In some of the later novels, Rebus's nemesis, the gangster 'Big Ger' Cafferty, is a point of view character; often the glimpse of his thoughts allows the reader to understand the strange relationship between the two not-quite-retired men. Ex-Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone. This episode was scheduled for broadcast in the UK on 20 September 2001 but was withheld until 1 November 2004 because of the terrorist attacks on the USA of 11 September 2001 and the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Army investigators Read More, The fifteenth Inspector Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES 'It's another Rebus novel you can't put down, and Rankin at his most powerful' CHOICE 'Rankin is superb' DAILY MAIL An illegal immigrant is found murdered in an Edinburgh housing scheme. Two seventeen-year-olds are killed by an ex-Army loner who has gone off the rails. 'Masterly' SUNDAY TIMES 'Ian Rankin is a genius' Lee Child DI Rebus is buried under a pile of paperwork but an escalating dispute between the upstart Tommy Telford and Big Ger Cafferty's gang Read More, The tenth Inspector Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES. Although these novels, The Complaints and The Impossible Dead, are usually excluded from the Rebus series, Fox became a significant character in the Rebus novels when they resumed in 2012 with Standing in Another Man's Grave. I love Ian Rankin and read all his books, but this one veered further away from Rebus and more towards Clarke. Can she help Rebus this time? Your email address will not be published. Brutally murdered in her hotel room forty years ago, her killer has never been found. Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, International Mystery & Crime (Kindle Store), Private Investigator Mysteries (Kindle Store), Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. The motto of the Scottish kings - Nemo mi impune lacessit ("Don't Mess With Me") sets the tone for this story. But then Cafferty was released from prison because he was thought to be . It's such a classic, noir fiction, with sharp dialogs and exciting characters, that I envy those who haven't got a chance to read the series yet. Gently apply the brakes a little with this one, it is worth taking your time to savour the prose, like an expensive single malt. "I thought I'd taken a real man and made him fiction," says Rankin, "but I'd actually taken a fictional man and made him fictional. Please tick this box to indicate that youre 13 or over. The novels, centred on Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh. Another very worthy addition to a great series, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2022. Still, I somehow became distracted by the new and shiny mysteries that pop in the bookstores every week. The further evolution of this connection inEven Dogs in the Wildshows how very significant this relationship is. Rebus reminisces about his childhood as he pulls off the motorway at Kinross. Army investigators Read More Fleshmarket Close , File size Everyone is either second-guessing someone or being economical with the truth. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. "I would rather be a rock star than a writer," he says. The original Rebus series is available to watch now on BritBox - you can sign up to BritBox with a 7-day free trial here, while you can purchase Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels on Amazon. Their platonic bond is strong and Siobhan soon becomes a principal character, first appearing in the fifth Rebus novel The Black Book. Rebus is Read More, The sixteenth Inspector Rebus novel from 'Britain's best crime novelist' DAILY EXPRESS and No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES 'Rankin just gets better. I was an avid reader of Ian Rankin's series with the Edinburgh detective John Rebus. Rhona is Rebus's ex-wife. Also see our review of The Dark Remains, in which Ian Rankin completed William McIlvanneys final Laidlaw manuscript. The police never do identify the serial rapists. Time to flash back a wee while maybe things will become a little clearer? A Heart Full of Headstones begins with Rebus making a court appearance during troubled Covid times and facing a charge that Rankin tantalisingly reveals much later on in the book. The mystery takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Hometown: Edinburgh, London and France Date of Birth: April 28, 1960 Place of Birth: Cardenden, Scotland Education: Edinburgh University Website: Related Subjects Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? Ah, settle in because a compelling tale is about to unfold. He walked into the Visiting Room like he was the visitor, Rebus the inmate.. A Heart Full of Headstones is the irascible ex-cops 24th outing in print and these days hes really feeling his age. An innovative new design, the illustrated audiobook was created for Rebus's Scotland (the CD box contains a 32-page booklet containing photographs from the book). Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. See Plain's chapter "The Novel's Reception," which gives many excerpts from reviews. , Language However, when Rebus retired in Exit Music, Rankin instead wrote two novels set in the same world of Edinburgh policing, but from the point of view of Malcolm Fox, an Inspector with Internal Affairs. All of the Rebus novels are available as audiobooks, some in several versions: narrated by different people or in abridged and unabridged form. Set in Edinburgh, the mercurial Detective Inspector John Rebus's investigations lead him through the city's ancient beauty and into its more sinister quarters. The murdered man is the son of Rebuss enduring antagonist, Big Ger Cafferty, one of the main players in Edinburghs underworld of drugs and corruption, and Cafferty wants the murderer caught. Beginning with Blue Night, Orenda Books has translated and. She flinches, thinking he is making a pass at her, but neither of them wants a romantic relationship. The motto of the Scottish kings - Nemo mi impune lacessit ("Don't Mess With Me") sets the tone for this story. Rebus is not the only person out for revenge, with powerful and notorious businessman Darryl Christie, played by Noof Ousellam ('Andor'; 'Hanna'), setting his sights on Cafferty for his own, very personal, reasons. That sense of lassitude suffuses the novel. At the same time, his nemesis, the brutal gang lord Cafferty, is given a savage beating. Inspector John Rebus made his debut in Ian Rankin's second novel, Knots and Crosses, which was published in March 1987. A Heart Full of Headstones: An Inspector Rebus Novel (A Rebus Novel), Knots and Crosses: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus series Book 1), Fleshmarket Alley: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus series Book 15), A Song for the Dark Times: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Novels Book 23), Hide and Seek: An Inspector Rebus Mystery (Inspector Rebus series Book 2). The author has also stated in the past that, although not made obvious in the novels, Rebus is a Raith Rovers supporter when it comes to football. Gregor Jack, MP, well-liked, young, married to the fiery Elizabeth - to the outside world a very public success story. InMortal Causes, the relationship between Rebus and Cafferty becomes more complex. During Cafferty's incarceration, Rebus keeps returning to Cafferty for assistance, which Cafferty either provides, refuses, or disguises with misdirection, usually dropping an inadvertent clue or two. This is the first, and it seems to have been written with the second in mind. She progresses from a child to an adult of the . : [11], Rankin decided early on that the Rebus novels would be set "in real time," that is, in about the year they were written, reflecting current events. Why? : [5] The very fact that in 2002 a book on Black & Blue was commissioned for the Continuum Contemporaries Series, alongside authors such as A.S. Byatt, Arundhati Roy, and Nobellists Kazuo Ishiguro and Toni Morrison, makes it clear that Rankin had become a "serious" author on the international stage. I have read them all and over the years they have given me immense reading pleasure. Roddy Grieve wasn't actually supposed to be killed. "I don't always manage to surprise Rebus, but I like the fact that I did this time.". As political passions run high, Read More, The twelfth Inspector Rebus bestseller - a powerfully gripping novel where past and present collide From the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES 'This is, quite simply, crime writing of the highest order' DAILY EXPRESS 'The unopposed champion of the British police procedural' GUARDIAN A student Read More, The thirteenth Inspector Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES 'No one in Britain writes better crime novels' Evening Standard 'This is Rankin at his best, and, boy, that's saying something' TIME OUT Rebus is off the case - literally. ", "She wouldn't be flattered by that remark," says Rankin, "because it implies she's put her womanness aside to become one of the boys. ONE OF THE MUST-READ NOVELS OF THE YEAR. This is one of them.' The reviewer basically becomes the stereotypical bent copper. Would squeaky clean detective fiction be too true to be good? Covid is in the background, the possible corruption is dismissed as being not as bad as the Met. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. The Rebus novel series began in 1987 when Ian Rankin published Knots and Crosses; his intention was to write a standalone variation on Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, set in contemporary Edinburgh. [17] The books routinely sell half a million copies each,[18] and have been translated into 36 languages. The problem is it takes a long time for this Rebus to reveal his moral anger and deductive powers. Is he finally destined to get his man? Why Rebus takes this commission is slightly opaque, and Caffertys reason that he wishes to make amends was always a dubious proposition. He represents a point of view in which Rebus's maverick attitudes are not merely outmoded or superseded, but potentially criminal; however, after he becomes acquainted with Rebus, he recognizes that the older man did have standards of his own. Thirteen of the novels were dramatised for television between 2000 and 2007 in four series of Rebus. Required fields are marked *. John Hannah was the first, playing the detective in four episodes between 2000 and 2001. : Siobhan seems to carry on, cautiously, except for her friendship with an online journalist, of the Courant, who seems to have the scoop on all the possible corruption and yobbishness in Tynecastle. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. Scudder (an ex-cop and a man with his own strict moral code) related to a tough-guy hoodlum called Mick Ballou. Please try again. The character married before the beginning of the Rebus books, but was divorced some time in the 1980s. ", Rankin says he wrote it as a postgraduate literature student, "and it reads like it was written when I was a postgraduate literature student. Plain reports Rankin, in an interview with her, saying: "Cafferty is a kind of devil who is always standing behind Rebus saying 'It feels good to do bad things, why don't you give it a go,'" a direct evocation of Gilmartin (Plain, p. 13).