Yes, the stories can be a little improbable. And yes, there are bits of plot thread left dangling in mid-air, but I am officially addicted to Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels.
There. I've said it.
Today gave me the perfect opportunity to lie in and read a mystery. I was ordered to keep my knee propped up and iced by the doctor I saw today, the one who's actually human and quite kind (as opposed to that robotic thing I encountered last time), after he injected cortisone underneath my kneecap. Did you just shudder? Because I thought I felt a shudder. Oh, sorry. That was me.
Woozy... Woozy... SLAP! SLAP!
Anyhoo, as I have to keep my knee iced as much as possible for as long as possible today, Ian Rankin kindly kept me company. At the pace he plots it was no trouble at all finishing off book # 2 in the Rebus series. But it has left me feeling like a junkie in need of my next Rebus fix.
I don't have book # 3 in the house! Calm... Breathe... Breathe... I will be at work tomorrow, and can get it then. Breathe... Breathe...
Re: Hide and Seek, okay it wasn't quite as good as Knots and Crosses, but I'm reading these as much for their literate main character as the plots. Hide and Seek involved mysterious deaths, clues so seemingly incongruous our man Rebus nearly had a breakdown, and lots and lots of stopping by bars to drink. Because our man Rebus, he's rather a lush. Oh, and the seamy underbelly/counter-culture of Edinburgh -toss that into the mix and you have Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus.
The plot? Oh, if you must:
"At night the summer sky stays light over Edinburgh. But in a shadowy, crumbling housing development, a junkie lies dead of an overdose, his bruised body surrounded by signs of Satanic worship. John Rebus could call the death an accident--but won't. Instead, he tracks down a violent-tempered young woman who knew the dead boy and heard him cry out his terrifyng last words: "Hide! Hide!" Now, with the help of a bright, conflicted young detective, Rebus is following the girl through a brutal world of bad deals, bad dope and bad company. From a beautiful city's darkest side to the private sanctums of the upper crust, Rebus is seeking the perfect hiding place for a killer."
Thank you, Amazon.com.
- Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; later printing edition (December 15, 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312963971
* I read a library copy of this book.
Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell is my overall fave mystery writer, but Ian Rankin's not far behind. Love that Rebus and his book-strewn flat!
Posted by: Bluestalking | February 17, 2010 at 01:24 PM
Rebus is one of my guilty pleasures as well...
Posted by: Village Books | February 17, 2010 at 11:48 AM