Rebus: The St. Leonard's Years

Inspector Rebus #4-6

by Ian Rankin

Strip Jack: MP Gregor Jack is caught in an Edinburgh brothel with a prostitute only too keen to show off her considerable assets. Then Jack’s wife disappears. Someone wants to strip Jack naked and Rebus wants to know why.

The Black Book: When a close colleague is brutally attacked, Rebus is drawn into a case involving a hotel fire, an unidentified body and a long-forgotten night of terror and murder. Rebus must piece together a jigsaw no one wants completed.

Mortal Causes: It is August in Edinburgh and the Festival is in full swing. A brutally tortured body is discovered in one of the city’s ancient subterranean streets and Rebus suspects the involvement of sectarian activists. The prospect of terrorism in a city heaving with tourists is unthinkable.

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

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strip Jack (Rebus #4):

Strip Jack was a very interesting case for John Rebus, "Farmer" Watson, "Fart" Lauderdale and Brian Holmes. While this book involves a very large cast of characters, almost all of them with nicknames, Rankin manages to keep the story straight and IMO very clear for readers to keep straight as well.

I really enjoyed the pace of the plot development and that Rankin is clever enough to write in character development for more minor characters as well as the protagonist. This book in particular really gives the reader the feeling that these are real "polis" in a real precinct which is fitting given that the cast moves into a real Edinburgh and a real precinct (St. Leonards) to start book 5.

The Black Book (Rebus #5):

The Black Book is a very interesting plot, and among the best of the first five books. Once again Rankin gets readers to engage with Rebus by making the crimes personal. With friends and family in danger Rebus must solve the case before there is irreparable damage done.

Mortal Causes (Rebus #6):

I have never known much about the Protestant vs. Catholic fighting in Northern Ireland. So it was new ground for me to read a crime novel focused on paramilitarism/terrorism in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This book has stoked my interest and will probably result in my reading some histories on the topic, if I can find the time.

The story is one of Rankin's best so far in the Rebus series. Rankin has clearly settled in with strong ideas of who John Rebus is, and therefore can write clearer stories. It's also clear to me that Rankin is perfecting the art of being a crime novelists. The twists and turns are less predictable. The solution of the case is no longer a miraculous epiphany but involves real detective work and information that the reader can understand and piece together.

[Jude Nonesuch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from the Wetherspoons. Have to say was actually mildly underwhelmed: just good, competent, readable, engaging genre fiction. & I know apparently there’s no such thing as genre fiction, but there is, and it speaks to the way that all psychology is knowingly-nod-and-a-wink cod-psychology, like the ‘motivations’ or ‘drives’ of the characters, not moving the plot forward, are a sort of necessary evil to which lip-service must be paid. I think this goes for the notion of ‘sophistication’ tout court. It’s almost weird to read how flagrantly this is treated. “Oh, characters are meant to have dimensions? Well here’s a dimension or two”. Still fine serviceable reading material – I can see how for what it is it’s among the best of what it is.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the collection of three books, nr. 4 to 6 in the series of Detective Rebus.

I read in the past a book of the Rebus series and I was not impressed. So for all these years I have not tried to read any other. By luck I found this book in the local library and hurray! I now really like Detective Rebus. I like his sense of humour. I like him so much, I am going to continue reading some of the books of the series.

I do enjoy the way the author presents the stories. There are always two or three cases that are "running" and somehow they all connect to the main story.

Strip Jack: In this book we follow Rebus investigating the theft of some rare books and two women found dead by the water. One of them is the wife of the local MP Gregory Jack. Are friendships from school meant to be for ever?

The black book: In this book Holmes is being attacked and sent to the hospital and Rebus is trying to prove an old and very big criminal, while trying to find out why his colleague was attacked. Well the attacker of Holmes was strange.

Mortal Causes: This was the most difficult book of the three. A young man is found dead by the way the paramilitaries in Ireland are using. And the corpses start accummulating. The main difficulty in this book was, that I know little about the civil war of Ireland. And I was not aware, that Scotland was also involved in the paramilitaries. I had to stop reading the book and check more information in the internet about one or the other paramilitary groups. But in the end it was interesting to learn something more.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books 4 to 6 in Ian Rankin's Rebus series once again demonstrate very high quality writing with a varied tone. Strip Jack deals with the embarrassment of a Scottish MP caught in a brothel, the Black Book with organised crime and Mortal Causes with Irish Protestant terrorism. The early 1990s seem a long time ago, but I was unaware that there was much of a presence of Irish sectarianism in Edinburgh back then. I always thought that it was the West Coast where it was more prevalent (mind you, I didn't know that Hibs and Hearts were sectarian teams, although the name Hibernian rather gives it away!).

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three books in this volume, I liked "The Black Book" best. "Mortal Causes" seemed to have too many moving parts, and I don't think I understood the political situation underlying the story clearly enough to follow the plot. It begins with the discovery of a dead man in Mary King's Close. Rebus goes into a dangerous section of Edinburgh known as Gar-B and to a western-themed bar called "Crazy Hose" (not "Crazy Horse").

[Mr Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting slow burn detective story-brutal and murky

Following Rebus is like following a dark maze, but on the way it holds my attention. Plenty of Scottish atmosphere and toughness, but you feel as though you’re his constant companion. Gripping, though no nice, neat storyline.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three novels in this book each one stands alone but follows on from the previous I think I hit rebus just as he retired so it was good to read the earlier stuff ! The only thing for me is it won’t put me three books ahead!

[Mish Middelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, refreshingly simple. Inspector Rebus seems to be quite straightforward - in a complicated way. Quite touching to read the third in this trilogy at a time of such high conflict in South Africa: Mortal Causes explores the conflict in Northern Ireland and the way it infuses into mixes with and adds to conflict in Scotland (set in the early 1990s).

[pmozone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Books:
Strip Jack: book 1 ... 4 stars; read 21-23 Jan. 2015 at QEV 135
The Black Book: book 2 ... 3 stars; read 2-5 Feb. 2015 at QEV 12
Mortal Causes: book 3 ... 3 stars, read 15-?? Feb. 2015 at QEV 12

[Eunira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first story - Strip Jack. - September, 2009
Read the second - The Black Book - October 10, 2009
Read the third story - Mortal Causes - december 23, 2009

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three entertaining detective stories, all well written and easy-to-read.
I enjoyed them.

[Jamie Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12713325

[Jane Woodcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. It plods along. Nothing boring, but nothing too thrilling either. An ok plot, an easy read, if you've nothing else to read, I'd say yes.

[Liz Howell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best Rebus I have read, wouldn't read 3 books in succession again.

[Michala Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

def worth a look brilliant stories

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Inspector Rebus, and like that the books are far from predictable!