The Naming of the Dead

by: Ian Rankin

Published by: Little, Brown and Company

Reviewed by Elysabeth Eldering

Did you ever pick up a book based on the title and the little publisher's blurb thinking it would be a great book? I found nothing but disappointment.

Naming of the Dead is actually a continuation in a series of stories by Ian Rankin, and this one picks up with the assumption everyone has read the previous books. Unfortunately, I had not. There was very little to help me figure out the characters in way of personality. The other part of the book that disappointed was the fact that the story was very passive--the author did a lot of telling and very little showing. For this to be a mystery or thriller or suspense, you need action and that is what moves the story along.

I can't even really tell you what the story is about since it didn't hold my attention very long. I'd rather read a thousand page manuscript that is full of action and keeps me turning the pages than a four hundred and fifty something page story that is telling me everything.

I'm sure to others that Mr. Rankin is a great writer and probably has some good books out there, but he's not for me.

Armchair Interviews says: Possible problem for any reader who has not read others in series.