Rebus is back. And he’s not getting old, age seem just a number for him and his creator, Ian Rankin. He’s 21 books old now. Rather Be The Devil is the new entitlement released on November, 3rd. When I heard earlier this year that Ian Rankin has rejected to my request for an interview with for a third time in three years, I thought, ‘Oh Boy! Either I am a pretty bad interviewer or he’s upto something really good. Probably a new Rebus novel. I’ll take that gladly, sir.’

Rebus is into his retirement for almost a couple of years now. But curiosity is a disease and when one’s neurone start sending the type of electrical signals, the giant awakens. Mind gets to work and pulls bits and pieces out of the back of itself. It happens to humans, generally. Nonetheless, Rebus breathe and lives to the extent you can almost smell the cigarette he’s been smoking, but not this time, anyway.

So now you know the process, Rebus mind draws his conscious attention to a cold case from 1970s involving a murder of a female socialite in one of the Edinburgh’s luxurious hotels. An unturned stone for over forty years, and no one was found guilty. Lacking hobbies in his sixties, Rebus, starts up a personal investigation with series of meetings with some old frenemies like Big Ger Cafferty and an ex-cop. Things have already begin to turn nasty in Edinburgh when both DI Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox come across each other once again despite their lack of communication over time to look into those nastier things themselves. Local crime boss and entrepreneur is hurt. Money problems, shell companies, skeletons in the closet and a dangerous mobster hovering over the city of Edinburgh.

What I like about this book the most is the characterisation in this novel is mature enough. Accurate. Or if there’s better word. There are no side-kicks or underdeveloped characters. For example, let’s take a look on John Rebus. As I have mentioned before and in this essay, Rebus is a living creature. He has his own way of thinking, talking, his own demons and the terrifying nature of being alone. He is difficult to define in an exact single word, just like any other human being. It is just the complexity. Like Rebus other characters like Malcolm Fox and Big Ger Cafferty are compelling and unique. You can’t ignore them and not think of them like they are in front of your eyes when they are introduced in the text. This thing drove me to read each and every John Rebus novel, to understand the complexity, his tangled humanity.

Other than characters the plot is not flat as you may find in most crime fiction novels. The beauty of Edinburgh reflects in this book too. It is a good thing that Rankin inhabits the place where he has set his characters. There is a surprise and I bet you cannot crack the whole story before reaching the end. This books plot makes it unique because of this spirally twisty plot.

I personally want to thank Mr. Rankin for writing this novel and maybe this time when I contact him for the interview he’d have time to spare for some questions. What a birthday gift.

Highly Recommended.

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There are few authors who after becoming bestsellers keep on improving as a writer. With them, their characters grow, their stories become unforgettable and its a bliss for the readers. Rankin is one of them. After he got his hard work paid of with the publishing of Black and Blue in 1997 rewarding him Crime Writers’ Association’s Gold Dagger for best crime novel. Since then,  having reading almost every novel written by Rankin that includes his creation of John Rebus, a Detective Inspector who is known for bending rules, and getting the cases he is assigned, under his skin.

Standing in Another Man’s Grave, came three years back and is listed as the 18th book in John Rebus series. It is also a book that brings back John Rebus from retirement, brings back another interesting, twisted crime full of lies and real-life characters. And of course, John Rebus’ own demons. Many of the Rebus fans are interested in that. Few are more curious about his demons than of the crime solved by him.

This book is one of the major leap in the life John Rebus, if he has been made of flesh and bone rather than by Rankin’s imagination. It brings Rebus back to life. He has become old as his Saab, officially not a cop anymore, working for the SCRU department under CID as a semi-official investigator, handling cold cases, cases which are still unsolved, has cut his boozing, has cut his smoking, but not at all rusty. Ghosts of the past such as Big Ger Cafferty a semi-retired gangster who in his prime use to run Edinburgh, are still mingling with Rebus. They occasionally patch for a drink, but Rebus consider him nothing more than a ghost from his own past.

Even though he is retired, Rebus still hasn’t lost his mojo. He is still eager to put bad guys behind bar, and is still brave and let the cases go under his skin. With Siobhan Clarke, Rebus solves several MisPers (missing persons) crime that is traumatising affected respective families for more than a decade. After five years out in the cold of retirement, Rebus manages his way to wangle his way back. The plot is as good, some old skeletons are discovered underneath never-locked overlooked coffins, the characters are interesting especially the role Cafferty plays and the introduction of Malcolm Fox from The Complaints. On reading the book I observed how much I missed DI Siobhan Clarke as much as I did Rebus.
There is a significance to the title ‘Standing in Another man’s Grave’, and on reading the whole book you will observe how a misheard line in a song can do wonders with one’s imagination and wit.

3 out of 5!

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John Rebus is back. Old, fat, still surviving on booze and nicotine. This time he is back with some old fellows as DI Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox, and his old Dr. Hyde resembler, Big Ger Cafferty. With new villains and other fresh characters such as Daryl Christie and James Page, introduced only two novels back in Standing in Another Man’s Grave, Rankin has indulged us readers into a deeper mystery this time.

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is investigating the death of a senior lawyer during a robbery. But the case becomes more complex when a note is discovered, indicating that this may have been no random attack, and when local gangster Big Ger Cafferty receives an identical message, Clarke decides that the recently retired John Rebus may be able to help. He’s the only man Cafferty will open up to, and together the two old adversaries might just stand a chance of saving Cafferty’s skin.

Meanwhile a team from Glasgow has arrived and they will leave no stone unturned for what they want before the leave Edinburgh in its own hands. DI Malcolm Fox is assigned a simple looking yet harsh task of providing local expertise to the undercover squad but he is soon drawn in too deep as everything collides. This time the city of Edinburgh has gone wild and it’s a dog eat dog situation. Looks like Edinburgh CID cannot thrive without John Rebus as usual since he is the string attached with multiple ends.

Overall, I am glad Rankin has got Rebus back. The world of crime fiction feels lonely without reading a Rebus novel once in a while. The book starts at a gripping high node and ends surrounded by clouds and graves. The characters are once again realistic but Rankin has given a fair chance to Rebus this time in solving cases and then preferring Malcolm Fox over Siobhan Clarke since he has brought Rebus back from retirement two novels ago for the first time. The plot is tangled, twisted in between gangsters and their gangs and old skeletons are found this time in the closet of Big Ger Cafferty.

3 out 5!

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One of the good things about the contemporary crime fiction that can happen to itself is John Rebus and his creator Ian Rankin. Without Ian Rankin, there would have been no John Rebus. Rankin has certainly set a benchmark with his John Rebus’ series and Mortal Causes is the sixth book in this series. Without John Rebus, I won’t be reading as much crime fiction as I do. I started reading John Rebus, even before I laid my hands on Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Things are even darker than usual this time in Mortal Causes.

It is August during the Edinburgh Festival when Inspector John Rebus is called to investigate a brutally tortured body found hanging in the medieval subterranean streets of Edinburgh. The death looks like an execution which causes Rebus to start investigating radical activists. Even worse, he discovers the victim is the son of one of Edinburgh’s most notorious criminal gang leaders, Gerald McCafferty.

With well-crafted characters and the plot so interesting the author makes the book interesting by adding a a challenging situation in which Rebus needs to develop a level of understanding with Big Ger McCafferty. It sounds darker than most of his novels and it turns to be exactly how it sounds. The book not only focuses on the life protagonist John Rebus, but makes a reader to understand the relationship between a cop and a gang leader who is personally hurt. In other words, between two human beings who might different in their doings and actions, and are completely opposite to each other in terms of society they both reside in but sharing a relationship of mutual respect yet at the same time.

As usual, there is a subplot about a female lawyer becoming a little obsessed with Rebus and causing trouble for him in his personal life. This provides a little relief from the darker parts of the story. Throughout the book there are several graphic murders and the sense of danger is very high. The paramilitary angle of the story really raises the stakes and gives the book a different feel altogether. The story is written in a tone of dry-cynical at times which adds up to the darkness it resides. It also glances on how society should work and how it actually works.

4 out of 5

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Tooth and Nail is the third novel by Ian Rankin featuring Inspector John Rebus. Rebus is sent to London to help detectives hunt a serial killer dubbed the Wolfman by the press. In the previous year, in some reviews and an essay on John Rebus, I have talked about Rebus a lot. My love and hate relationship with him and his actions and why he is to be considered as one of the most proficient detectives written in the contemporary world.

Rebus arrives in London just as news of a new victim of the serial killer begins broadcasting over the news. Rebus goes directly to the scene of the crime and is shocked to see the brutality first hand of a case he has only read about. Rebus attends the autopsy and spends some time with the lead detective, uncomfortably aware that this detective seems to think he is some sort of expert based on one case Rebus worked several years before.

Meanwhile, he is as usual vulnerable to some aspect of the story. He is new to London, despise it, and his ex-wife and teenage daughter live in London and a visit with them reveals that his daughter is dating someone who is not the kind of person a copper would choose for his daughter. Despite, Rebus investigates the Wolfman in his own fashion, drawing help from a psychologist who claims she can profile the killer based on his victims, while at the same time dealing with a family crisis involving his sixteen year old daughter. The Wolfman- so named because the first victim was found dumped in Wolf Street, and  is a vicious, cannibalistic killer, whose tendencies and proclivities have thus far defied an explanation.

This book mostly emphasizes Rebus’s status as an outsider, in this instance making it overt, and diminishing his role to a small fish in a big pond. The pace of which the story moves further is marvellous. Rankin does well, yet again, in immersing his readers in the world of British crime fiction with a touch of his own. A reader will like to read this book in a sitting or two. Not more than that. The only thing that did not work for me is the ending yet one who is a regular reader of John Rebus’ series cannot ignore this book which is sometime entitled The Wolfman.

4 out of 5.

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This is my fifteenth John Rebus novel, and before starting this book I had a question in my mind. When an author as successful as Rankin has been with his tough and idiomatic Scottish thrillers, a problem sets in after several books: how to keep the formula fresh?

One thing is that, after reading a John Rebus’ book, I have an anguished feeling of visiting Edinburgh, see all those places describe the author with my own eyes. The series is set in Edinburgh and Rankin displays an unnerving knowledge of, seemingly, how crime works there. Rankin has a very unique of displaying simplistic events. His engrossing words will get under your skin.

The novel, Dead Souls, starts on a greater node. In the prologue to the book, the suicide of one of Rebus’ colleagues is detailed. Rebus chases a released pedophile when he is supposed to be trying to catch someone who has been poisoning the animals. Then there was the Shellion case, regarding young children abused by their custodians, and now his superintendent had saddled him with another case a violent serial killer, Gary Oakes, was deported back from US to Edinburgh. I wonder, is he never tired? I think so not. Rebus loves puzzles. And Rankin knows how to create a perplexed network out of dead bodies. What a delightful combination for the reader. The characterisation in Rankin’s books are never disappointing, neither in this one. They are never sketchily drawn. He formulates a character by his actions and lets a reader’s imagination to do the rest.

DI Rebus is indispensable in the world of crime fiction. With each book, one can imagine the evolution of Rebus’ world which is very tempting. Dead Souls is the part of that world.

4 out of 5

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The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin is the ninth novel in John Rebus series. I have never felt that I should read Rankin’s Rebus series in chronological order. I feel, by starting in the middle, going straight back to the first of books and then steadily moving forward, is what works for both John Rebus and me.

The novel opens on Guy Fawkes night as DI Rebus meets his daughter for a meal. As usual, Rebus is involved in the case of the alleged war criminal and lean about the crimes he may have committed. As Rebus investigates he researches the past and wonders about how it could have happened.

There is never a doubt for me on picking a Rankin’s novel and worrying about the plot(s). The way he does mesh-plotting, keeping his characters as real as possible. The setting in Edinburg with glimpses of it’s darkest side. I guess, you can rely on him enough. Then things take a turn. His daughter gets hit buy a car. He rescues a young Bosnian girl forced into prostitution and other less him to break the policeman’s golden rule to never get personally involved in a case. 

I remember saying in an essay on John Rebus that he is one of the best companion in one’s darkest times. The question is not that you like Rebus, or you hate him. It’s all about understanding. Understanding the depth, Rankin has put in this character. Rebus, is like anybody, whose life is full of turns, juggling multiple matters at a time, just like anyone of us. I like to imagine this, that who ever out there read Rankin’s novels, they might be having their own level of understanding with John Rebus. If you understand John Rebus, he will understand you back. That’s how it works.

Through ongoing twists, turns and dirty business, Rebus wonders just how evil humans can be as the classic rock songs are sprinkled in between. It’s a thrilling mystery novel at its best. There is not a minute you will get to when you feel that would want to put this book down. Put a bookmark in between, and do something you usually do. No, that won’t happen this time.

5 out of 5!

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Rebus’ life is full of twists and turns, some are the creation of his own actions along with jeopardising investigations he is often involved in. Strip Jack is another one of those. The depth Rankin bestows in his character is enchanting. Rankin’s words complete Rebus. They’re companionship is brawny. Without one of them, I cannot imagine other one’s world.

I have read more than half of the books published under John Rebus’ series and this one is a masterpiece. If you ask me, why? For the reason that I have never seen any of the Rankin’s story to start and end at equal levels so astonishingly.

The story begins with a police operation. Raiding a brothel in a relatively high-class neighbourhood but, they happen to find the an MP name Gregor Jack belonging to North and South Esk constituency who, so far in the public eye had been an immaculate. However, Rebus was convinced that there was something strange about it, considering the horde of reporters who were waiting outside the brothel during the raid, something which only the police had known. Jack’s wife is missing and is eventually found in the river, murdered. MP Gregor Jack is bereaved and at the same time, is going through a bad time because of the brothel incident and John Rebus, is keen to uncover the mystery surrounding this incident.

The plot moves steadily, if you have read any of the Rankin’s books before, you  can imagine how it moves, transparently. Rankin certainly has his own visionary way of representing Scotland to his readers. Music is another big part of both the character and its creator and I believe that’s one personal touch provided by the author to his artistry creation.

This complete mystery is perfect for a wintry weekend. Recommended!

5 out of 5

Explore Ian Rankin:

Book Reviews- Set in Darkness, Saints of the Shadow Bible, A Cool Head

Essay on John Rebus

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There is no doubt why Ian Rankin is one of the best crime fiction writer in all over Britain. And Certainly John Rebus is the “Sherlock Holmes” of modern crime fiction. Or I should say in clear words, certainly the best detective of modern crime fiction. The enigma which surrounds John Rebus is the essence a reader reading Rebus must feel. And Ian Rankin maintains that enigma, that aroma of mysteriousness consistently. He is doing for past 19 books. Not one Rebus I read, and felt discomfort. This is an art and Rankin is the master of this art of consistency in storytelling.

I was once disappointed and sad when I read Exit Music which was once the last book of the John Rebus. I almost cried as I would not be able to read such excellent stories. But when Standing in Another’s man Grave came out, I was more jollier than the word jolly can be defined. Recently read, Saints of the Shadow Bible which is the 19th book in the John Rebus series. This book brings back John Rebus in the force, not as DI(Detective Inspector) but as a demoted DS(Detective Sergeant). The story combines several investigations and Rankin also takes the reader back into dark and hollow past of detective John Rebus. He tries to unfold the mysteries originated 30 years back and let us look more into the closet of John Rebus soul. Rebus tries to solve ongoing investigations but his past also haunts him and there some dust of mysteries left in that 30 year old closet which needs to be clean. Thus, with help of DI Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox of the Complaints, the trio investigates in co-operation.

Characterization Rankin has done is hyper realistic. I have said earlier, he is the master of storytelling. In some other book, another writer might have overdone it but Rankin is just a finesse finisher. It’s a pity he’s going on a holiday and won’t be writing for some time.

This one is one of those which are hard to keep down in between. I’ll give it 4 out of 5 for being an avid reader of Rankin’s books, I could manage to solve few of the mysteries on my own. Otherwise, it’s a very well written book.

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SET IN DARKNESS

by IAN RANKIN

When did I first hear about Ian Rankin. Never, it was just a recommendation by the shopkeeper to whom I usually go for my book-shopping. Maybe he was just trying to earn a little extra for he had only one copy, but I am thankful to him. I still thank him today for making me read well written crime fiction books. Yes, Mr.Rankin know what to write and how, I have read almost half of his John Rebus’ series in past one year and half, and he never gets carried away, never off the mark, the plot would always be good, his protagonist, John Rebus, always satisfying the reader and that’s what makes you a good crime fiction writer. That’s what a reader would love to read. That’s what I love to read. And not only the plot is great, it’s simple and very imaginable. Mr. Rankin knows the trick of immersing the reader steadily in the deep criminal world of Edinburgh. Set in Darkness was not only my first book of John rebus but also my only key to enter his world.

The inspector Rebus’ series shows  remarkable purview of the darker side to humanity. Rebus is a dedicated Scottish policeman, streetwise, methodical and persistent. But like all those he encounters, his has demons of his own to battle: a failed marriage, loneliness, alcoholism.

The novel opens with the discovery of a body buried in Queensbury House, an old historic building being renovated to accommodate the Scottish parliament. Without any clues to the identity of the deceased, this case takes a low priority until a second murder occurs on the very same site. Roddy Grieve, a wealthy and ambitious Labour Party candidate for the legislature, is found bludgeoned to death, and Rebus is assigned to assist Derek Linford in this higher profile murder. Linford has ambitions of his own within Scottish
law enforcement; and, as you might suspect, he and Rebus are opposite ends of the compass. Tactless, pompous and the golden boy of the police department hierarchy, Linford is placed in charge of the investigation, which he is obviously too inexperienced to handle. Rebus, on the other hand, organizes an efficient team of detectives and begins a methodic search for a motive that would bind these murders together. When the apparent suicide of a homeless man with an amazingly large bank account falls in the lap of his former disciple, Siobahn Clarke, she finds herself partnered once again with Rebus.

The main ideology of the author is to show duality of the city of Edinburgh through Rebus’s character and perspective: a quiet and peaceful city during daytime, but a dark and turbulent city during night time. He clearly relates his first two novels Knots & Crosses and Hide & Seek, to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde just to create a modernized version of the classic.

Grounded in the traditional method of skillful plotting, Mr.Rankin leads readers in several directions at once. He offers up any number of suspects and  also tosses in a series of rape cases.

As if this novel didn’t have enough twists already, a villain from a previous Rebus novel, reenters the inspector’s life, jeopardizing the dangerous investigation. Juggling three cases, appeasing his superiors, protecting Siobahn and watching his own back make Set in Darkness electrified with suspense. With Rankin’s superb characterizations and historic backdrops, this masterful writer takes his place alongside the best in the genre of crime fiction today.

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