The Falls cover art

The Falls

The number one bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
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.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Falls

By: Ian Rankin
Narrated by: James Macpherson
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 A student has gone missing in Edinburgh. She's not just any student, though, but the daughter of well-to-do and influential bankers. There's almost nothing to go on until DI John Rebus gets an unmistakable gut feeling that there's more to this than just another runaway spaced out on unaccustomed freedom.

Two leads emerge: a carved wooden doll in a toy coffin, found in the student's home village, and an internet role-playing game. The ancient and the modern, brought together by uncomfortable circumstance...

Read by James Macpherson

(p) 2015 Orion Publishing Group©2001 John Rebus Ltd Computer Science Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Exciting Scary Student Crime

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Rebus cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
Born in a Burial Gown cover art
The Crossing cover art
When You Find Me cover art
We Lie Here cover art
The Murderer's Son cover art
The Coldest Case: A Black Book Audio Drama cover art
Lifesign cover art
Gone to Ground ) cover art
Dig Two Graves cover art
The Dispatcher cover art
Lola Is Missing cover art
Hold My Hand cover art
Nothing but Trouble cover art

Critic reviews

It may be the 12th time out for Rankin's maverick detective, but The Falls still feels as fresh as ever . . . If you haven't read the other 11 Rebus novels, it's about time you did
The Falls, the 12th full-length Inspector Rebus story, finds his creator, Ian Rankin, at his brilliant, mordant best, with the dark heart of the city featuring almost as strongly as Rebus himself (Antonia Fraser)
A complex mystery novel, as you would expect from Rankin, one of a handful of truly outstanding British mystery writers . . . Terrific
An extraordinarily rich addition to crime literature
Rankin continues to be unsurpassed among living British crime writers . . . He makes the reader feel part of the scene, and enhances the experience with his virtuosity with dialogue . . . But all these virtues would count for little if Rankin didn't also possess the most important asset of them all - the ability to tell a damned good story (Marcel Berlins)
A very skilful entertainment . . . its clues are as learned and cross-word-puzzling as any in John Buchan
The Falls is an inventive and absorbing book . . . Once again the city, cast in shadows and light, is centre stage, as complex and brooding as Rebus himself . . . Ian Rankin, a crime writer with style, has produced another highly enjoyable and exciting book
It is a fact universally acknowledged that Ian Rankin leads the field in the category of British humanistic crime writing . . . his ability to wrap together diverse ingredients into a plot-sandwich bulging with flavour is ingenious
Rankin has an intuitive grasp of the dark magic of narrative: at its simplest, you read the books because you want to know what will happen. He writes beautifully, too . . . Few would disagree that Ian Rankin is making a contribution to crime fiction that will last. His novels are playing a significant part in redefining Scotland's image of itself in literature. He is one of a handful of British crime writes whose books are not only commercially successful but also build a strong case for why crime fiction, at its best, can and should be considered as literature
Whatever it is that makes a good crime writer, Ian Rankin has it in spades
Rankin masterfully pulls his fascinating plot together, and his sense of place casts a powerful shadow on this subtle tale of the recurrence of evil. The unopposed champion of the British police procedural field
This is the 12th novel featuring Inspector Rebus, one of the undoubted stars of modern British crime fiction . . . Ian Rankin is a first-rate storyteller in the classic mould, but what really distinguishes his work is his gift for characterisation
All stars
Most relevant
Another detailed and interwoven masterpiece by Rankin and expertly narrated by James Macpherson as ever.

Excellent as ever

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great story! very addictive. I found it hard to pause the Audiobook at times!

another cracking listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Almost impossible to press pause - great story very well read. The drama is cranked up as well the interesting and touching back stories of the characters - good and bad. Nice to be in the posh part of Edinburgh for once even though the people are just as badly behaved. Loved it

Gripping hard to stop listening to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent storytelling at its finest, engrossing and engaging book. Listening to the rebus novels in order and this one is certainly better than the last, onto the next.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the best Rebus stories,but very long. The central plot was well structured, coherent and realistic; some of the subplots were unnecessary. The clues to the culprits were clearly present. The references to Edinburgh villains and Edinburgh landmarks was intriguing - good for tourism; I learnt things. Shame that one of the heavily featured historical characters was fictitious. The caring side of Rebus shone through. No Cafferty! The narrator took some getting use to:his normal voice was harsh, but he voiced Rebus ok.

Interesting historical and geographical detail.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews