Tool and Nail by Ian Rankin

Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Inspector Rebus in London. A series of murders have been rocking London and the London police approach the Lothian and Borders for help. They specifically request for Rebus stating that he is an expert in serial murderers and would help them crack the case. His reputation precedes him and he kept under vigilance of one of the officers who also believes that what Rebus does makes sense.
Rebus elicits enough snickers amongst the London police not least for the way he speaks, which many do not even understand.
In his inimitable way he goes about rubbing everybody the wrong way, plays a truant and runs off to Glasgow leaving the London police fuming.
Finally using his intuition Rebus cracks the case and catches the murderer to the relief of one and all, except the murderer himself.
Another good read from Ian Rankin.

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Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

Strip Jack by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An MP named Jack is caught in a brothel, but fortunately with his pants up. Rebus is in the team that storms the brothel. The news comes to media and the MP finds his life becoming difficult as the media labels him Strip Jack.
Rebus has full trust in the MP and wishes to unearth the reason for the MP's presence in the brothel. In the meantime two bodies turn up in the river. Both seem to have been killed by the same means. A vagrant claims to have killed both the women, but Rebus is not convinced.
He digs deep, irritates everybody and solves the case. Definitely a good read.

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Exit Music by Ian Rankin

Exit Music by Ian Rankin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rebus retires. This book is based on the last two weeks before Rebus's retirement. The Russian businessmen are in town trying to win business deals with Scotland. A dissident Russian poet is found murdered and Rebus and Siobhan come into picture.
Soon the audio recordist who had a penchant to record things in public and who recorded the last book reading of the Russian poet is also found dead.

Siobhan leads the investigation with Rebus as a team member. Rebus ends up rubbing everybody the wrong way. Rebus gets himself suspended, but this does not deter him from pursuing the truth.

The book is all about how he solves his last case before he retires. A fitting end to a glorious career.

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The Flood by Ian Rankin

The Flood by Ian Rankin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Probably the first book of Ian Rankin that gets such a low rating from me. This was the first book of Ian Rankin. This time there is no Rebus (probably the reason why it got such a low ranking). The story still revolves around the outskirts of Edinburgh. The location is Carsden. The book traces the life of a girl, Mary, who gets pushed into a polluted river. Her hair turns fully white, overnight, either due to the shock or due to the chemicals in the river. She gets branded as a witch. Mary's father thrashes the boy who pushed Mary into the river the first day he joins the coal mines. The next day the boy dies due to a fire in the coal mines. Mary's father is saved because of the boy who takes full brunt of the fire due to his inexperience. The boy's father nurses a grudge against Mary's family.

The coal mining industry is coming to a standstill in the thus far thriving town and her father loses his job and becomes a drunkard. She becomes pregnant before she is married and her brother leaves for Canada looking for better opportunities. The town suspects that the brother has impregnated her and has hence runaway or has been sent away. Soon her father dies in an accident as he is walking back home with one of his friends.

A son is born to her and he is branded a witch's son and has to withstand the taunts of the townsfolk. He still manages to build his set of friends and tries to lead a normal life. His mother starts seeing a school teacher who also teaches him. He falls in love with a gypsy girl of ill reputation. This disrupts the peace between his mother and him. His grandfather's friend who was with him when he met with the accident also commits suicide. Towards the end of the book his mother confesses who could be the real father of the child.

The book ends with the boy saving his mother as the disgruntled father of the boy who pushed Mary into the river tries to kill her.

All in all an OK book to read.

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Set in Darkness by Ian Rankin

Set in Darkness by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another of Ian Rankin's inspector Rebus books. This involves the building of the new Scottish Parliament. The developers discover a body buried in the vaults of an erstwhile hospital which is expected to become a part of the parliament. Rebus who is part of the team that is expected to facilitate the developers maintain security at the building site is bored of the events initially, but this discovery stirs the curiosity in him and he starts investigation on this. He involves Ellen Wylie and Grand Hood in this investigation.
Soon there is a second murder in the premises of the same hospital where the earlier body was found. This person in question was one who was expected to become a Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) soon. This high profile investigation is taken over by Rebus, much to the chagrin of Ellen Wylie. In this he has a partner in the form of another Inspector, a blue eyed boy in the force, a lot many years his junior to contend with.
The third is a suicide of a tramp who is found to have close to a half a million pound in saving. This suicide is handled by Siobhan Clarke.
Rebus in his own way ties up the three cases together and manages to rub the nose of his contender in the mud, much to the frustration of the high brass in the police.
Rebus comes close to being suspended before the mystery unfolds itself in the last few pages.
A good read for all the Ian Rankin, Inspector Rebus fans.

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A Good Hanging by Ian Rankin

A Good Hanging by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A good set of short stories based on Inspector Rebus. In every story the sharp intellect of Rebus comes to the fore. Mysteries are solved in a jiffy and the culprits are put behind bar or ticked off or are left to languish in their guilt for life.
Another good read from Ian Rankin.

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The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin

The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Looks like one of the last Rebus books. Rebus is on the verge of retirement. The G8 is meeting in Edinburgh. The whole town is in turmoil. The entire police force is busy with managing the security setup for the G8 leaders.
Rebus and Siobhan are pursuing yet another murder. This time the murdered person is a bouncer who worked for big Ger Cafferty. Along the way they discover two additional murders committed along the same lines. They realize that they are now dealing with not one, but three murder cases. They are not about to give up following up on the case although others have closed it down and are busy with the VIP security.
With the usual nonchalance Rebus and Siobhan march on taking head on anybody who tries to bottle them up. Siobhan's mother and father are there in Edinburgh for a demonstration against the policies of the G8 nations. Siobhan gets some time with them.
Siobhan is saved from the wrath and lust of a boy in the area where Siobhan's parents are put up by the councilor of the area. Rebus does not have a good opinion about the councilor.
Siobhan's mother gets smashed on the face, apparently by a police personnel deployed to control the demonstrators and Siobhan is unable to stop herself from trying to find out the person who did this.
Rebus takes help of Ellen Wylie, Siobhan's rival in the force because he finds that she has posted certain material in a website where the three killed persons, all ex convicts and sexual predators, were mentioned. This riles Siobhan.
Rebus also gets in touch with Ger Cafferty as it is his bouncer who had been killed.
Just before the beginning of the G8 meet the minister for Trade Affairs falls off the ramparts of the Edinburgh fort and Rebus is stopped from investigating it too.
As the book progresses, like other Rebus books, the connections, some tenuous, some not so tenuous, between the various disconnected events emerge.
The book has an intriguing end and leaves the reader with a feeling there is more to come. As Rebus fans let us hope so.

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The Black Book by Ian Rankin

The Black Book by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of the earlier Rebus books. Rebus is still establishing himself in the heart of the reader. He has rented out his flat to a bunch of college going kids and has moved in with Dr. Patience. His brother is in jail for drug abuse.
Bodies are being dumped off a cliff at regular intervals and another police man is coshed in the vicinity where the bodies are being dumped.
Rebus's colleague Holmes being coshed behind a restaurant that he visits.
A man straggles in to a butcher's (they are related) with his stomach being sliced open. The man refuses to cooperate with the police and refuses to file a police report.
Rebus' brother comes back and piles into Rebus' home along with the students.
Rebus is kicked out by Dr. Patience who has had enough of his lack of inattention to her.
Rebus starts looking into a five year old case in which a hotel was burnt down and a body of a person who was shot was found in it.
Rebus' brother is taken in a van and is suspended from a bridge and he starts suffering from fear.

Rebus takes on all these seemingly disconnected incidents in his typical style, rubbing authorities the wrong way, and manages to bring the perpetrators of crime to book, including one Ger Caferty who runs roost in all the underground activities in Edinburgh. He also manages to send packing a child abuser who has been repatriated to Edinburgh from Canada where he had been incarcerated.

Another charmer from Ian Rankin for the Rebus fans.


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Blood Hunt by Ian Rankin

Blood Hunt by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another one from Ian Rankin under a pseudonym. This time the theme is a personal enmity between two ex SAS personal.

The one Jay has disappeared after a reconnaissance mission in the Malvinas/Falklands islands. Gordon and Jay had been the only ones on this mission and there was lot of bad blood between the two.

Second Gordon Reeve has retired and is not training people the ropes of clandestine operations in the highlands of Scotland. His brother, a journalist, has shifted to America and keeps in touch once in a while. The latest contact has been a gift from him to his nephew, Gordon's son, a spanking new computer game.

The gift from his brother is followed by the news of his brother's suicide. He decides to go to the USA to pick up his brother's remains and plans to bring it back to England for burial. When he reaches there he is met by one local police official who helps him with the formalities. He stumbles upon a person who has been with his brother during his last days. This person says that his brother has been murdered and has not committed suicide.

This sets him thinking and he starts investigating and this leads him to series of information which is startling. In the process he also encounters Jay. Soon he finds himself running away and chasing Jay alternately.

The climax is set in one of the many islands off the coast of Scotland and is a literal cliff hanger like many a Bollywood movies.

Although not bad one does not feel the warmth that one gets when Rebus is present.

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Dead Souls by Ian Rankin

Dead Souls by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another page turner from the master of Scottish thrillers, more specifically Edinburgh thrillers. Book has four threads.

The first one is a missing person which Rebus tries to solve because of personal connects with the parents of the missing person. The mother has been an ex of Rebus during his high school days.

The second thread is about a pedophile who has been released after the period of his incarceration and has been settled among others in the society. Rebus tries to get him hounded out of Edinburgh by notifying the press about his presence and is almost successful.

The third thread is about a criminal whom the States has repatriated to Edinburgh as they are unable to pin most of the crimes against him. This person has a prior record in Edinburgh and nobody is happy about him coming back to Edinburgh, except for the press which wishes to take advantage of the situation and wishes to make a killing. Jim Stevens who has rubbed Rebus the wrong way around in other books is the one to latch on to an exclusive set of interview sessions with the criminal.

The fourth thread is the suicide of a colleague of Rebus.

Rankin manages to weave the four threads, through the common subject Rebus, and manages to keep the reader glued to the pages till the very end when after a series of twists and turns all the four threads converge and a fitting denouement.

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A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin

A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Inspector Rebus' hands are scalded and the person who has been stalking D.C. Siobhan Clarke has been burnt to death. Given Rebus' background and propensity for crossing the line he is the first suspect.

This is overshadowed by a shooting in a school in which two students are killed and an ex-SAS man kills himself. A third student who is the son of MSP (Member of Scotland Parliament) is injured. Rebus is roped in by the officer investigating the shooting to get some information from ex-SAS members as Rebus has been through the SAS training but had been rejected.

Soon Rebus with Siobhan as his driver (because his hands are scalded) are running around Edinburgh looking for the culprits in the both the cases. Both weave into each other seamlessly and Rebus, as is his wont, keeps going out of bounds in his own seemingly inimicable way.

Another classic from Ian Rankin.

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Doors Open by Ian Rankin

Doors Open by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ian Rankin does not disappoint one in this book although it does not involve Rebus or murderers. The book is about a millionaire, a investment banker, and a college art professor who are art lovers, pulling of an art heist.

The idea germinates in the brain of the professor. He tempts the millionaire and the investment banker into this scheme which has been brewing in his mind for quite some time. During the course of the discussion on how to pull off the heist, the millionaire meets one of his school bully who is now a crime lord in Edinburgh.

With the help of the crime lord and a talented student of the professor the three pull off a heist against all odds. But what follows is a series of surprises which need to be read to be enjoyed.


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The Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin

Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The murder of a non-british leads Rebus and his partner Siobhan to the murky tangle of refugees and their exploitation and the xenophobia.

The parents of a rape victim who had committed suicide, in a case that Siobhan had dealt with a few years back come pleading to her to find out the whereabouts of their second daughter.

The incidents continue as skeletons are found in the cellar of a pub, and the rapist of the other daughter who has come out is found murdered.

They are joined by an Immigration Officer who is in charge of investigating the illegal immigrants. They visit the prison which has now been converted to a detention center for illegal immigrants and Rebus is reminded of his own grandfather's immigration from Poland. He sees the wife and children of the first victim in the book and is touched by their plight. He brings the kids toys.

Rebus and Siobhan are able to solve the cases but are left wondering on what would be a good way to tackle immigration.

The book provides multiple perspectives on illegal immigration which is becoming a big issue in today's time throughout the world and there are still no easy solutions to the problem.

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Let it Bleed by Ian Rankin

Let It Bleed by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another classic from the master storyteller. Keeps one engrossed from the first page to the last page. Intrigues one with the idiosyncrasies of John Rebus.

The daughter of the Lord Provost of Scotland disappears mysteriously.

Two teenagers chased by the police, (Rebus is one of them) for plausible kidnapping of the girl in question, commit suicide by jumping of a bridge onto a frigate that is passing by below the bridge. Rebus find a business proposal under the bed of one teenager along with paraphernalia associated with drug usage.

An ex-con who is released from the jail goes and shoots himself with a sawed of shotgun in front of a Scottish Councillor. Rebus visits the residence of the Councillor and finds him shredding some documents with help from his wife.

These incidences provoke Rebus to start a private investigation without the blessings of his bosses. He is ordered to take an holiday by his seniors without being directly told to not probe further into these incidents.

Rebus is unable to keep quite and continues with his digging into the incidents. It leads him huge financial frauds that have been committed by the people placed high in the various social organizations of Scotland.

How he goes about linking the events in his inimical way rubbing all the right people the wrong way, jeopardizing his own career and those of others around him is worth the read.

Not sure what the intention of the author was in naming the book "Let it Bleed". At a trivial level Rebus has his dentist drill a hole to let the abscess in his mouth bleed.

A more serious interpretation could refer to the attitude of people high up in the Scottish social organizations who are ready to bleed the organizations under the false pretext of improving employment in Scotland while lining their own profits that accrue via these companies.

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Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin

Witch Hunt by Ian Rankin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book on terrorism by Ian Rankin. The book starts with the sinking of two ships along the channel, one on the French side and one on the British side by a lone female anarchist who has been labelled as "The Witch" by the British Intelligence. The secret agencies in Britain start their investigation. Before they can figure out much an Arab banker is murdered.

This brings into picture a key character who is a retried officer. His daughter has been killed in a terror attack plausibly launched by The Witch. He has encountered the Witch in an earlier investigation which he had taken into his hands and hand failed. He is brought back from retirement to support the rookies in charge of the investigation. This character bears a resemblance to John Rebus in that he is a nonconformist.

The target seems to be one of the several heads of state who are expected to converge on London for a conference.

The book covers investigation on both sides of the channels with a little romance thrown in between rookie the secret agents from both sides. The Witch leads them on a wild goose chase, but finally is caught trying to get even for a personal reason.

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A Cool Head by Ian Rankin

A Cool Head by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A taut story involving a naive graveyard worker who gets entangled in a bribe payment going wrong, leading to murder.
A typical Ian Rankin book for the fans.

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Watchman by Ian Rankin

Watchman by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another of Ian Rankin classic. Not Rebus this time. The book is based on the exploits of an unheroic hero, Miles Flint, who works in the Secret Service. Miles has been a passive observer for most of his life. Now faced with a crumbling marriage he spends as much time as possible watching. In the process he bungles when watching an Arab and this leads to the killing of an Israeli middleman by the Arab. The books is based around the time IRA was active in England and had launched several bomb attacks in the main continent.

Everybody seems to be covering up the business. Miles' finds his closest colleague, with whom he has been having lunches, leaving his home and when he enters it he finds his wife alone. He encounters his friend with the evidence and his friends admits to spending time with his wife, but claims that it is purely platonic.

Miles leaves home and joins another team that is on a watch. The team is pulled out at the last minute and only Miles is left in the house used to spy on the suspect. His curiosity lands him in the police station and his friend who has been talking to his wife is sent to bail him out.

Now his manager decides to send him on what seems to be a trivial mission to Ireland. On the eve of his departure his friend calls up to warn him about trouble awaiting him in Ireland in a very vague fashion and Miles is not able to make anything about it.

Once in Ireland things do not go as expected and Miles ends up a fugitive along with an IRA member. How the experience in Ireland changes Miles and how he comes back and takes charge forms the last portion of the book. Read it and enjoy it.

The author also provides a good, albeit shallow, analysis of the problems between Ireland and England.

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Black and Blue by Ian Rankin

Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A earlier book of Inspector Rebus. I have not been reading them in the chronological order so this book takes us to an earlier era of Rebus when Gill Templar is not the boss and Siobhan has just lost her greenness in her ears.
The killing of a person in Edinburgh takes Rebus to Glasgow and Aberdeen. In Aberdeen the oil industry has boomed and is now bottoming out, but it still has a lot of money. And with money comes drugs and crime. The book is around crime in the cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen rather than about Edinburgh which it the city in which most of the other Rebus novels are based.
Rebus is not involved in the a case of a serial killing. The killer has been named Johnny Bible who seems to be emulating a serial killer in the past called Bible John. Rebus and his mentor had been involved in the earlier case. He along with his mentor had been involved in implicating a person under dubious conditions. His mentor has died that incident is being dug out once again.
Now Rebus has to fight on three fronts, one to defend himself against the allegation of doctored evidence in the earlier case and other to solve the crime that has been handed down to him and his obsession with finding Johnny Bible to which he has not been officially assigned.
A very good read for fans of Inspector Rebus. It is hard not to feel for what inspector Rebus goes through in these books.
Ian Rankin shows is class in seamlessly weaving up the crime stories around the inspector and his life.

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The Falls by Ian Rankin

The Falls by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ian Rankin is definitely growing on me and slowly I am becoming a fan of Detective Inspector John Rebus and the characters around him. The book is themed around a young girl going missing and a miniature coffin with a doll inside it being spotted near a place called the The Falls, known so because of the four feet tall falls that is in the vicinity, around the same time. Inspector Rebus goes about investigating in his own inimitable way.

Gill Templar has become the new boss and Farmer has retired. Gill Templar introduces Rebus to her friend who is a curator in the museum. Rebus digs out the fact that the last three decades there have been multiple incidents in the past when a young girl has been murdered and a miniature coffin found in the vicinity.

In the meantime Rebus' colleague Siobhan discovers that the missing person has been playing a game of intrigue in the internet and she takes it up with the Quizmaster who is conducting the game. The two converge to a place called Arthur's Seat where miniature coffin's have been found in the past.

The body of the missing person is found and the case becomes a homicide case. How Rebus and his colleagues go about solving the case is the meat of the book. Intriguing to say the least.

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The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin

The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Slowly Ian Rankin is making inroads into my reading habit and I am beginning to appreciate his writing. Though it comes nowhere close to the class of a John Le Carre or possibly even a Alistair McLean, Ian Rankin has his charm and style even though he limits himself to Edinburgh.

The Hanging Garden is a decent read for people who have developed a taste for Ian Rankin. Nothing untoward, nothing dramatic and like the town he describes is a quiet book.

The book is about gang rivalry in Edinburgh between two underground groups, one which has established itself in the city for a long time and has been operating there for a long time and the other which has come of Paisley and is trying to usurp the current group. The latter is led by an (over)ambitious who wishes to have a pie of every business. The leader has found a very easy way of smuggling in drugs into the country by winning the hearts of the senior citizens in the city. He also has a hand in the prostitution that is going on and is on the verge of expanding this business via gaming (read gambling) parlours with help from another group from New Castle. He also goes on to invite some from the Japanese underground Yakuza.

In the process of trying to prove his hold over the town and in trying to show off his prowess to pull off a big haul in the city the group fails miserably, thanks to the detective work of John Rebus the protagonist of the novel.

That is short is what all the novel about. But what adds charm is the description of the locales that John Rebus visits during the various escapades that he has in the town and tidbits about his personal life and the vicissitudes of his life.

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