A Question of Blood : An Inspector Rebus Novel

Rating:
Summary: absolutely brilliant
Review: All of South Queensferry is in shock when Lee Herdman walks into a private school (Port Edgar Academy) one day and opens fire in the student lounge killing two boys one day. Since Herdman was an ex-army man, everyone assumes that he just snapped one day. However, the police still need to try and establish what chain of events led to the shooting. So an overworked DI Bobby Hogan who's in charge of the case decides to draft Rebus onto the team. Rebus however is being investigated because of his connection in the suspicious death of an ex-con (with a tendency for violence) who was stalking Rebus's partner DS Siobhan Clarke for a while now. Relieved to have something else on their minds aside from the impending internal investigation, both Rebus and Siobhan throw themselves completely into investigating Herdman's past and everyone he had a relationship with. But with the military police showing a sudden and profound interest in the case, Rebus begins to wonder about what's really going on, esp when he discovers the ties Herdman had with certain prominent families of South Queensferry...

Ian Rankin comes up trumps again! And while this latest Rebus installment is not the usual fare (as others have noted it's not much of a whodunit kind of novel), it still made for compelling and engrossing reading. Ian Rankin is an absolute wonder at creating scenes, characters and atmosphere, and coming up with a story that's unique and complex. So that even though I did begin to see which way the investigation was going, and even though the ending didn't really explain completely why the shooter did what he did, I would still rate this latest Rebus novel as a 5 star read. As usual there is Rankin's clever and witty prose/dialogue to enjoy; and I rather liked that you really got to enjoy and appreciate the good and close relationship that Rebus and Siobhan have -- a friendship that's affectionate but (thank goodness) free of sexual tensions. So yes, this is a book worth buying and recommending as an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: He Has Blood on His Hands
Review: An ex-con, Martin Fairstone, who had been stalking and harassing Edinburgh Inspector John Rebus's friend, partner and protegee, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, is found burned to death after spending time the night before with Rebus. The hard drinking, smokaholic turns up with bandaged hands, saying he scalded himself in the bath, but gosh darn, too much to drink, you know, can't quite remember. Gil Templar, Rebus's boss and Complaints and Conduct (same as American Internal Affairs) suspect Rebus and he is officially suspended.

Meanwhile, Lee Herdman, a veteran of the elite SAS, shoots two boys to death and wounds another at the Port Edgar Academy in South Queensferry, before turning the gun on himself. One of the murdered boys is the son of a judge, the other turns out to be Rebus's second cousin. The wounded boy is the son of a Scottish MP.

Because of Rebus's army experience and, of course because of his excellent detective skill, DI Bobby Hogan, asks Rebus to assist in the investigation, which he is more than glad to do. Much better to be the investigator in the second crime than the investigatee in the first. At first it looks like Herdman just snapped, but Rebus wonders why the Army is so interested and after an investigation that leads to another dead man and to his Goth (dresses all in black) sister, who has a live webcam in her bedroom, and then to an SAS operation, Rebus knows there is so much more here than a pressure cooked guy that just went nuts with a gun.

I don't know how, but Mr. Rankin just keeps getting better and better. I didn't mention above that Rebus doesn't have the use of his burned hands during the investigation. He has to depend on Siobahn, a lady who will do anything for him, except light his cigarettes, which of course angers our fiftish, overweight, alcoholic, chain smoking hero. It's touches like that, and the way Mr. Rankin uses music to help with his characterization, the complicated plot with it's twist and turns and the superb writing that make his books a joy to read.

Haley Lawford, S/V Cheerleader Too

Rating:
Summary: Scottish Noir Ripe for the States
Review: John Rebus, one-time angry young man, is all grown up and getting old, but he's still very angry. He has suffered the military, been station in Northern Ireland, washed out of special forces, is divorced and estranged from his family, is overweight, has never met a drink he didn't like, but has a fine Scotch he prefers. If you met him, you probably wouldn't like him. But he's good at what he does. And what he does is catch bad guys. He's a cop, some would say a good one, some would say maybe not so good, because he is not exactly a go-along, get-along kind of guy. He's a rule-breaker and proud of it and he doesn't give a fig when it gets him in hot water.

The story opens with Rebus in hospital with burns on his hands that he claims were scalded, drawing a bath, however he'd been seen the day before with ex-con, burglar Martin Fairstone, who just happened to be stalking Rebus' protegé partner, Siobhan Clarke, who hates being called "Shiv" but is anyway. Seems that Rebus visited Fairstone, they had some drinks, Rebus left, someone tied the con to a chair and burnt him up. Can you blame the regular, rule following cops for liking Rebus for the crime?

Meanwhile an ex-SAS veteran crashes into a posh school, shoots dead two students, wounds a third, who just happens to be the son of a curb-crawling MP. In America politicians don't curb-crawl, they have lobbyists supply them with their hookers. Anyway, after killing the kids, the SAS guy kills himself. Since the cops are investigating Rebus, he decides to investigate the school shooting with Clarke, burnt hands and all. And as it turns out, he is related to one of the dead students.

And there you have the beginning of this outstanding story about an outstanding character that just gets better as you read along. Once again Mr. Rankin has delivered the goods. It's my guess that Inspector Rebus is about to be just as popular in the Colonies as he is in the mother country.