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Ian Rankin - Page 3

Set in Darkness Rebus: The Early Years Dead Souls Death Is Not The End The Hanging Garden

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First British Edition Orion (2000)

Set in Darkness
Edinburgh, 'a mad god's dream / Fitful and dark', is about to become the home of the first Scottish parliament in nigh on three hundred years. It's a momentous time and political passions run high…
Detective Inspector John Rebus is charged with liaison, thanks to the new parliament being resident at Queensberry House bang in the middle of his St Leonard's patch. Queensberry House is home not just to the new Scotland's rulers, but to the legend of a young man roasted on a spit by a madman. A fate befitting its new inhabitants, some would say.
When the fireplace where the youth died is uncovered, another more recent murder victim is brought out into the daylight. Days later, in the gardens outside, Queensberry House's third body is found. This time the victim is no mummified mystery man, but Roddy Grieve, a prospective MSP, and the powers that he are on Rebus's back demanding instant answers.
Roddy Grieve's notoriety brings a whole host of problems, including his seductive sister Lorna, one of Rebus's youthful fantasies made flesh. What's worse, as the case progresses, the Inspector finds himself face to face with one of Edinburgh's most notorious criminals - a man he thought safely out of harm's way for years to come. Someone's going to make a lot of money out of Scotland's independence and where there's big money at stake, darkness gathers…
‘Rankin is a master of his craft, handling each twist and turn of the plot with consummate skill as he takes us by the hand and leads us from the sparkling edifices of New Labour-controlled Scotland to the misty, mysterious Edinburgh alleyways, and from hip and trendy restaurants to Dank pubs and bars without missing a step . . . Rankin is streets ahead in the British police procedural writing field . . . our top crime writer’ Independent on Sunday
`The book sets off at a cracking rate, with bodies piling up in the first few chapters . . . Running parallel to the excellently placed plot is the theme of Scotland’s national identity, its past and future, its regeneration and re-evaluation . . . Set in Darkness sees Rankin in impeccable form and will undoubtedly please his legions of fans and increase his appeal even further’ The List
`This is, astonishingly, the eleventh Inspector Rebus novel by a writer who is still not yet 40, but whose consistent level of excellence is unmatched in the field of British crime fiction’ Marcel Berlins, The Times
‘Rankin exhibits his customary pitch-perfect ear for dialogue, sense of place and eye for both the seamy and grand sides of Scottish life. His books demonstrate that it is possible to take familiar elements - murder, corruption, a beautiful city, an unconventional and oddly-named detective who likes a drink and is unlucky in love - and turn them into something more original and exciting than the standard Morse code. His books are powerful, fast-moving and compulsive. Rankin is without doubt Britain’s best crime novelist’ The Express
‘Rankin’s particular skill is in producing a highly complex plot whose different strands cleverly come together at the end, a setting which brings to life the grim back streets of Edinburgh and a well-drawn cast of characters: Sunday Telegraph
'Rankin is a modern Dickens. Set in Darkness is rich and complex . . . maintains its pace and tension throughout . . . The Rebus novels are a remarkable achievement' Daily Mail
`Powerful, fast moving and compulsive. Rankin is without doubt Britain's best crime novelist' Express
`His fiction buzzes with energy . . . His prose is as vivid and terse as the next man's yet its flexibility and rhythm give it a potential for lyrical expression which is distinctively Rankin's own' Scotland on Sunday
`The internal police politics and corruption in high places are both portrayed with bone-freezing accuracy.' Daily Telegraph
`Complex, humane and gripping' Guardian
`Rebus is a masterful creation . . . Rankin has taken his well-earned place among the top echelon of crimewriters' Observer
`Ian Rankin is widely, and rightly, regarded as the leading male crime writer in Britain' TLS
`A polished and powerful novel from a writer of great skill and intelligence. This is Scottish noir and . . . nobody does it better' Glasgow Herald
`When I had finished reading this book, I felt like giving it a round of applause. It is nothing short of a masterclass in crime writing, or perhaps writing of any kind.' Irish Times

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First British Edition Orion (1999)

Rebus: The Early Years
Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels have catapulted him into the highest rank of modern British crime writing. His work has been praised as much for its gritty realism and exceptional depiction of contemporary Scotland, as for its multi-layered plotting and the creation of arguably the most realistic detective in crime fiction. Every book, from Knots & Crosses to The Hanging Garden, has been greeted with an outstanding critical reception, which is reflected in a dedicated and enthusiastic readership.
Rebus: The Early Years sees the early Inspector Rebus novels gathered together in one volume for the first time. In the specially written introduction, Rankin traces the birth of the character of Rebus, who, after the second book, Rankin 'was getting to know and like… I had more books I wanted to write about Scotland and this guy would act as my mouthpiece'. These three novels, Knots & Crosses, Hide & Seek and Tooth & Nail, form in Rankin's words, 'my apprenticeship as a crime writer' - but what an apprenticeship!
Knots and Crosses
Two girls have been abducted and brutally murdered. Now a third is missing. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of the policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses -- taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve…
Hide and Seek
A junkie lies dead in an Edinburgh squat. Just another addict, until Inspector Rebus begins to chip away at the indifference, treachery, deceit and sleaze that lurk behind the façade of the city familiar to tourists. And only Rebus seems to care about a death that looks more like murder every day, a death that appeals to the darkest corners of his mind.
Tooth & Nail
Drafted down to the Big Smoke thanks to a supposed expertise in the modus operandi of serial killers, Inspector Rebus is on the trail of a man who, due to his penchant for taking a bite from each of his victims, is known as the Wolfman. When Rebus is offered a profile of the Wolfman by an attractive lady psychologist, it seems too good an opportunity to turn down. But in finding an ally, he may have given his enemies an easy means of attack…
Inspector John Rebus
John Rebus is an Edinburgh cop. In an effort to keep him out of trouble, his superiors foist on him the cases other officers would touch only with the very latest in bargepole technology.
These are exactly the kinds of cases Rebus enjoys. He is a loner, his head full of demons. Described by the Sunday Telegraph as 'a compassionate, quick tempered man; a loner by choice and temperament and a failure as a husband and a father ', work, as Rebus says himself, keeps him sane, because it allows him to live other people's lives - and while he's doing that, he's living outside his own life.
Rebus knows Edinburgh - and not just the city the tourist or casual visitor sees. Rebus knows the underbelly of the city, its seething emotions and jealousies, the intrigues that are kept behind thick stone walls and shuttered windows. Being a detective, he has access to the high life and the low, and in his cases the two are seen to intertwine.
He's battling his own addictions to alcohol and cigarettes - and does his drinking in a real city pub, the Oxford Bar on Young Street.
The purpose of the early Rebus novels was to show a side of Edinburgh that would be new and surprising - even shocking - to most people. As Rankin says:
'Edinburgh is the perfect setting for crime writing. It has a split personality - on the one hand it is the city of history and museums and royalty, but at the same time there is this feeling that behind the thick walls of those Georgian townhouses there are all sorts of terrible things happening.'
Most aspects of contemporary Scotland - from Silicon Glen and the oil industry, to serial killers and political corruption - have been explored. And as the series' ambitions have grown, so John Rebus has grown in complexity, because the more the knows, the less he seems to understand…
Inspector Rebus will be seen on the small screen next year, with John Hannah (of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors fame) playing the title role.
Reviews of Rankin & Rebus
'Detective Inspector Rebus makes the old-style detectives with their gentle or bookish backgrounds, Alleyn, Morse, Dalgleish, look like wimps… Rankin is brilliant at conveying the genuine stench of seedy places on the dark side of Scotland.' Sunday Telegraph
'Rankin captures like no one else, that strangeness that is Scotland at the end of the twentieth century ' The Literary Review
'A marvellous social chronicler of the Nineties Scottish city.' The Times
'The Rebus series have been uniformly first rate ... His is a superbly drawn character; matched by the edgy authenticity of the Scottish locale and dialogue’ Marcel Berlins, The Times
'Rankin's ability to create a credible character, delivering convincing dialogue to complement sinister and hard-hitting plots against vividly detailed atmosphere, is simply awesome' Time Out

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First British Edition Orion (1999)

Paperback - Orion (1999)

Dead Souls
See Review by Andrew Taylor - author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series
Rebus's Edinburgh is a ghost town - crowded with the souls of the lost and forgotten…
A call from an old friend brings back memories and more than a little guilt for DI John Rebus of the Lothian and Borders police. An old schoolfriend's son has gone missing and Brian Mee would like 'Johnny' to do a little digging on the side to put his wife's mind at rest.
The ghost of Jack Morton, friend and colleague, is riding Rebus's dreams, not always helping with his caseload. Chasing a part-time poisoner at the local zoo, Rebus hits upon a freed paedophile, camera in hand. Outing the man rouses the vigilantes and leaves Rebus with mixed feelings and another weight on his conscience.
But the straw that looks like breaking Rebus's back comes courtesy of the US government. Edinburgh born, Cary Oakes is a convicted killer and now he's back. Feted by the tabloid press and put under Rebus's watchful eye, Oakes is looking to play games - with Rebus as his number one pawn…
'Rebus resurgent… A brilliantly meshed plot which delivers on every count on its way to a conclusion a unexpected as it is inevitable' Literary Review
'Rankin weaves his plots with a menacing ease… his prose is understated, yet his canvas of Scotland's criminal underclass has a panoramic breadth. His ear for dialogue is as sharp as a switchblade. This is, quite simply, crime writing of the highest order' Daily Express
'A series that shows no sign of flagging… Assured, sympathetic to contemporary foibles, humanistic, this is more than just a police procedural as the character of Rebus grows in moral stature… Rankin is the head capo of the MacMafia' Time Out

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First British Edition Orion (1998)

Death Is Not The End
A previously unpublished Rebus novella, from the CWA Macallan Gold Dagger award-winning author.
Part of the Criminal Records series of novellas, edited by Otto Penzler
Damon Mee was last seen in a blurred security video on the dance floor of a Kirkcaldy night club. It was a routine missing persons case and it wasn't even on his patch, but Inspector John Rebus said he'd look into it as a favour to the boy's father, a friend from his school days.
The ripples of the investigation widen rapidly. They lead to the club's greasy owner, to a slightly bent casino croupier, to a drop-dead blonde whose name nobody seems to know, to a Hibs striker with a talent for goals and a weakness for gambling and, finally, to the shadowed men who call the shots in Edinburgh's underworld.
When it's over, Rebus has repaid a long overdue debt and his boss has received an unexpected but very welcome birthday present.
'Britain's finest detective novelist' Scotland on Sunday

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First British Edition Orion (1998)

The Hanging Garden
See Review by John Baker
See Review by Val McDermid - Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill
See Review by Andrew Taylor - author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the hanging of four French villagers in WWII and the hanging of an old man in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh - seemingly random historical facts linked by one man.
Detective Inspector John Rebus is buried under a pile of paperwork generated by his investigations into a suspected war criminal. His immediate superiors are more than happy to have him tucked away in a quiet backwater for several months, but the escalating dispute between the upstart Tommy Telford and Big Ger Cafferty's gang gives Rebus an escape clause.
Telford is known to have close links with a Newcastle gangster nicknamed Mr Pink Eyes - a Chechen bringing refugees into Britain as prostitutes. And when Rebus takes under his wing a distraught Bosnian call girl, it gives him a personal reason to make sure Telford takes the high road back to Paisley and pronto.
Within days, Rebus's daughter is the victim of an all too professional hit and run and Rebus knows, that now there is nothing he wouldn't do to bring down prime suspect Tommy Telford - even if it means cutting a deal with the devil.
'Another outstanding novel… A searing portrait of a compassionate, quick-tempered man…The two cases he is investigating here are complex, like one of those fiendishly difficult double-sided jigsaws… The skill with which Rankin fits them together is formidable. It will be a very good book indeed that surpasses this in the coming year' Sunday Telegraph
'Rankin in blazingly good form… Tough, muscular narrative; credible, well-turned plot' Literary Review
'Gritty, authentic and superbly written' Guardian
'In fine humorous, dramatic style… The sheer research and awful social truth of this, Rankin's best novel, would make a solid citizen put it down after page 15, if only it were not as entertaining as a firework display' Frances Fyfield, Mail On Sunday
'Rankin's handling of the gangland plot, culminating in a sting designed to entrap the multi-national mobsters as they raid a huge drug-making plant, is masterly' Sunday Times
'A teeming Ellroy-esque evocation of life at the sharp end in modern Scotland...Rankin is the finest Scottish crime writer to emerge since William McIlvanney' GQ
'His last novel, Black and Blue, won the CWA Award for 1997's best novel; my bet is a repeat performance' Maxim Jakubowski, Time Out
Ian Rankin's crime novels have been variously described as 'top notch' (Daily Telegraph), 'simply awesome' (Time Out), and 'unlikely to be endorsed by the Scottish Tourist Board' (Literary Review).
'Rankin has followed one success with another. Sardonic and assured, the novel has a powerful and well-paced narrative… What is striking is the way Rankin uses his laconic prose as a literary paint stripper, scouring away pretensions to reveal the unwholesome reality beneath.' The Independent

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