The US edition has a final chapter not present in the UK version; Rankin has explained that his North American publisher objected to the open, ambiguous conclusion of the original text.

[1] Rebus's upset over this allows Rankin to show the character in a new light, revealing his isolation and potentially suicidal despair.

After the unconnected suicide of a terminally ill con, Rebus pursues an investigation that implicates respected people at the highest levels of government, and due to the politically sensitive nature of what he is doing, faces losing his job, or worse.

This, Rankin states, caused many people to contact him to say that there wasn't a bar rail in the Oxford at that time.

Rankin mused that this mistake (he claims he mis-remembered) has led to more complaints than anything else including historical inaccuracies or police procedure.