Beggars Banquet

Inspector Rebus #13.5

by Ian Rankin

Over the years, Ian Rankin has amassed an incredible portfolio of short stories. Published in crime magazines, composed for events, broadcast on radio, they all share the best qualities of his phenomenally popular Rebus novels. Ranging from the macabre ('The Hanged Man') to the unfortunate ('The Only True Comedian') right back to the sinister ('Someone Got To Eddie') they all bear the hallmark of great crime writing. Of even more interest to his many fans, Ian includes seven Inspector Rebus stories in this collection ...'Rankin forays into short stories to exhilarating effect' Sunday Times.

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

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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

[Karl]

This hardcover copy is signed by Ian Rankin

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twenty two short stories. Good and not so good.

Trip trap a wife gives her husband the push down some stairs.

Some got Eddie a nice twist at the end on the killer of Eddie.

A Deep Hole where Sam the Spade does not dig a hole and has some unexpected luck with Daintry a loanshark.

Natural Selection where villains fall out.

Facing the Music where Rebus catches a crook who likes art.

Principles of Accounts where a serial gets away? Perhaps.

The Only True Comedian where a comedian through his talent saves his bacon.

Herbert in Motion where a crook escapes justice. Fakes almost ruin him.

Glimmer when a writer creates death for a friend.

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rankin has been one of my all time favourite authors for many years now and I still enjoy reading old Rebus stories today. "Beggars Banquet" is a delightful collection of short stories, eight featuring Rebus that keep you thoroughly entertained and I found were fun, intriguing and compelling.

[Yanper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Μικρές ιστορίες με έναν αγνώριστο Ρέμπους

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great set of Rankin short stories, with 7 or 8 featuring John Rebus, his great Edinburgh police character.

[Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beggars Banquet is a collection of short stories written by Ian Rankin and published in various magazines from 1991 to 2000. To me it was a bit disappointing because I loved A Good Hanging and Other Short Stories so much but this one felt like something was missing. The 21 short stories lacked a little bit of suspense as crime stories. However, I love the diversity of topics and writing styles Rankin has offered in this one. Rankin has an interesting way of describing things and that is probably why I find his stories very interesting. It felt like reading a series of good writing exercises because each story is uniquely written. Some are from the point of view of the killer and some from the third person point of view. Some of them involves the character Inspector John Rebus.

There are some particular ones which I was really interested in, which were Principles of Accounts, Herbert in Motion, Video, Nasty, The Confession, The Hanged Man, and No Sanity Clause. I just thought that these stories were pure genius and maybe are the true definition of creative writing.

The book ended with Death is Not the End which is a novella. It involved some emotional elements through Rebus's character. I didn't find it very interesting but I like the way how two different stories intertwined in it.

Overall I think it was a good book because all of the stories required some level of attention and thinking in order to understand what's going on. I also think that Rankin has triggered an interest in me about creative writing and to find out more crime short stories out there in the future.

[Boy Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly all the Rebus stories in this collection are better than the non-Rebus stories, which makes me think that the non-Rebus ones are little ideas Rankin didn't think were worthy of his big star. The non-Rebus stories also often have the crook getting away, which is something you can't have with Rebus because he always wins. No Big Ger stories, I thought this would be such a good opportunity to see Big Ger doing some dealings.

Trip Trap - 4
Cute little story but I really wanted Rebus to take a day off from being the relentless moral compass I've come to love. Surely Grace deserved a few years of peace after 40 years of domestic slavery. I'm glad the decision at least caused Rebus enormous torment.

Someone Got to Eddie - 2
Cute

A Deep Hole - 2
Not particularly satisfying. I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe in the main character's new found confidence or not.

Facing the Music - 4
A classic little case with a brilliant description of Rebus courtesy of DC Brian Holmes.

"Holmes hated the way his superior worked, like a greedy if talented footballer hogging the ball, dribbling past man after man, getting himself trapped beside the by-line but still refusing to pass the ball. Holmes had known a boy at school like that. One day, fed up, Homes had scythed the smart-arse down, even though they'd been on the same side......

Principles of Accounts - 4
Strong story about a serial offender. I see why this wasn't Rebus because the offender wins and we can't have Rebus losing.

The Only True Comedian - 3
All those kids who had "doesn't reach their potential" on their report card, or were the class clown, may find this quite stirring.

Herbert in Motion - 3
Straight forward premise, Rankin uses the story to investigate his own feelings about authenticity and political power.

Glimmer - 2
Rolling Stones fans eat your hearts out. The rest of you, tough luck.

Unlucky in Love, Unlucky in Cards - 2
Sad story about a schnook who also happens to be a PI.

Video, Nasty - 3
Another sad and twisted story that again had to not involve Rebus because the bad guy gets away with it. I wonder what went through the real victims mind as she got done for a crime she wasn't even remotely involved in. At what stage do you start to question your own version of reality?

Talk Show - 3
Back to Rebus and a simple little case. I think the Rebus stories are better partly because we know him so well that Rankin doesn't have to do any character padding out. He can just drop Rebus into these little puzzles and let him loose.

Castle Dangerous - 3
Another Rebus, another case solved. The denouement wasn't great but we got another description of Rebus this time from his superior Farmer Watson that is an interesting look at how he's viewed by those above him.

"And he cursed John Rebus, who was so good at digging yet never seemed to soil his own hands. It was a gift, a terrible destructive gift. Watson, a staunch believer in the Christian God, doubted Rebus's gift had come down from on high. No, not from on high."

I'm not sure it's apt considering Rebus gets beaten up and puts his body on the line pretty much every single case but I guess it shows what his superiors think of him.

The Wider Scheme - 4
Saw this one coming a mile off. You can see the thought experiment Rankin was having when he came up with this story. DI Jack Preston is a more subtle detective than Rebus.

Unknown Pleasures - 3
The old Russian nesting doll stories. We go up the underworld food chain and then back down again. Sort of like a butterfly flapping it's wings in the Amazon except it's a junkie trying to score in Edinburgh.

In the Frame - 3
Rebus just knows everything and everyone doesn't he? He's so wedded to the job. The second blackmail letters story in this collection.

The Confession - 1
Weakest of the stories. Nothing much to it except the cops getting to say no to a request for witness protection.

The Hanged Man - 4
Good story even if slightly unbelievable, wish it was a kernel of a Rebus novel.

Window of Opportunity - 3
Rebus as a likeable mentor. This is a bit rare. It's always amazed me that on the whole police force only Clarke and Holmes like him. Surely considering his track record he'd be the sort of legend every young cop would want to work with. Yes he's a lone wolf and a grump but he's basically solved every big case in Scotland for about 20 years at this stage.

The Serpent's Back - 5
This is great stuff. Good to see Rankin try something off his well-worn track. We're still in Edinburgh but we've jumped back in time 200 years. The grit and grime are thicker and the blood runs more freely, . The main character is a charming ancestoral Rebus.

No Sanity Clause - 4
Of course Rebus would be a Grinch in a dress-up detective dinner mystery. The story is good though.

Death is Not The End - 4
I remember being dissatisfied with the Damon Mee ending in Dead Souls. In the novel he legitimately gets whacked over the head with a bottle of wine and falls into the river and is never seen again. At least this is a bit better, we know he's ok, we don't find out how he did his Houdini act on the security cameras, or who the mysterious blonde was but it's more satisfying. Interesting to see how this short story thread got woven into the tapestry of a full novel.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC radio 4 Extra:
Inspector Rebus discovers a bigger story behind a valuable theft from an Edinburgh hi-fi shop. Read by James Macpherson.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m...

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read by James Macpherson.

Broadcast on:
BBC Radio 7, 1:45pm Monday 9th August 2010
Duration:
15 minutes
Available until:
2:02pm Monday 16th August 2010
Categories:
Drama, Crime

[Jo Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic collection of short stories from Ian Rankin.

Quite a few are Inspector Rebus stories, but not all of them.

Out of the 22 stories included I thoroughly enjoyed 21 of them, which is damn good going for a collection like this.

They are very easy to read, full of rich descriptions and likeable characters. It took me a while to get through it only because each story is so complete in itself that I couldn’t bring myself to binge, instead choosing to read a story then put the book down and come back to it later.

I’ve not read much written by him before but this definitely piqued my interest and I’d happily read more by him.

[David]

Wide variety of stories some of them featuring Reba some of them not. As with Rankins earlier collection of short stories, A Good Hanging, I find Beggars Banquet to be always interesting but never quite with the same intensity as a novel. There are a lot of good puns and playful references in this collection ranging all the way from the resurrection of Deacon Brodie to a reminder of the Marx Brothers to the Rolling Stones at Altamont.

[Sooharris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one of his best ones!!

[Anirban · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a fan of short stories. But, I also agree that a good short story can provide a lot more thrill than a long drawn novel. It’s almost like a tequila shot, instead a mug of beer. The sensation is strong sharp, and it’s easily forgotten once the next shot comes in hand.

But, for this sensation to happen, there are two basic points according to me, which must be present,
1. The story must be well defined. There is always a restriction on the quantity of words, so the story must contain all the elements of a plot, to not to leave the reader asking questions about gaps in the story, after finishing it.
2. The writer must be someone who is well versed in writing short stories. There are not many I have read, who can write a novel and a short story with equal acumen. Among the modern writers Jeffery Archer and Jeffery Deaver are the names that come to mind, and among the oldies Agatha Christie had the same effect.

Now coming to this collection of short stories by Ian Rankin, BEGGAR’S BANQUET, I must sadly say that I was very much disappointed.

While reading an Ian Rankin, I always make a concession of plots and twist. His plots are good, characters strong, but the twists aren’t present. His books are much more o HOWCATCH’EM instead of WHODUNNIT.

So, I was in the correct frame of mind when I started this book, about what to expect, but what I got was nowhere near it. There are only a few stories I can safely say that I remember still, even among those three made any impact on me.

As I mentioned in point no. 1, the plots left a lot to be desired. Make no mistake that these plot when turned into a full scale novel, or even a novella, would turn out to be great reads. Rankin has that power to create masterpieces, but with restrictions on word count, those same plots become summaries of a full scale novel. I mostly understand what happened, but left the story with a lot of unanswered questions. Almost all the stories left me with a sense of incompleteness.

For example, in a story, a murder victim is first suspected to be gay, but as it turns out in the closing paragraph he is straight. Now, this process of destroying the false hypothesis of his sexuality needed at least one paragraph. The reader should be told how the truth was uncovered, but here the writer failed to take that step, because, the restriction on word count.
So, despite the 2 stars rating, I still consider Rankin as one of my favourite. I still regret the fact that I missed him when he visited my city Kolkata. I have another of his novel, THE BLACK BOOK, which I am sure will delete all misgivings I had about this book.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories from the creator of Inspector Banks, later Chief Inspector Banks. Some concern Banks, probably around half and are collected elsewhere, such as in 'A Good Hanging and Other Stories, but the really interesting short stories are ones without Banks in them.

Ian Rankin, in his introduction, has some good advice for aspiring short story writers and he shows with the quality of the stories that follow that he has heeded his own counsel.

I would recommend this to fans of good short stories as well as to fans of Inspector Banks, and not necessarily in that order.

[Daniel Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rankin treats the reader to a good bit Rebus, including a novella that sheds more light on Rebus's life before the SAS. The other stories, ranging from one about Edinburgh in the 1790s to a very spooky one about a hired killer and a carnival fortune, prove that Rankin isn't a one-character wonder. All his characters ring true and his plots have twists and turns that are utterly believable.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book of short stories by Ian Rankin.

Many of them were Rebus stories, but there were a lot of them that were not. The best was set in 18th century Edinburgh. The character of Cully would be wonderful in his own series of books. Cully and Gisborne were a great pairing and it was a fantastic story.

Four stars for that story alone.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit and miss compendium of 22 stories, including one novella. 8 are Rebus stories, which I had expected to be the stronger ones, but interestingly I found that some of the others appealed more than these.

The novella itself runs over enough time to allow the setting and character to inhabit the story, so it is effective. Of the other Rebus stories, all more slight, the only one that registered strongly was Castle Dangerous, with its interesting set-up and missing character. Slightly predictable once the pieces were on the board, it still had an atmosphere worthy of the detective.

Some of the other stories, variously involving a teacher, a road-digger, a lawyer, and art-dealer and a fortune-teller are all tight, neat stories. Over ten pages Rankin can be very effective, and over 20 he is at his best.

The two stand-out tales were, for me, Unknown Pleasures and The Serpent's Back. The former concerns drug trafficking but is a wonderful, experimentally structured creation, wherein the story tracks from user, up the dealer chain, to grower and then, ejected from its tense centre, revisits the earlier points on the journey to provide a panorama of the heroin trail. It is excellent.

The Serpent's Back seems to be told with real love. The Edinburgh of Rebus can be felt all the way back in this later 18th century tale of debauchery, corruption and intrigue. Taking the excellent Cully, a sort of go-to intermediary between the high and low worlds of the nascent city, as his protagonist (a figure made for further novels), two mysteries operate at once - or are they linked. This story is very funny, with the witty Cully more than capable of turning a line but the air of menace is never far from the surface - an encounter with a judge is a bit of both at the same moment. There are threads here, as I say, that Rankin clearly plays upon in his later writings - city-specific matter that are the DNA of his milieu. The rich creation here is as much Rebus as anything else he writes and one particular burial location in the story is vividly resonant, rippling through his work with the fusing of imagination and history. Super, super, super!

[Saloni Aswani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Ian Rankin book. I was at a book sale where I met another book lover, who recommended the author.
I started with this collection of short stories to see I liked the writing and story telling of Ian Rankin.
This collection of short stories is really good for someone who is reading his books for the first time.
The stories range from crime thriller to even a bit of dark themed ones.
To be honest, I couldn't understand a few of the stories and had to search for reviews on the internet.
But most of them have great twists and are page turners.
All the Inspector Rebus stories are awesome. Gives you a little Sherlock-y feeling.
Definitely going to read the Inspector Rebus novels!

[Netti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schottland, Edinburgh
first published 2002

SHORT STORIES

Gefällt mir besser als die erste Kurzgeschichten-Sammlung ("A Good Hanging").

Enthält die Novelle "Death Is Not The End", die inhaltlich dem Rebus-Krimi "Dead Souls" nahesteht. Und 21 Kurzgeschichten, davon 7 Rebus-Geschichten, zeitliche Einordnung etwa 1995-2000 (also etwa Band 6-12). Sowohl Brian Holmes als auch Siobhan Clarke kommen vor. In einer Geschichte ist Jean Burchill dabei.

Die Geschichten ohne Rebus gefallen mir teilweise noch besser, sie decken eine breite Vielfalt ab, es gibt sogar eine Geschichte, die Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts spielt.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

22 short stories, about half of them about Rebus. Those are the better ones, in my opinion, nothing particularly wrong with the others, but I prefer stories with developed characters and Rebus is very developed in all the novels, I've read most of them.

The last, a rebus story called Death is Not the End, is a great novella in nine shortish chapters, with a good storyline, some convolutions that could normally be expected in a whole Rebus novel. It's a damned good story and could have been a novel.

Overall a pretty good short story collection.

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still rubbish but in smaller doses. Rankin is the most awful pun-loving writer I have ever read multiple books by. There's an occasional turn of phrase which is not unpleasant, but it's mostly schoolboy dross. The plots are worked up in seconds and executed clumsily. I was depressed to see how many of these stories had first appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I now never need to read that, which is a load off given its almost 80 years of continuous publication. Awful.

[Ankita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sorry for giving it 3 stars but short stories are my pet peeves. I am not sure I could say I enjoyed or understand the short stories because I didn't. First few pages I have no idea what's going on then I would start to understand and then when the story is finish I again have no idea what I have read. That's the issue.

This anthology had a novella at the end "Death is not the end" which I did enjoy but not sure if fully or I even already have forgotten the story.

[Vi Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories are not my favourite genre, I prefer a more complex plot especially in a crime novel; I love a red herring! However the fact that this collection is written by Ian Rankin makes it well worth the read.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this one ever so much more than the last one I read. While always a huge Ian Rankin fan, there are one or two that don't make me happy. This one was short stories and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself . Recommend.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, varied collection of short stories.

Most of the Inspector Rebus ones were fantastic, but the character is well established and so the short stories have a strong foundation.

The other stories were a mixed bag, with some both intriguing and familiar, very few duds in this book overall.

[David Campton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not a banquet but certainly a buffet of crime-based short stories of all sorts and periods. Not all of them feature Rebus but are generally up to the high standard of Rankin's longer offerings, although a few come to a rather sudden stop.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any short story collection, some are always going to appeal more than others. So it is with Beggars Banquet. I enjoyed the Rebus stories, and the historical fiction tale, but some of the others felt quite weak.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rankin is a Scot who was born, raised and educated in Edinburgh. His stories in the Beggars Banquet reflect his native knowledge of Scotland and are fun to read if only for the local color, humor, and predicaments. Fortunately, his crime stories are also interesting.

[Gita Madhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very British read