A student has gone missing in Edinburgh. She's not just any student, though, but the daughter of well-to-do and influential bankers. There's almost nothing to go on until DI John Rebus gets an unmistakable gut feeling that there's more to this than just another runaway spaced out on unaccustomed freedom. Two leads emerge: a carved wooden doll in a toy coffin, found in the student's home village, and an internet role-playing game. The ancient and the modern, brought together by uncomfortable circumstance...

When a former soldier shoots two students and then himself in an Edinburgh classroom, Detective Inspector John Rebus gets the case. The investigation, which starts on the gritty streets of Scotland's capitol, soon winds its way into military and governmental alleys with which Rebus is less familiar. Meanwhile, Rebus's partner is being stalked, and Rebus himself has more than his fair share of troubles as his unorthodox methods continue to attract unwarranted attention from his superiors.

Rebus is off the case — literally. A few days into the murder inquiry of an Edinburgh art dealer, Rebus blows up at a colleague. He is sent to the Scottish Police College for 'retraining' — in other words, he's in the Last Chance Saloon. Rebus is assigned to an old, unsolved case, but there are those in his team who have their own secrets — and they'll stop at nothing to protect them. Rebus is also asked to act as a go-between for gangster 'Big Ger' Cafferty. And as newly promoted DS Siobhan Clarke works the case of the murdered art dealer, she is brought closer to Cafferty than she could ever have anticipated...

Edinburgh is about to become the home of the first Scottish parliament in 300 years. As political passions run high, DI John Rebus is charged with liaison, thanks to the new parliament being resident in Queensbury House, bang in the middle of his patch. But Queensbury House has its own, dark past. Legend has it that a young man was roasted there on a spit by a madman. When the fireplace where the youth died is uncovered another more recent murder victim is found. Days later, in the gardens outside, there is another body and Rebus is under pressure to find instant answers. As the case proceeds, the Inspector finds himself face to face with one of Edinburgh's most notorious criminals...

Malcolm Fox is has been sent to Fife to investigate whether fellow cops covered up for a corrupt colleague, Detective Paul Carter. Carter has been found guilty of misconduct — and the man who reported him was his own uncle. What should be a simple job is soon complicated by conspiracy and cover-up — and a brutal murder, a murder committed with a weapon that should not even exist. The spiralling investigation takes Fox back to 1985, a year of turmoil in British political life. Terrorists intent on a split between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom were becoming more brazen and ruthless, sending letter-bombs and poisonous spores to government offices, plotting kidnaps and murder, and trying to stay one step ahead of the spies sent to flush them out. Fox has a duty to get at the truth, while the body count rises, the clock starts ticking, and he fights for his professional and personal life.

Nobody likes The Complaints — they're the cops who investigate other cops. Complaints and Conduct Department, to give them their full title, but known colloquially as 'the Dark Side', or simply 'The Complaints'. Malcolm Fox works for The Complaints. He's just had a result, and should be feeling good about himself. But he's middle-aged, sour and unwell. He also has a father in a care home and a sister who persists in an abusive relationship. In the midst of an aggressive Edinburgh winter, the reluctant Fox is given a new task. There's a cop called Jamie Breck, and he's dirty. Problem is, no one can prove it. But as Fox takes on the job, he learns that there's more to Breck than anyone thinks. This knowledge will prove dangerous, especially when murder intervenes.

World leaders descend on Scotland for an international conference. During a dinner at Edinburgh Castle, a delegate falls to his death. While authorities attempt to keep the incident quiet, Inspector Rebus has only 72 hours to find the answers.

Stalking a poisoner at the local zoo, Inspector John Rebus comes across a paedophile taking pictures of children. When the social workers claim he is there for legitimate educational reasons, Rebus is faced with a dilemma — should he be outed to protect local kids or given a chance to start anew? As the locals begin a hate campaign Rebus gets a call from the past: the son of a friend has gone missing and no one else will make time to ask the right questions. And then a fragment of Scotland's criminal history is repatriated at the end of a life sentence for murder. Once more Rebus's cup of trouble runneth over and the ghosts of past misdeeds return to haunt Edinburgh's streets.

«Concrete Evidence»: A skeleton is found in the concrete cellar floor of an old Edinburgh house. Whose skeleton is it? Was there a murder? Why? And who was the murderer? Is there any connection with the building company which laid the concrete floor thirty years before? Rebus has his suspicions, but before he can positively identify the dead man and his murderer, he needs «concrete evidence». «The Gentlemen's Club»: Seventeen-year-old Suzanne McKenzie was good at school, had rich parents and no boyfriend problems. So why should she kill herself? She was found naked in the bath with her wrists cut, even though — or perhaps because — she knew that her father would be the first to come into the bathroom that morning. The truths which Rebus discovers do not reflect well on the inner circle of Edinburgh society.»

A series of seemingly random disappearances — stretching back to the millennium. A mother determined to find the truth. A retired cop desperate to get his old life back... It's been some time since Rebus was forced to retire, and now works as a civilian in a cold case unit. So when a long-dead case bursts back to life, he can't resist the opportunity to get his feet under the CID desk once more. But Rebus is as stubborn and anarchic as ever, and he quickly finds himself in deep with pretty much everyone, including DS Siobhan Clarke. All Rebus wants to do is uncover the truth. The big question is: can he be the man he once was and still stay on the right side of the law?