The Heights

by Ian Rankin

#1 International bestselling author Ian Rankin returns with a razor-sharp, twisty standalone thriller—this one exposing the lives of the 1% in London’s most exclusive high rise

Facing Hyde Park, The Heights is London’s most coveted luxury high-rise apartment—designed to satisfy every need, with a gym, infinity pool, cinema, and more, where self-made owner-developer Allan Franklyn himself has claimed the penthouse duplex. His neighbors include some of “Money London’s” biggest personalities: a wealthy art dealer, a young heartthrob pop star, a foreign heiress, a gangster’s wife. The residents are used to service, deference, and privacy, all on their terms.

But when nighttime concierge Dwayne Hogarth is found dead in the lobby, none of that is in their control anymore, and everyone’s under the unwelcome scrutiny of Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish. Her questions begin with the party on the 4th floor the night Dwayne died, which ended with a fight; the missing key to one of the apartments; and a mysterious gap in the security camera footage. Before long, Gish uncovers the unsavory truths and dark secrets that lurk beneath the glittering facades of the building and its inhabitants.

Filled with shocking twists and unforgettable characters, The Heights confirms Ian Rankin’s status as one of the most original and compelling crime writers of our time.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication November 3, 2026

About the author

AKA Jack Harvey.

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982 and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987; the Rebus books are now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents.

Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh.

A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianrankin

Reviews

[Mana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ian Rankin ditches Edinburgh and Rebus to play with the London elite in a glass tower. The Heights promises a closed-room mystery behind layers of wealth, but it feels more like a standard police procedural wearing an expensive suit. Detective Gillian Gish attempts to navigate the power dynamics of the super-rich, yet the building itself remains a sterile prop rather than a character.

The narrative structure follows the familiar procedural rhythm. Gish is a competent lead, though she lacks the lived-in weariness that makes Rankin’s classic work resonate. The pacing is efficient enough to keep pages turning, but the high-rise setting feels underutilized. It never quite captures the suffocating tension necessary for a story about trapped residents.

Rankin chooses to write through a third-person lens that maintains distance from the suspects. This works to emphasize the cold, guarded nature of the billionaires, yet it leaves the reader feeling like an observer behind bulletproof glass. The plot arrives at a clean resolution, though the journey lacks the sharp, biting social commentary one expects from this author.

For those who want a procedural that stays safely within the lines; avoid if you expect the raw, gritty atmosphere of classic Rankin.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have meant to read an Ian Rankin book for years, but have just never taken time out from my usual reads to finally check out Rankin’s work. Well, I decided to check out one of his non-Inspector Rebus novels.

“The Heights” is an exclusive high-rise apartment complex where the elite of London live. It is the height (pun intended) of luxury. Oh, yeah. There is also a dead body. One of the concierges is dead. And from the opening of the book, we are on the job with the investigation.

This novel moves slower than most procedurals at times. However, even with a slower pace, it is still an enjoyable read because of the depths of the characters involved in the story. And there are a bunch of them. You may need to jot down names and who they are on a piece of paper to keep track. The highlight to me was DS Gish. She was an absolute joy to read about. She got me through the slower parts of the book.

Overall, a good book. I definitely want to give Inspector Rebus a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.

[Britney Ireland · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Ian Rankin book. I was hoping for so much more.

First thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of this book to read and review. I am giving this read 3 stars.

This is a whodunit mystery in a luxury apartment setting. What turned me off of this book is the fact that so many people had a reason to off the murdered character it was just too much. I’d prefer a small list of suspects. I was just ready for the end after such a long line of suspects.

I 100% plan to try another novel by the same author. This one just didn’t do it for me.

[Mike Lyons · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off this is not a Rebus book - it is a stand alone police procedural. The setting is an ultra exclusive high rise apartment building, called The Heights, overlooking London's Hyde park. Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish is called to the Heights to investigate the death of the night concierge. What follows is an interesting, twisty murder mystery investigation that ends up as two murders, a theft and a search for an in the wind gangster - so four investigations actually. A good read - hopefully we will see more of DS Gish in the future.

[Cheryl Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Heights by Ian Rankin is a classic whodunit set in an elegant apartment complex called The Heights. For me, there were perhaps too many suspects to keep track of, and the story moved a bit more slowly than I prefer. That said, I enjoyed following Detective Gish, a strong female lead, as she worked her way through interviews and clues to solve the murder of the building’s security guard. While the mystery was intriguing, the pacing kept it from being a standout read for me. 3 out of 5 stars

[OutlawPoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very methodical procedural.

While I mostly enjoyed it, I did find that the pacing was very, very deliberate and slow. It never really crescendoed into something that I was excited about. There was never a feeling that I had to know what happened next.

As for our characters, they were okay. I did like our MC, but many of the other characters read rather thin.

An okay read, but I found it a bit lacking.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

592 pages

I am a big fan of Ian Rankin’s novels. I have read many of them and enjoyed all of them.

This one, however, I could not get into. I was drawn to the premise, but the book was too busy. Or, perhaps I was distracted by life.

I did not finish it. I apologize.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no doubt that Ian Rankin can write, just not sure why he wrote this. Read an advance copy, forthcoming Nov '26.