Making the “Cut”

Euro Crime’s Karen Meek reports that Scottish novelist Ian Rankin has used a competition to select the title of his 17th and last Inspector John Rebus book. It will be called The Final Cut, which Rankin reminds us was originally the title of a Pink Floyd song. (It was also the alternative title of Caedmon’s Song, Peter Robinson’s 1990 standalone--but apparently that isn’t a good enough reason to choose something more unique.)

Amazon UK offers the following plot synopsis for Rankin’s The Final Cut (which is scheduled for publication in early September):

The year 2007 marks Detective Inspector John Rebus’s last year in the Scottish police force. Forced to retire by both the law and his--relieved--superiors, Rebus knows that his time in the blue ranks must now come to an end. But how will the irascible detective deal with this grim terminus? Particularly with his nemesis, Ger Cafferty, still walking the streets of Edinburgh. And how will John’s protégé and friend Siobhan Clarke move forward with the old relic finally gone?

Check Rankin’s own Web site for updated information about this forthcoming work.

UPDATE: It has been brought to our attention, since this item was posted, that Rankin gave his thumbs up to the title The Final Cut without actually saying that it would be the name of his next Rebus novel. In fact, as Ali Karim notes here, the real name of Rankin’s forthcoming book will be Exit Music.