Let It Bleed

Inspector Rebus #7

by Ian Rankin

Two boys hug and jump... One man blows his brains out and does his lady a last favour... Alone in his cell another sets a ball rolling that may demolish a glittering career... Everyone keeps secrets and sometimes not just their own. In an Edinburgh winter the wind blows chill and penetrating. For Rebus it slams one door shut only to open another. Investigating the disappearance of the Provost's daughter leads him from the Old Town to Silicon Gel, from drug addicts to government ministers. And plants the seed that grows into a nagging belief that there may be some criminals beyond the grasp of modern justice.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Scotland, Thriller, Detective, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

AKA Jack Harvey.

Born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982 and then spent three years writing novels when he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987; the Rebus books are now translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers on several continents.

Ian Rankin has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow. He is also a past winner of the Chandler-Fulbright Award, and he received two Dagger Awards for the year's best short story and the Gold Dagger for Fiction. Ian Rankin is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, and Edinburgh.

A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts, on Channel 4 in 2002. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, and opted to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianrankin

Reviews

[Heidi (on slight hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite a multitude of characters, story threads, and Scottish government entities— this was an excellent read. Rankin does an amazing job balancing the scales of justice and commerce.

The book may be years old but its storyline is as contemporary as it gets. What price progress?

I generally love the way his books come together but this may be one of my favorites. For that reason, I think it’s a good entre into the Rebus series as our lead inspector is maturing, despite still battling some demons. (Earlier books are fairly solid but the dude’s personal life is a hot mess!)

By this installment, Rebus’s sense of integrity (or need for justice) has almost become its own character in this detective series. It drives him to nearly self-destruct yet also serves as his guiding principle.

Look forward to continuing to see what Rebus will be battling against next!!

(Reviewed 1/2/24)

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I think I’ve read all of the John Rebus books I seem to discover another one that’s slipped through the net. This time I’m convinced it’s the last one – I’ve triple checked! It’s one of the early books (released in 1995) and some of the technology and the politics have moved on since it came out, but that only adds to its charm. It’s like catching an old episode of a television series you used to love. And due to the random order I’ve read these books it took me a while to catch up on where Rebus stood with a number of his colleagues who’ve popped up numerous times over the years – some friends, some foe.

The storyline kicks off with a mad car chase over the Forth Bridge which ends with Rebus crawling towards a couple of young lads who have crawled from the wreckage of their car. They are suspected of perpetrating the kidnap of a young girl. But before Rebus can reach them he watches as one boy wraps his arms around the other and, leaning back, gently and soundlessly tips them both into a fatal fall to the Firth of Forth below. It’s a harrowing scene and one that’s going to haunt Rebus. Was that suicide? It certainly looked that way.

Before long there’s another episode – definitely suicide this time. An ex-con uses a sawn-off to end his days in the office of a local councillor. Are these events linked in any way? On the face of it no, but on the other hand this is an Ian Rankin novel and coincidence is something neither he nor Rebus is a great believer in.

As always, the interactions between characters are brilliantly written. To me, this is the single biggest joy of these books. Rebus is dry and cutting. Why give a straightforward response if you can be cryptic and wry? And the support characters are excellent too. In this book I particularly enjoyed John’s sparring with his bête noire, Detective Inspector Alistair Flower, and also with his flustered and frustrated boss, Chief Superintendent Thomas ‘Farmer’ Watson. At times it’s subtle and clever but mostly it’s just laugh out loud funny. But overall these tend to be dark tales and it’s not long before we’re sneaking back into posh Edinburgh’s dark underbelly.

I wont go into the bigger story – in truth it was a little convoluted for my tastes – but suffice to say it all gets very murky and then everything becomes clear. These books don’t always have happy endings, Rebus has a self-destructive streak and he’s a stubborn ass too. He’s as likely to self-destruct at his potential moment of success as any fictional character I’ve come across. Does he here? Well I’m afraid you’re just going to have to read it to find out.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started well. A car chase over the Forth bridge. Then a weird suicide. Rebus is then uncovering corruption in high places. A multi million computer company with a questionable past. Blackmail, lots of whisky drank and revenge. Rebus also finally goes to the dentist.

Overall I enjoyed the story with the ending a bit of a letdown. Set in Edinburgh during winter you can almost feel the cold.

[Annet · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite inspector.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector Rebus mystery No.7: One of my fave Rebus tales to date. Rankin through Rebus gets the reader looking at the nature of the abuse of executive power and how Rebus handles it. Rebus Vs the World… classic Rebus! 7 out of 12.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rankin is up there with my favourite authors now. This was a really entertaining book and one which I did not want to put down. Rebus is of course a great character and this story showed all his many parts. I was not entirely sure how I felt about a certain scene with a cat but I enjoyed the development of his relationship with his daughter and there was even a hint that his other relationship with alcohol might be improving too. The book starts with an exciting car chase and ends so suddenly it is practically in the middle of a sentence. Now I have to get hold of the next book quickly to see how on earth he gets himself out of the trouble he is in.

[Eddie Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally broke my Ian Rankin cherry.

Good things first. It is well written and has a bit of humour.

However, I grew up reading the "87th precinct" police procedurals by Ed McBain, but it's been twenty years since I read a British police procedural.

And now I remember the reason why, is because they are so, same old, same old.

For example, an alcoholic copper, a convoluted plot about political corruption, and the high ranking cops are part of the scam. Oh dear.

At least McBain had a terrific ensemble cast and varied plots, but even then, it wore thin after a time.

Rankin has won loads of awards and has devoted readers but I won't be joining their ranks.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 7th Inspector Rebus novel starts with a bang - literally!

From then on John Rebus is drawn into a strange web of apparently unconnected acts, that eventually leads him to corruption in very high places.

A good, solid, Rebus read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this book, an unusual result for me with a Rankin book. It had a bang-up beginning - literally, bang-up. There was this exciting high speed car chase, ending in a crash on a bridge and the subsequent suicides by jumping of the two unfortunate young miscreants who were being chased by the police. Inspector Rebus witnesses the suicides and is troubled by them. Something seems wrong about their actions, and so, in his usual stubborn fashion, he tugs and tugs at that worrisome thread until a whole skein of lies and half-truths comes unraveled, revealing the underside of properous Edinburgh.

Rankin is never better than when describing Edinburgh. Even though I've never been there, I feel as though I have after reading his books, and that is true of this book as well. His feeling for the culture of the city, both high and low, is displayed once again, and one is treated to an exposition of the doughty Edinburgh citizens' collective personality.

The book has its pleasures, but, overall, I felt the plot was a bit muddy and there were just too many extraneous and, in my view, unnecessary, subplots woven in. Oh, well, not even Shakespeare could do a "Macbeth" every time out.

[Sibel Gandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finalinin ucu açık kalması iyi mi olmuş kötü mü karar veremedim. Belki 8.kitapta bahseder ne oldu son durum 🤔

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars out of 5. 3 dramatic suicides and Rebus doesn't drop his investigation despite orders from the Farmer's boss and sneering hints from Lauderdale's corrupt underling Flowers. Lauderdale is recovering in hospital from an auto accident while Rebus finally has to get his teeth looked at, from the same accident. The dentist, along with a diverse collection of other people Rebus talks to reveal a group of scam artists skimming money from homeless housing, job counseling (Drop-in Centers), and projects to attract manufacturing in Scotland. The document found under the mattress of one of the suicides seems to expose a vast conspiracy but Rebus needs to verify the odd names mentioned and see if they line up with people or companies: Menseung, Dalgety, LABarum. He sets his investigative journalist Mairie Henderson on the trail, and also calls in Brian Holmes and Siobhan Clarke's investigative skills. He's been ordered to stay away from work for 2 weeks, so of course that leaves more time to investigate. What are all these Scottish government agencies spending their huge budgets on? What are they 'developing'? Some of the agency officials want Rebus to investigate, too. And underlying the investigation is murder. Do all the jobs created justify murder? Some officials think so. - Worth reading twice, especially when government officials give you 'moral' reasons for why spending money on ethnic cleansing is justified.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let it Bleed is one of the early Inspector Rebus books from Ian Rankin. The Scottish detective is true to his persona as a guy who can never take the easy way out, refusing to accept suicide verdicts or to let go of investigations when superiors and VIPs try to warn him away.

Rebus' lonely investigation into government corruption made him seem more like a journalist than a cop. Maybe an FBI agent would try to untangle a web of corporations, but would a murder investigator stick with it?

The main reason I didn't like this one as well as some others was that very web of corporate/government entities, Scottish politics, etc., which weren't as interesting to follow.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually give five stars to a mystery/police procedural/thriller, unless it has social issue significance. This does, even if that is not the main point. Rankin contrasts corruption at the highest levels in Edinburgh with poverty, unemployment, drug dependency and seeming hopelessness, the latter of which he deals with rather clearly and bluntly.

One of the blurbs on the back cover refers to this as "Perhaps the best Inspector Rebus tale." This is absolutely true, for those I've read. Rebus is, of course, a mess. His relationships with those he cares about are in tatters. And yet, he does care. He does what he can, some of it distinctly unhelpful, some of it surprisingly sensitive.

Another noteworthy feature of this particular entry in the series is that it provides major backstory for the books that follow. Finally, I have some insight into relationships between Rebus, the Farmer, and Flowers. Things make a bit of sense! Apparently this is a series to read in order.

And now, I've got to go see if I can find the next one.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why I waited 5 years between #6 "Mortal Causes" and this one, but I definitely missed the sometimes inebriated Scottish detective. The story starts with a car chase, morphs into a double suicide, then into a huge conspiracy reaching into the stratosphere of the government.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“‘What the hell are you playing at? I ordered you to take a holiday.’
‘And I’m enjoying every minute, sir.’” (p.213)

How come that DI Rebus, when he is ordered to take a holiday by Farmer Watson, still uses every single minute of it to pursue the case that he is no longer supposed to deal with? Is it his Protestant work ethic? Or the fact that he once more realizes that his job means everything to him, that without it his life would lose what little structure it has and dissolve into heavy drinking bouts? Let’s listen to what Farmer Watson has to say on Rebus some more,

“’That’s your problem, Inspector – you’re selfish, no other word for it. I think you know damned well that these obsessions of yours end up damaging everyone around you, friend, foe and civilians alike. […] As long as your own personal morality is satisfied, that’s all that counts. […]’” (p.269)

Rebus’s obsessions are nothing really to do with alcohol, cigarettes and the lonely hunter syndrome, but with a Michael Kohlhaas complex: If his sense of justice is offended, even is he is not directly involved, he no longer cares what it takes to make amends and set the scales right again. Fiat iustitia, pereat mundi: May there be justice even though the world should perish. In Let It Bleed, it will not be the world that is going to break asunder but a lot of jobs in Scotland, actual as well as future ones, that will be at stake, should Rebus really go through with his investigation of the suicide of Hugh McAnally, a petty criminal, who blast his brains with a shotgun and made sure the Councillor Tom Gillespie was witness to his suicide. Later on, another murder will be added into the scales of justice, but then you may argue whether it is really a sense of re-balancing these scales that drives John Rebus on during his Kohlhaas-like crusade against men who engaged in shifty public funding operations because it becomes quite clear that Rebus actually has it in for men like the Permanent Secretary Sir Iain Hunter,

“’You are a clever man, Inspector, and I appeal to your intellect.’
‘To be honest, sir, you don’t appeal to me at all.’” (p.216)

,

businessman Mathieson, or District Constable Alan Gunner because of their social position and the undue benefits it gets them. Be they lining their own pockets with business projects for the community they start, or simply being allowed to park a car where Rebus isn’t. At the same time, however, Rebus is not over-scrupulous with his own sins as when he spitefully bars the cat flap in his ex-lover Patience’s house, thus making Lucky rather unlucky when a neighbour’s dog decides to have a go at her.

With Let It Bleed, Ian Rankin is taking the Rebus saga once again to the level of the first novel, Knots and Crosses, in that we get prime insight into the waste land of the protagonist’s inner life and are probably not really sure whether the greater good, in this case economic prosperity and hope and dignity for thousands of workers, may not be accepted as coming along with a flipside of the coin, all the more so as the murder had nothing to do with most of the cooperative hyenas involved. If you can’t resurrect a man by naming his murderer, and if doing so will ruin countless other people’s life who have nothing to do with the murder, what is the best thing to do? I’d probably walk away from it all, seeing to it that I won’t personally gain anything from it – but then, I’m neither a Michael Kohlhaas nor do I feel envy or resentment against people who are richer or more powerful than I, knowing they have made compromises I would never be able to wash my hands of, and yet the ending of Let It Bleed [1] keeps haunting me.

Up to now, Let It Bleed is the best novel of the series for me.

[1] Interestingly, the American publisher of the Rebus novel was not at all satisfied with the ambiguous ending of the UK version but insisted that Ian Rankin write a chapter in which he comfortably ties up all the loose ends. I have not read that chapter and never will, fearing it would spoil the appeal of the novel for me.

[Jeannette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.

Another book from my world challenge and, unfortunately, not a very good choice.

I can't really say I enjoyed Let it Bleed. Despite it being only 360-something pages, it felt like 800. The story was dark, dreary and slow, and it had next to no emotional pull. I realized rather late that it's one of those money-machine series with tens of novels, each the same as the previous one, and full of flat, uninteresting characters.

Inspector Rebus was a very unpleasant main character, he lacked charisma, he lacked compassion, he was terrible to his daughter, disrespected authority and personal rights and only kept going with the investigation because he had decided so and no one was going to stop him.

There were many characters in this book and not a single one was developed more than the generic background story. Even the villains had next to no motive for the crimes they committed. I'm pretty sure even Rebus himself mentioned that.

Not to mention that the entire solving of the crime was a hot mess of useless and meaningless details and conversations, and little pieces of information which, through Rebus' far-fetched deductions, lead to him solving the crime thanks more to guesswork, rather than evidence.

I admit that I am not generally a fan of detective novels, for many of the reasons that lead me to not liking Let It Bleed, as well, but even as far as those go, this is one of the worse ones I've read.

[Obrir un llibre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Séptima entrega del inspector John Rebus con Muerte Helada y cuyo título en inglés —Let it Bleed—, hará referencia a un álbum de los Rolling Stones y donde encontraremos varias alusiones sobre él en la novela.

Uno de los mejores personajes de ficción de la novela negra y criminal, para aquí quien escribe, es John Rebus. Un enigmático y desaliñado inspector de la policía al que le gusta demasiado el alcohol —aunque él piensa que sólo necesita beber para dormir—, y que cada tarde hará diversos recorridos por los pubs de la ciudad.

Las novelas de John Rebus están clasificadas dentro del Tartan Noir, género literario escocés de novela policial con clásicas referencias al hardboiled. En esta ocasión, Ian Ranking ha ambientado Muerte Helada —escrito en 1995—, en un victoriano, frío y brumoso Edimburgo que hará las delicias de aquellos lectores que nos enamora este tipo de recreaciones.

"Aquella mañana, una densa calina procedente de la costa cubría toda la ciudad. Era uno de esos días en los que uno podía imaginarse a sí mismo en tiempos pasados, con caballos y carruajes traqueteando entre la niebla, en lugar de coches con los faros encendidos. La piel y la ropa de Rebus estaban húmedas al tacto". http://www.abrirunlibro.com/2017/08/m...

[Zai · Rating 3 out of 5]

En esta ocasión Rebus se ve inmerso en un caso muy actual, donde se aúnan dinero, poder e intereses políticos. Y como siempre, Rebus llegará hasta las últimas consecuencias para descubrir la verdad a pesar de que ponga en juego su puesto de trabajo.

Me encanta Rebus y me encanta el estilo de Ian Rankin, estos libros se leen de manera ágil y enseguida te sumergues en la trama, pero....pues si, en esta ocasión hay un pero, Rankin ha metido demasiada política para mi gusto en este libro, aunque me ha gustado, este junto a Causas mortales son los más flojos desde mi punto de vista.

También tengo que decir que los libros han ido mejorando en calidad según avanzas en la serie, y también han ido evolucionando poco a poco, acercándose cada vez más hacia la novela negra, en detrimento de la novela policiaca de sus primeros libros.

Y por último, no me ha gustado nada el final, según mi opinión, no aclara nada de lo que va a ocurrir con los implicados y a mi me gustan los finales sin flecos.

[Cliff Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rankin has gathered me in as one of his more avid readers. I have been enjoying his approach to police practices and procedures in Scotland. Having had considerable experience in American police practices, the approach to investigations under US constitutional law is a bit different. The internal conflicts between investigators and police administrators is quite similar but the Scottish approach seems to be much more “in your face” than our approach.
If you enjoy American police stories, you will enjoy the differences in Rankin’s stories. I have read the first several books in the series and plan to continue until I catch up with the author’s progress. Enjoy.

[Pat Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Ian Rankin had set out to write seven books in the Inspector Rebus series, the seventh would be a fitting climax. Having read the first seven now, in sequence, I can say that the characters, especially Rebus himself, are well drawn, Edinburgh is fascinating, and the storylines are interesting enough for all the books to be page-turners

Let It Bleed, though is just excellent and so believable. The flawed character that is Rebus is expanded to reveal the determination of a bloodhound in his tracking down of corruption in high places.

A very good read indeed - and I'm looking forward to what treats lie in wait in the next in the series.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the seventh book in the John Rebus series. Having read a couple of Rankin's books, I decided to go back and read them in order. It is not necessary in terms of the plots of the various crimes he investigates, but readers do achieve a better appreciation of the characters involved, the evolution of John's personal life and how problems that caused him trouble in the past still linger. He is a rough, tough character, a melancholy, cynical and streetwise detective who continues his destructive behavior, living on cigarettes, booze and bacon buns, ignoring his need for dental work and ambushing his attempts at personal relationships.

His home life is not a source of comfort and is now in complete disarray. Patience has left him and Sammy his estranged daughter has gone to live with her. He carries on, living a life of quiet desperation with loneliness and depression always lurking around the corner. The only thing he seems to be good at is his work, but he is a loner and doesn't work well with others. Her prefers to take his own investigative path, a fearless and determined plodder, always ready to dig deep, despite his powerful opponents. His inability to establish collegial relationships, his willingness to flaunt procedures and protocols and bow to authority cause him unending problems. His old nemesis Flower is hard at work trying to get him kicked off the force and may know much more than he's letting on.

The novel begins with a couple of suicides: two youths "fall" off a bridge and a felon recently released from prison blows himself to bits in front of a municipal councilman. The story line gets convoluted at times, involving local Scottish politics and for those on this side of the pond, it is not easy to keep all the acronyms straight or to decipher some of the Scottish slang.

But this is a great read. Tight, fast paced, enjoyable and hard to put down.

[Paul Darcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

by Ian Rankin, published in 1995.

Well first off I’m going to say this was the most complex Inspector Rebus novel so far. It is number 7 for those keeping count.

It will be hard to say too much about this one without giving some of the plot away, so I’ll keep it to impressions and the like. First - winter in Scotland sounds damp and miserable.

And that is made more so by Rebus’s water heater system not working properly. Of course, he throws back enough “antifreeze”, if you know what I mean, so that he doesn’t have to worry much about it.

Did I mention there is an exciting car chase in this one too? Well there is, but not in Rebus’s car with the broken heater, and it doesn’t end too well for those inside - Rebus being one of them. Quite a thrill ride and there are three major plot twists for this one incident alone.

An old flame returns as Rebus’s boss in this novel too. Yeah, you just know that is going to go over well. And we see the return of his daughter Sammy who plays a part in . . . Oops, almost gave away something.

If you have been reading the Rebus novels for any amount of time like I have you, know what a delight it is to get down and dirty in Edinburgh with Inspector Rebus as your guide. And it is just so much fun to see Rebus digging himself in deeper and deeper until you think there is no out for him and those close to him.

But he is crafty, and gutsy and seems to pull himself out of trouble each time.

But this time Rebus takes on the Scottish government . . . Yes, the impossible. How will he fair? Read this carefully constructed convoluted crime novel and you will find out.

I’m going to take a while before going on to novel 8. After this one I need a bit of a breather from mind-crunching complexity.

This was a very fun read though and I couldn’t stop turning the pages right until the very last one - another plot twist. Just excellent.

[Michael Martz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, the more I read of Ian Rankin's John Rebus series, the more I like its star. 'Let it Bleed' is one of the earlier entries (1996) but Rebus is pretty much Rebus through the years. He's a workhorse, totally consumed by the job (he's a detective in Edinburgh, Scotland), with more issues and personal problems than most could take. He's also extremely effective.

Let it Bleed begins with a car chase that ends in a dual suicide. Something doesn't look right to Rebus. so he begins to poke around. Following shortly thereafter, a suicide of a recently released old criminal takes place in the office of a local politician. That doesn't look right, either. With Rebus on the case(s), when something doesn't pass the smell test, the digging starts usually followed by other cops trying to keep up with him and bosses being pissed off. He's a guy with principles and a conscience and he usually lets nothing stand in the way of his finding the truth.

The plot takes a strange path through financial and political arenas at their highest levels to reach a conclusion that probably satisfies no one. It's a good procedural that exposes how a great detective mind works. It also makes one wonder how many cops are out there really as engaged and interested in the truth as Rebus.

As I've found through the entire series, the writing is great, the descriptions of the exotic locale of Edinburgh and its inhabitants are first-rate, interactions with peers, criminals, and superiors are interesting, and the story doesn't as much propel you quickly to the conclusion as take you through logical approaches to solving the mysteries. It's a fine example of Rankin's skills as a true master of this genre.

[Ammar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seventh novel in the Rebus series is different and more realistic than anything before.

Rebus investigates the kidnapping of the daughter of the Lord Provost, and the suicide of an inmate after he was released from jail.

This dark tartan noir takes the reader into the back room of politics and the Silicon Glen of Scotland.

Rebus is at his darkest and most free. He's got all the time in the world to solve the crimes.

Reading this novel in the summer makes me miss the cold and snow of the winter, thanks Rankin for the shivers and freezing rain.

[Álex A. Ochotorena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dice la contraportada: “pocos inviernos en Edimburgo han sido tan largos y fríos como este y Rebus se halla atrapado en una red de intrigas que arroja más preguntas que respuestas. Algo se mueve en las altas esferas políticas y esta vez los culpables pueden encontrarse fuera del alcance de la justicia”.

Creo que al que la escribió le ha pasado lo mismo que a mí: no sabe de qué va en realidad la novela, se le ha olvidado cuál es el meollo de la historia porque queda muy arrinconado al principio y desdibujado frente a la “intriga” política que se desarrolla ampliamente después y que es eterna y muy burocrática.

Esta novela me sacó de un bloqueo lector. Tras semanas sin leer nada, lo empecé y leí del tirón cien páginas de letra pequeña: dos chicos jóvenes se tiran por un puente una noche cuando se ven acorralados por la policía tras una persecucion: los miran de frente, uno le pasa el brazo al otro por los hombros, y caen silenciosamente a la oscuridad de un barranco. Tiene algo muy duro y a la vez poético.

Uno de los policías que lo presencia queda impactado con esa imagen y comienza a investigar.

El comienzo es prometedor, todo además barnizado del ambiente invernal de Edimburgo y dirigido por un policia peculiar: íntegro, funcional pese a su relacion conflictiva con el alcohol, medio perdedor para los demás, un ganador en su proceder implacable.

El problema para mí: la novela se ha convertido en un paseo por los diferentes despachos políticos, una trama muy fragmentada, poco hilado, sin ninguna referencia a lo que la dio comienzo. Está claro que eran señuelos, y que van a tener un papel al final, pero esto de ir de una comisaría a casa de un político después a un despacho del ministerio… E ir sacando pequeños hilitos que no te permiten hacer cábalas y son bastante confusos…No sé, me duermo.

No quiero desmerecer la novela, es buena si tienes paciencia, está muy bien escrita, te traslada, pero me estoy aburriendo mucho ya y la abandono. Quizá en otro momento…

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a disastrous high speed chase, where a policeman is paralyzed, a couple of teens commit suicide. There seems to be a rash of suicide. Rebus investigates.

Not too bad.

[Larraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

just LOVE the absolute darkness of John Rebus & his tortured, almost Puritanical, conscience. The rest of him is FAR from Puritanical, but his conscience is another matter. When two men jump off a bridge after a pursuit, Rebus has questions. When a recently released convict walks into a local councilor's office with a shotgun and commits suicide, Rebus has even more questions and has the nagging feeling that they are connected. They are - in a truly spectacular and DARK way. Rebus follows the investigation, despite being called off and threatened with forced resignation, to the very heights of the Scottish power elite. These are people who will do anything for the good of Scotland, for jobs - and to line their own pockets. In the meantime, Rebus has some time off and goes to the dentist who discovers a mouth full of years of being ignored & an abscess that will need a root canal, but for now must be left to bleed to let the poison out - a metaphor for the investigation.

Rankin is BRILLIANT. This book is, like so many others, only partially satisfying. The bad guys aren't all bad, but they do bad things to make the system work, for "jobs," for Scotland. Sound familiar? There was a television series made of some of these, but I found it to be unsatisfying. I wish someone would grab onto this series and televise it. I would love to see Rebus age.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Rebus, you are at your incorrigible but "hearts in the right place" best in this one; a thoroughly enjoyable read. I love the mystery of the two, seemingly unrelated suicides you attempted to solve and the dirt, intrigue and corruption you dug up along the way. I love how you are trying, not very effectively, mind you, to build that relationship with your daughter, how you supported and empathized with a drug-addicted teenager, how you even somehow enlisted the assistance of the odious Flower to your cause and yet still managed to leave your previous relationship with Patience in tatters (truly, did poor Lucky really deserve the fate you left him to?) and that with Gill hanging by a thread. Honestly though Rebus, I can see how you can keep yourself going every day and toss off the collateral damage you leave in your wake along the way. Your inherent sense of right and wrong and knowing this, ultimately, is all that really matters, is all you need to press on day by day; and for that I admire you. Good job, again.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let It Bleed was another well written crime novel featuring the flawed and outspoken Inspector John Rebus. As usual I admired his determination to piece things together, no matter who he offended along the way.

The story was set in Edinburgh during dreary and bleak winter conditions, thankfully offset by the light-hearted, humorous retorts from Rebus throughout.

I honestly found the plot to be a little dull though, with local government bodies, politics and corruption at the heart of the story. Not for the first time I also felt the author added too many subplots and characters for me to contend with.