My favourite Rebus read for some time, at number 11 in the series Set In Darkness feels like the gear change in many relationships – Derek Linford and Siobhan attempt three, ultimately doomed, dates, Siobhan recognises Rebus as friend and mentor, and Big Ger is, to Rebus’s surprise and suspicion, released from Barlinne prison, which results in a revival of the love-hate relationship between Edinburgh’s main gangster and his most well matched, most likely nemesis, DI Rebus.
And a cracking set of crimes too, all revolving around Scottish devolution.
Amazon.co.uk: Set In Darkness – Ian Rankin
Part of a previous haul from Frinton, I realised that I’d read A Question of Blood before, soon after settling down to read it. Still Rankin’s Inspector Rebus is always a good read and A Question of Blood is no exception, with an ex-SAS loner shooting 3 school boys in an Edinburgh private school and Rebus falling under suspicion of the death of Siobhan’s stalker….
Amazon.co.uk link: A Question of Blood – Ian Rankin
There are lots of dead souls in Inspector Rebus’s 10th outing: psychotic serial killer Cary Oakes, Rebus’s old Fife flame Janice, Janice’s disappeared son Damon, recently released paedophile Darren Gough, retired policeman Alan Archibald obsessed by his search for his niece’s murderer, the unexplained suicide of fellow cop Jim Margolies … and more. Not much of Siobhan though – maybe because she’s not a lost soul!
Excellent.
Amazon.co.uk link: Dead Souls – Ian Rankin
Finished off whilst ‘baby sitting’ B&R, Mortal Causes shows a sectarian side of Edinburgh that’s little seen. A young man is found, murdered in a paramilitary style, his body hanging in one of Edinburgh’s now-buried closes. As Rebus and Siobhan investigate, we’re introduced to the sectarian underclass and undercurrents that exist in Edinburgh. To make things even more murky, Big Ger escapes from Barlinnie prison, and Abernethy from Special Branch turns up….
Amazon.co.uk link:
Mortal Causes – Ian Rankin
Siobhan appears, as does Big Ger, and we learn a little more about Rebus, this time in real Edinburgh locations – and with his fifth outing, Ian Rankin and John Rebus really hit their stride. A great read, with more than one black book and plenty of dirty deeds….
Amazon.co.uk: The Black Book – Ian Rankin
