The Falls (2000) Ian Rankin The daughter of a wealthy banker disappears, and all the police are placed on high alert to help in the search. Her boyfriend–with whom she had a fight the afternoon before disappearing–expects he’s the prime suspect, but a search of her email turns up a mysterious webmaster with whom she […]
Set in Darkness (2000) Ian Rankin Detective Chief Superintendent Watson has just months left until retirement, and wants to keep Rebus out of trouble until that time passes, so Rebus is put on the committee looking at the new Parliament building/old hospital. But as nothing goes smoothly with Rebus around, a skeleton is discovered boarded […]
Dead Souls (1999) Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus is not having an easy time of it. Pedophiles on trial and perhaps released back into the community. A serial killer shipped back to Edinburgh after he is released from prison in the United States, a missing person’s case to which he is inadvertently drawn, a continued rocky […]
The Hanging Garden (1998) Ian Rankin The story starts in the middle, moves back to the beginning, and then moves forward again. So we discover quite quickly that Rebus is in the middle of an investigation of a possible WWII war crime, a war is breaking out between the organized crime groups, and Rebus’ daughter […]
Black and Blue (1997) Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus is paying for his actions in the last book. He’s been sent to one of the worst precincts in the area, supposedly to help them with their move and because another DI is out on medical leave, but Rebus knows why he’s there–even if no one else […]
Let it Bleed (1996) Ian Rankin The book starts with a car chase–a chase Rebus wants no part of–that leads to the death by suicide of the two teenagers they were chasing. This is followed by the death of an ex-con who just got out of prison. Neither suicide makes any sense to Rebus, and […]
Mortal Causes (1994) Ian Rankin This is the sixth Inspector John Rebus book. It’s the Edinburgh Festival, and everyone is working extra shifts. Unfortunately for Rebus, on his Saturday night shift someone discovers the body of a man who was tortured and executed and it looks like it might be a sectarian/gangland murder, something that […]
The Black Book (1993) Ian Rankin The fifth Inspector John Rebus book starts with Rebus being kicked out by Patience, he has been placed on a task force he doesn’t think will succeed, his brother Michael reappears in his life, and Brian Holmes being attacked and found unconscious. Trying to discover what could have lead […]
Strip Jack (1992) Ian Rankin When a raid on a brothel operating secretly in Edinburgh nets a local MP, Inspector Rebus thinks things feel a little off–Gregor Jack isn’t the kind of MP you’d expect to find at a brothel, and his reaction during the raid isn’t precisely what Rebus would have expected. From there, […]
Hide and Seek (1990) Ian Rankin After reading his anthology A Good Hanging, I decided to pick up another of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus books. I had ’em in the house, just never got around to reading any further in the series, because the first two books I read were quite dark, and I wasn’t […]
A Good Hanging (1992) Ian Rankin A Good Hanging is a collection of Inspector Rebus short stories. I read Knots and Crosses a couple years ago, and although I enjoyed it, found it very dark, so I’ve been hesitant to continue in the series because I haven’t been in the mood for that much darkness. […]
Tooth and Nail (1992) Ian Rankin In some ways, 1992 doesn’t seem that long ago to me. But reading this book, it seems a lifetime ago. Tooth and Nail was written in 1992, it many of the little things in the book made it feel old to me: the lack of cell phones, the smoking, […]