Review: Doors Open by Ian Rankin

Doors Openby Ian Rankin is an exciting story of an Edinburgh art theft by a group of amateurs. I received an uncorrected advance copy of this book from Hachette Publishing Group so I could review and share it with you.
Retired in his mid-thirties, software mogul Mike Mackenzie is looking for something to bring that zest for life, the rush of working towards something, back to him. Fellow art lover Allan Cruickshank is bored of his banking career and resentful of the corporate system. Bring them together with Robert Glassing, an art professor resentful of so many gorgeous works of art unseen by the public and hidden in warehouses, and you've got a recipe for an intelligently planned art theft. With the upcoming Edinburgh holiday of Doors Open, a time when government buildings that are usually not opened to the public can be toured, the plan is to visit the warehouse of the National Galleries of Scotland as part of a tour group and steal a favored painting each. When Mike, who rose from a life on the streets, runs into former classmate Chib Calloway, now a crime boss, the plan expands and a crew of professionals is brought in for the dirty work. With Mike and Chib both being watched by different police detectives for different reasons, an interfering girlfriend, and nervous conspirator, intrigue abounds in this well thought out procedural for an art heist. As a somewhat jaded reader and movie watcher, the super twist in the end wasn't even anticipated by me, so it's definitely a good one!

The characters in Doors Openwere all written in such a way that I felt I knew who they were as a real person, the role they played in the story, and their individual motivation for participating in the heist. Even secondary characters such as the police detectives were given interesting back stories, and a rivalry that I enjoyed. While reading I could picture the scenes and was even casting a movie in my head during conversations. Doors Openis the first book I have read by Edgar Award-winning Scottish author Ian Rankin, who is the best selling crime writer in the United Kingdom. What rock have I been living under? I will definitely have to check him out some more, especially his Inspector Rebusmysteries.
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Official FTC Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review, other than the uncorrected Advance Reader Copy from Hachette Publishing Group.