new lead character, Malcolm Fox, featured in The Complaints (2009) and The Impossible Dead (2011). Subsequently, Rebus returned as a co-lead alongside Fox in Standing in Another Man's Grave (2012).
Malcolm Fox, whose role involves Internal Affairs investigations into police corruption, is hinted at within Exit Music. Todd Goodyear, an eager protégé of Siobhan Clarke, exemplifies evolving policing practices compared to those during Rebus’s early career—a period when even upright officers might lie to shield colleagues or frame suspects, as depicted in Black and Blue. While Rebus’s unorthodox methods enabled him to manage such challenges, they also caused some to suspect collusion with Cafferty. Siobhan Clarke rejects this traditional "brotherhood" ethos due to her awareness of corruption risks; her more informed outlook signals a departure from the old “us versus them” mindset. Laura Severin notes:
[Siobhan’s] self-conception is pragmatic rather than heroic and thus independent of whether Cafferty survives or dies. This closing scene [of Exit Music] demonstrates that while Rebus remains invested in a patriarchal framework divided into good and evil, Clarke … already inhabits a postpatriarchal realm more attuned to social, cultural, and political nuances.
Fox takes this pragmatic perspective further by operating with greater autonomy than Siobhan within police structures.
Reception
- In 2008, Ian Rankin received the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Author of the Year.