Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin

Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book on terrorism by Ian Rankin. The book starts with the sinking of two ships along the channel, one on the French side and one on the British side by a lone female anarchist who has been labelled as "The Witch" by the British Intelligence. The secret agencies in Britain start their investigation. Before they can figure out much an Arab banker is murdered.

This brings into picture a key character who is a retried officer. His daughter has been killed in a terror attack plausibly launched by The Witch. He has encountered the Witch in an earlier investigation which he had taken into his hands and hand failed. He is brought back from retirement to support the rookies in charge of the investigation. This character bears a resemblance to John Rebus in that he is a nonconformist.

The target seems to be one of the several heads of state who are expected to converge on London for a conference.

The book covers investigation on both sides of the channels with a little romance thrown in between rookie the secret agents from both sides. The Witch leads them on a wild goose chase, but finally is caught trying to get even for a personal reason.

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