In a House of Lies

{{short description|2018 book by Ian Rankin}} {{Use British English|date=December 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox book | italic title =  | name = In a House of Lies | image = File:In a House of Lies.jpg | image_size = | border = | alt = | caption = First edition | author = [[Ian Rankin]] | country = Scotland | language = English | release_number = 22 | series = [[Inspector Rebus]] | genre = [[Detective fiction]] | set_in = Scotland | publisher = [[Orion Books]] | english_pub_date = October 2018 | media_type = Hardback | pages = 372 | isbn = 9781409176886 | preceded_by = [[Rather Be the Devil]] | followed_by = [[A Song for the Dark Times]] | native_wikisource = | wikisource = | notes = | exclude_cover = | website = {{URL|https://www.ianrankin.net/titles/ian-rankin/in-a-house-of-lies/9781409176909//|Author's webpage}} }}

'''In a House of Lies''' is the 22nd novel in the [[Inspector Rebus]] series written by [[Ian Rankin]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donoghue |first=Steve |date=2019-01-07 |title=In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin |url=https://openlettersreview.com/posts/in-a-house-of-lies-by-ian-rankin |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=Open Letters Review |language=en-US}}</ref>

Rebus, now retired and in poor health, is called in to revisit a cold case in which the body of an investigator is discovered in the boot of a car, secured with police-issue handcuffs.

==Plot== Some boys discover a car with a long-dead body in the boot, in a woodland which has been the subject of a property dispute. Rebus, now retired, worked the badly-handled 2006 missing-persons case. He had tried to protect the missing man's lover, the son of a detective inspector in the old [[Strathclyde Police]], and had also been hoping to tie in [['Big Ger' Cafferty]]. The murder inquiry now is handled by a team from [[Police Scotland]], but [[Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke]] and [[Malcolm Fox (detective)|Detective Inspector Malcolm Fox]] are included. Clarke has recently been investigated by a corrupt pair of [[Police Scotland#National Anti Corruption Unit|Anti-Corruption Unit]] officers for leaking information to a reporter, and she is being harassed by a mysterious person over a recent case. Rebus, at her request, re-investigates that case; he tangles with the ACU team, and hopes again to see Cafferty connected to the body-in-the-boot murder.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCann |first1=Michael J |title=A book review by Michael J. McCann: In a House of Lies (A Rebus Novel) |url=https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/house-lies |website=www.nyjournalofbooks.com |accessdate=20 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cogdill |first1=Oline H. |title=Ian Rankin and John Rebus return in ‘House of Lies’ |url=https://www.inquirer.com/arts/books/ian-rankin-house-lies-20190315.html |website=inquirer.com |accessdate=20 December 2019}}</ref>

Rebus is suffering from [[COPD]] and has given up cigarettes and almost stopped drinking alcohol.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Paul |title=BOOK REVIEW: ‘In a House of Lies’ |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/25/book-review-in-a-house-of-lies/ |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Washington Times |date=25 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Massie |first1=Alan |title=Book review: In A House Of Lies, by Ian Rankin |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-in-a-house-of-lies-by-ian-rankin-1-4810637 |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Scotsman |date=6 October 2018 |language=en|url-access=limited}}</ref> The book gives some attention to modern media and its potential for both public and private bullying.

==Background== Ian Rankin has stated that inspiration for the novel in part came from the [[murder of Daniel Morgan]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roy |first1=David |title=Ian Rankin on In A House of Lies, Rebus: Long Shadows & his favourite Irish writers |url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2018/11/15/news/ian-rankin-on-in-a-house-of-lies-rebus-long-shadows-his-favourite-irish-writers-1484175/ |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Irish News |date=15 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> who was a private detective in South London in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gibb |first1=Frances |title=Met facing payout for framing trio for axe murder of Daniel Morgan |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/metropolitan-police-facing-payout-for-framing-trio-for-axe-murder-of-daniel-morgan-xz6wh6939 |access-date=20 December 2019 |work=[[The Times]] |date=6 July 2018 |language=en|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He died of axe wounds to his head in a pub car park in [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]], [[South London]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dodd |first1=Vikram |title=Daniel Morgan murder: new delays hit inquiry into 31-year-old case |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/28/daniel-morgan-new-delays-hit-inquiry-into-31-year-old-case |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=28 May 2018}}</ref> He was investigating alleged police corruption at the time.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hamilton |first1=Fiona |title=Behind the story of the Daniel Morgan murder case |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/behind-the-story-of-the-daniel-morgan-murder-case-jnxx5zz28 |access-date=20 December 2019 |work=[[The Times]] |date=2 November 2017 |language=en|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Reception== The book was a bestseller, entering the hardback chart at No. 1 on the first week of its release.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beckerman |first1=Hannah |date=3 November 2018 |title=Ian Rankin: ‘I couldn’t get on with War and Peace’ |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/03/ian-rankin-books-q-and-a-in-a-house-lies |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Reception was largely positive; [[Barry Forshaw]], writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', said, "How has Rankin kept the series fresh for 22 novels? Deft characterisation. Readers must keep up with a lengthy dramatis personae, but there’s nothing wrong with making us work a little."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Forshaw |first1=Barry |title=The best recent thrillers – review roundup |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/05/best-recent-thrillers-review-roundup-barry-forshaw |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=5 October 2018}}</ref> Likewise, Mark Sanderson, writing in the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', called the book "A brilliantly twisted case for Rebus" and said that "..no one in Britain writes better crime novels today."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanderson |first1=Mark |title=In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin - review |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/in-a-house-of-lies-by-ian-rankin-review-a3953786.html |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=Evening Standard |date=4 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Paul Connolly (''[[Metro (British newspaper)|The Metro]]'') gave the novel four stars out of five and said that the novel had: {{cquote| a plot so complex it will elude anything other than total concentration, Rankin crafts one of the great Rebus novels, a vibrant slab of a book as gripping as it is intoxicating.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Connolly |first1=Paul |title=Book Reviews: In A House Of Lies, Bright Young Dead, Milkman |url=https://www.metro.news/book-reviews-in-a-house-of-lies-bright-young-dead-milkman/1278594/ |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=Metro Newspaper UK |date=21 October 2018}}</ref>}}

Julian Cole, writing in the ''[[Northern Echo]]'', gave the book four stars out of five, and called it "...[a] good rattling read, let down only by too many unnecessary dialogue modifiers."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Julian |title=Book releases including In A House Of Lies by Ian Rankin |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/culture/16983457.book-releases-including-in-a-house-of-lies-by-ian-rankin/ |accessdate=20 December 2019 |work=The Northern Echo |date=15 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRxGILjSInc Ian Rankin being interviewed on BBC Breakfast]

[[Category:2018 British novels]] [[Category:2018 English-language novels]] [[Category:Inspector Rebus novels]] [[Category:Novels set in Scotland]] [[Category:Orion Books books]]