The Complaints. Ian Rankin. Little, Brown. $24.99. 448 pp.
Three years ago, best-selling Scottish author Ian Rankin called
a halt to his series about Edinburgh Det. Insp. John Rebus, who
was approaching 60 years old, retirement age for a cop in
Scotland. Because Rankin's novels had aged Rebus a year for each
novel it was time for the cantankerous detective to turn in his
shield during the skillfully plotted "Exit Music" (2008).  If
Rankin is looking for another character to take over where Rebus
left off, he may have found him in Malcolm Fox, a complicated
cop making his debut in "The Complaints."   Fox is younger and a
bit less moody than Rebus but just as conflicted about his life.
Unlike hard-drinking loner Rebus, Fox has five years of unsteady
sobriety, close friends, a father he supports and a sister with
whom he keeps in close touch.  Malcolm works for Edinburgh's
Complaints and Conduct, the Scottish version of Internal Affairs
that investigates corrupt cops. He has no qualms about
investigating other