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Penzler Pick, January 2002:Ian Rankin is now the United Kingdom's bestselling crime writer. His 15 police procedurals featuring the dour Scottish Detective Inspector John Rebus are beginning, at last, to attract a devoted--and deserved--following in this country. St. Martin's has just published this, Rankin's 1992 collection of short stories, and I can't think of a better way to be introduced to John Rebus and his creator.
Dubbed "Tartan Noir" by James Ellroy, Rankin's tales are set in Edinburgh. Not in the beautiful streets that tourists see (those cobbled sidewalks leading up to Edinburgh Castle), but in its dark, damp recesses where crime flourishes. That's where Rebus works. The crime and criminals there make Rebus's job a tough one, and they also offend his sense of decency and order.
These 12 stories tell of mystery, suffering, and mayhem, which Rebus alone of all the detectives on the force, with his remarkable deductive skills, can solve. In "Being Frank," a homeless man, from his unique perspective on the park bench, is able to give Rebus the information he needs to break up a scam by local ne'er-do-wells. Crimes gone unsolved for 20 years, religious sightings, lovers crossed, and tales of revenge all come under the jaundiced eye of the very talented Rebus.
Even 10 years ago, when he was writing these stories, Rankin was a writer of great gifts. Time has borne out this promise. So it is easy to predict that, once you have sampled these short cases, you will become one of the many readers eagerly awaiting another Rebus novel from this sensitive and enormously talented young writer.--Otto Penzler
Rebus at his most concise and puzzling Of all the Inspector Rebus books, this collection of twelve short stories is probably the most powerful distillation of ideas. The mysteries are small but crisp in impact, thanks to the shorter length of stories and thus less of a need to throw obstacles into the reader's mind, and the characters pop out in poetic contrast to their surroundings. Although it tapers off into stories which are both inconclusive and obvious, the majority (2/3) of this book is the best Rebus so far.
A Great Way to Learn About the Early Rebus and Rankin This book of short stories was written in between the third and forth novels. It's an intriguing bit of Rebus-ania because it tells us a lot about the character, the way he acts and about how Rankin saw him.
We get involved with these mini-mysteries, and in each we learn more about the way Rebus' mind works when he looks at a problem. We also get little snippets about his childhood, marriage and background. Mostly we get a feeling for how Rebus is on a day to day basis. Well worth reading.Thanks, Mr. Rankin, now I'm hooked... I decided to try to read a Rebus novel after being introduced to the character one night while watching BBCAmerica. I thought I would start with a good hanging, based on the other reviews. This book is just great. Each story is well thought out and written. Rebus, a poor tormented soul can be dark one minute, and then put a smile on your face with his dry wit the next. Count me in as a Rebus fan.
