Aging in F(r)iendship: "Big Ger" Cafferty and John Rebus

Ian Rankin's series featuring Scottish detective inspector John Rebus chronicles his hero's tense bonding with gangster "Big Ger" Cafferty. Both men age in parallel for decades in what Rebus might call "f(r)iendship." Their bonding is based on a mutual need for validation as obsolescent patriarchal men but also on Rebus's bitter realization that, although he must accept legal retirement, the villain need not renounce power. This article originally appeared in Clues: A Journal of Detection, Volume 29, Issue 2.