Set in Darkness: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Novels)

This is my second book by Ian Rankin but it won't be my last. I really loved this mystery -- it was full of atmosphere, characters with depth and vitality, well plotted, and a page turner -- what more can you ask for?
The plot involves two murder investigations -- one from the past, based on a 20 year old skeleton of unknown identity found in the course of renovating a very old building to become the new Scottish Parliament; the second involves a politician found murdered nearby in the construction area. Additionally, there is a suicide of a homeless man shortly after the skeleton is discovered. Who is this man, was it suicide, and why? The homeless man turns out to have some very surprising qualities. Inspector Rebus (who is considered the bane of his department) comes to believe that all three deaths are somehow related. The Grieve family (the family of the murdered politician) may be at the center of all three deaths -- or maybe not. Maybe they really ARE unconnected, as the powers that be are assuming. TO make matters more difficult, Rebus is being forced to work with an ambitious young man who is the "fair haired boy" of the powers-that-be, but who doesn't have Rebus's respect -- so he must content with the politics of the situation as well, which is not Rebus's long suit.
This series is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, but not in the touristy Edinburgh but in the tough underbelly, where there are pubs that it is wisest not to go into and where there are gangs and thugs. The location is so well described that it is easy to imagine being there.
All in all, I have no hesitation in giving this mystery 5 stars. The only question is which Rankin book I read next.

Rankin's books about Inspector Rebus and his colleagues on the police force in Scotland are very bleak mysteries, with more than a shred of reality about them. Those who move from American mysteries where the protagonists are able to solve the crime and deal with a variety of other problems at the same time, may find Rankin's books hard to swallow. To me, they seem more like what truly happens in life...at the end of this book, Rebus is presented with the fact that his nemesis (who he had put away for a while) had just gotten away with not just one, but several murders...and there is not one thing that Rebus can do about it! No wonder Rebus is so bleak: his own personal life consists of alcohol and music and concern about his daughter who was hit by a car, he not only has to fight those up at the top who disagree with his manners of handling cases but he also has to deal with snakes on his force who have problems with the word 'No' from his female partner, and he runs into the darkest forms of human life on his beat and he cannot put them away (or deal with them as he would like and still remain within the law).
Rebus fights to come to terms with his own mortality and his own moral compasses in this book. Rankin's writing is excellent, and as per usual, the education they get over in Britain and Scotland (now a more separate entity) leaves our own educational system in the gutter. I find myself having to look some things up, and saving others for later because Rankin is writing over my head. Of course, I do not recognize the music he instills as a passion into Rebus, except for the very old stuff.
If there are any complaints about Rankins's books, it is that there are threads of plots all over the place...and weaving them into a whole is often difficult. Some of them make sense, such as Rebus' partner dealing with an overly ambitious coworker who she goes out with for a few times, and then decides not to see anymore outside of the 'office' because he doesn't interest her and his own moral compass is skewed. This guy stalks her, and unfortunately for him, doesn't do it well enough to keep her partner, Rebus, in the dark. When Rebus catches this idiot in the act, it colors their own perception of each other and they find it hard to work together to solve the homocides they are working on.
But the little thread of dual rapists is too much and adds little to the story, besides an inconvenience to be worked out. Life is not tidy, but neither is it as dark for most of us as Rebus finds it in this book. Sounds to me like Scotland gets as little light as we get in Pittsburgh, PA in the winter. Rankin even brings up Seasonal Diffective Disorder (SAD) which is a problem here because of sunlight. His work may be psyhologically dark, but I still want to go to Scotland to see the places he talks about historically.
Karen Sadler

A body found in a bricked up fireplace after twenty years, a murdered candidate for Scottish parliament, and a suicide with a big secret and it all ties together? Well, it's a bit of a stretch in this one. Renkin works hard and it shows. This is a disparate lot of puzzles, and it is really reaching to work them together. Without the deus ex machina in the form of Rebus's favorite foe, Big Ger it wouldn't really happen at all. It is this occasional dependence on the Scottish crime lord that often works against the series, sometimes it seems an easy way out when Rebus needs something done, either directly or indirectly, and in pops Cafferty. This is a solid outing, but too many characters pop in and out without real purpose making the novel probably 100 pages more than it needs to be.

This is the first of Rankin's Rebus Edinburgh police procedurals I've read, so perhaps I'm simply lacking in backstory, but though this neophyte found Rankin's sharp, astringent dialogue and thoughtfully textured scenes impressive, they eventually add up to not much at all.
Spinning far too many characters to keep straight into multiple unrelated subplots that eventually collide seemingly only because its a mystery and they have to, Rankin seems to have little sense of how to tell a compelling story. And though his dialogue is first rate, Rebus, Clarke, and the multitudinous supporting cast never really come alive as characters, just lively noir cliches relocated to Edinburgh. Surely there should be some kind of moratorium on series detectives drinking and listening to classic rock, on either side of the Atlantic, at this late date.
But perhaps I've merely chanced upon one bad apple in an apparently beloved series. Ranking writes well enough that at some point I'll give Inspector Rebus another try.

This is one of the most satisfying series I have ever read and this one is a gem. The story about Scotland regaining its parliament and the history of Edinburgh are a superb backdrop to this dark chapter in the life and times of John Rebus. Rankin has really set up a puzzler this time--three murders (one old, new two) with no apparent ties. But as Rebus begins the hunt, the pieces start coming together into an extremely satisfying and well-constructed conclusion. As always, the supporting characters and subplots are as intricate and vital to the overall story as is Rebus and the initial crime.I finish each book and it takes awhile to come back to the real world. Rebus' ongoing personal and professional problems are beautifully woven into the story. His is so complex a character that I would suggest that, if you are thinking about reading the series, you start at the beginning. READ THESE BOOKS! You will not be disappointed.

Once again (it's so repetitious) Ian Rankin has written a novel that is almost perfect in every way. The story just seems to grow as it goes along, and the characters appear as if this is just a narrative of some tragedy that actually happened and Rankin is just the reporter.

A murder (of a man of a well known family who is standing for the Scottish Parliment and brother of an MP), a suicide (by a man we would call a street person) and a dead body (murdered twenty years ago and wall up in a building under renovation. All this is happening around and in the new Scottish Parliment building and John and Siobhan are off on the most interesting story so far (until the next one).

With the imminent retirement of the Chief Super, Farmer Watson, we know that John is in for trouble with whoever becomes his next boss. It's nice to see Watson get in a few good licks before he leaves the scene. Another DI (the blue eyed boy), is sent by Fettes to watch over this case which they feel is too high profile for a maverick like Rebus.

Of course Rebus gets on his bad side immediately, not to mention everyone else. But with the tenacity that he brings to everything his does, Rebus will find out the truth in the end. What he's not expecting is how. Once again a great read.

For complexity of plot, juggling of story lines, and character development, no mystery writer tops the consistently absorbing Ian Rankin. Those readers outside of Scotland may struggle with the author's historical, cultural, political, and geographical references, but it's always worth the effort it in the end. In this installment of the series, DI John Rebus and his associates are confronted with two murders and a suicide, seemingly unrelated, in just the first 100 pages. The novel's tone, as usual, is "set in darkness," but the gloom and doom is mitigated by Rankin's highly literate prose and his sympathetic and understanding attitude regarding all his realistically imperfect characters, both the good and the bad.

All the books in Rankin's Inspector Rebus series have been GREAT. Shows that a person with severe emotiona and alcohol problems can function and solve the case!

I have been reading this series in sequence, so I have been entertained by how Rankin is getting better at creating complex and convoluted plot twists and marveled at how refined his character development has become.

I believe this book marked a turning point. Rebus' drinking had always been a continuous and important sidebar of the story, it got relief earlier in the series. But when Rebus'friend Jack Morton was killed, Rebus fell off the wagon hard, and it really and truly made the character all the more complex and interesting. The drinking is now front and center and ruling his life and his work. Rebus can be seen to be in a slow death spiral towards uncontrollable depression, or does it? This is the beauty of the Inspector Rebus series, you begin to care about Rebus, no matter how bad he is with truth, women, relationships, and rules. As in a relation ship with real people, no one starts being completely hateful, but over the series of 12 books, I have come to know the character, I feel I know his history, and despite his odious state of de-evolution, I still care about the character because of the history that Rankin built up over the 12 books. I can't wait to read the rest of the series just for the Rebus development.

The mystery part involves three seemingly disparate deaths, one of a tramp, the second of a up and coming politician, and the third of a man whose death went unnoticed 20 years ago but he jumped back into the public consciousness in a very notable way. At first blush, I didn't think Rankin would be able to pull all this together into one story arc, but he did. I really should stop doubting his ability to do this. The procedure and methodology that Rankin uses to progress his story is once again, very enlightening. Mix in his accounting of the Scottish government and history, the history of 60's and 70's rock and roll, as well as his understated sarcastic asides makes this a very complex and enjoyable read, if you like life complicated, real, and not easily categorized nor understood. The story comes to an end, a very conclusive end, but also with a very depressing twist which sets Rebus up with a very difficult reality. You may not like it, but it is definitely a juicy beginning for the rest of the series.

What differentiates 'Set in Darkness' from the preceeding novels is the amount of character development Rankin puts into DC Siobhan Clarke this time around. Previously the emphasis had been on Rebus and his 'relations' with drink, family and love (Patience and, to a certain extent, Gill Templar). However, without going into plot, in this book DC Clarke finally gets her due, perhaps foreshadowing the weight of role she will play in subsequent stories.
The only negative I have of the Rebus series is that I find it hard to believe that Rebus is so mistrusted and disliked by most of the higher-ups within the L&B gang, regardless of the fact that he generally tends to get the necessary result. Perhaps that's a true representation Scot 'polis' politics.
Nonetheless, you won't find a writer more aware and informed of his city and its environs than Rankin - however, its a city (regardless of its magnificent Festival and copious amounts of drinking establishments), I wouldn't want to live in - certainly not with guys like Big Ger running around. Besides, I can watch Hibs on tv.