Rebus means enigmatic puzzle. Whether Ian Rankin gave his main character this name for this reason I don’t know but it definitely works. I have a list of authors that I want to explore further or visit for the first time and Ian Rankin has been there for a long time.
Weirdly I read the latest book first…about number 24, liked it and then decided that I should go right back to the beginning.The whole series of books is based in Edinburgh, the home of the author, and his intimate knowledge of the city enhances the stories.
This particular detective is not the sort that I normally take to. He is not the cool, rather distant Simon Serrailler of Susan Hill’s books or the poetic Adam Dalgeish in P.D. James’ stories. John Rebus would probably refer to himself simply as a copper, albeit quite a well read one.
In the very first book of the series, Knots and Crosses, we learn much about the detective’s life and character. He is divorced and has a young daughter of whom he doesn’t see enough. He doesn’t always stick entirely to the rules and can let his work take over his life. He was in the army and the SAS before the police force and he won’t talk about that time in his life. However, in this initial book his past comes up close, trespassing intrusively on his present. I have read that Ian Rankin modified the policeman’s character over the first few books, rather like getting to know someone better.
In the second book: Hide and Seek, the author has great fun with word play. The story of Jekyll and Hyde by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson is used as a continuing allusion throughout the story. People are not what they seem, characters have double lives and dangerous secrets. The city of Edinburgh itself is a palimpsest of history; layer upon layer of buildings from different centuries. This is mirrored in the story as the physical make up of the city offers strange and hidden places for dark deeds and Rankin’s characters show themselves in various persona depending on their situation. There is more than a hint here of modern gothic.
On a visit to Edinburgh some years ago we went on a tour underneath the city. I don’t mean that we went into some dungeons, for there is a whole other town below today’s buildings. There are pathways wide enough for a horse and cart, shops and houses. It is a very weird experience to walk through them with the 21st century going on overhead. I don’t quite understand why this happened but it is a delightful gift for any writer, particularly one focussed on thrillers or crime fiction.
In this second Rebus novel Ian Rankin doesn’t shy away from the seedier side of his beautiful city. There are assignations with rent boys and illegal dog fighting, all of it mostly fuelled and financed by drugs. And all the while the character of Rebus is being developed and rounded. He is complex and troubled. He perceives himself as an outsider and has a difficult relationship with God. Ian Rankin is skilled in showing us the minutiae of Edinburgh life and using this to create satisfying prose that is very readable.
When I began this Scottish foray I had no intention at all of working my way through all two dozen books. However, maybe I have been caught! My ordering finger has been at work and books numbers 3 and 4 will be on the doormat tomorrow morning. We shall see.
This is great reading. Do sample if you have not already done so.