The Impossible Dead cover art

The Impossible Dead

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Impossible Dead

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: Peter Forbes
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Malcolm Fox and his team are back. They've 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 with his own uncle, also in the force, having proved to be his nemesis. But what should be a simple job is soon complicated by intimations of conspiracy - and a brutal 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 UK were becoming more 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 find them. 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.

©2011 John Rebus Ltd (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Crime Fiction Mystery Suspense Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Rise cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
The Bonnie Dead cover art
A Long Time Dead cover art
Grimm Up North cover art
The Devil Stone cover art
The Turning of Our Bones cover art
Laidlaw cover art
No Man's Land cover art
The One That Got Away cover art
Frozen Out cover art
Gone to Ground ) cover art
Dig Two Graves cover art
The Murder Wall cover art
Soho Dead cover art
Lola Is Missing cover art

What listeners say about The Impossible Dead

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    412
  • 4 Stars
    255
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    28
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    295
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    254
  • 4 Stars
    110
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

First class!

I thoroughly recommend this book. The story line is great, Malcolm Fox is a really likeable character, and the book is SO well read by Peter Forbes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Rankin at his best

I loved the Rebus stories and wondered how the new character would work but the character of Malcolm Fox works really well. I was not disappointed. The plots are good and kept me guessing right through the book. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not on Rebus level but still good.

Story to start was a bit all over the place and hard to follow. Maybe reading would be better so you can flick back. Enjoyed the humanising of Fox by including an old flame and family.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A converted Rankin fan

Chose this because of the special offer but so glad I did. The plot was a very absorbing one, and I was taken with the light it threw on the police operations; this is my first Rankin novel as detective novels are not usually my book of choice. The narrator was first class, and I liked the differences he achieved in both the voices of the main characters and their particular Scottish accents. The interplay between the three main cops was particularly enjoyable and amusing. I think there's another Inspector Fox story available and look forward to listening to this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Clever but complex!

Brilliantly narrated by Peter Forbes, this feels like Rankin settling into writing Michael Fox. Although I enjoyed his first outing in 'The Complaints', the conspiracies of the first novel meant it wasn't quite such a glimpse of the real complaints as it perhaps might be. This multi-layered story felt like it was on more solid ground and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story

Another excellent story by Rankin. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of twists and turns in the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome ...

Great plot and characterization super narrator, l enjoyed this even more than the Rebus series... let's have more please

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

wow

Gripping. Fox is an interesting character - very compelling and totally different from Rankin's long-time anti-hero: Rebus. This is multi-layered, complex, sophisticated. A great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

“A Real Cop’s What He Needs”.

I’ve enjoyed the second instalment in the Malcolm Fox series.

The story had numerous twists and turns and Fox makes for an interesting character.

My only downside was I couldn’t get used to the narrator. He seemed to regularly narrate in a a monotone style.

I’m hoping we get more Malcolm Fox stories, but with another narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

usual Ian Rankin quality

I wish Malcolm would fall in love with someone. Good storylines, characters good, a nod to Rebus in there, well done, I enjoyed it, good book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!