Books - Review

Dead junkie found arranged with candles etc. Covens, and a war criminal involved too I think, unless that was the other Rankin!

OK I suppose.

Two gangs in Edinburgh fight for supremacy. Bosnian prostitute involved

Not bad

Inspector Rebus struggles to solve an old crime - when the hotel burned down so many years ago, who was the body found inside? And why are so many people interested once more in this ancient history?

Jolly good, nice twisty plot with some good murders in too.

Inspector Rebus has a MisPer on his hands. A young girl has disappeared, leaving a boyfriend, a lover, concerned friends, and distraught parents behind her. Siobhan, on checking the missing girl's computer, finds herself in the middle of a mysterious Internet game. Is the quizmaster the killer?

Well, I thought this was pretty good. Maybe the Rankin books improve as you get to know the characters better.

A 40 year old skeleton found in a wall during new building works, the murder of a prospective MSP, and a series of attacks on women attending singles nights. And Rebus thinks there is a link.

Usual stuff, convoluted story line doing my head in. Or should that be heid?

A tortured body is found under Edinburgh's historic streets and Rebus spots the work of sectarian nasties. Plus there's trouble out at Gar B, the estate where a friend of a friend is trying to run a youth club, but are the youths really terrorists storing semtex ready to disrupt the Edinburgh Festival?

Not bad, had some good bits with our old friend Big Ger Cafferty in. And an abbatoir.

Rebus is sent for re-training at college following a briefing-room incident involving a thrown cup of tea and DCI Gill Templar. But it's OK, he's really gone undercover to try and trap 3 dirty cops who have an evil past. But will Rebus' non-too prisitine past be brought to light too? And is he really Big Ger Cafferty's best mate or does it just look that way? And how does it all link with Siobhan's case concerning the murdered art dealer?

I started reading this on Jennie's balcony in Kampong Chhnanag, but had to give it back to Carol who had started it first. But she just put it in my pigeon-hole! Not bad, good twisty plot but not overly so, perhaps not so atmospheric as some of his books - didn't get the menacing sense of Edinburgh's hidden underworld, it all seemed a bit more middle class than usual.

The Wolfman serial killer is at large in London and Rebus is told to go and help solve the case, which he does in his usual inimitable style.

Really enjoyed this one, possibly because it was less convoluted than some of them, and a serial killer always makes for some good tension.

The very first Rebus story, and we learn some of his dark and frightening past as an old SAS chum comes back to haunt him, with the perplexing matter of the serial murder of young girls. And his brother Michael, the stage hypnotist, seems to be up to no good too.

Jolly good, nice simple plot again, but, sadly, no Siobahn in this one. Rebus is a bit of a dummy though, to not get any clue at all from the anonymous notes, or see that his brother is turning into an evil drugs baron. And as for having a fling with Gill Templar. well, I had thought he had more taste.

A politician's daughter is, apparently, kidnapped, and Rebus is off to investigate, annoying his superior officers, and his junior officers (except Siobahn, who is still putting up with him).

Bit political this one, probably very interesting if you work in the Scottish police force. For me, not so good.

Rebus and Shiv-awn scamper around trying to work out why an ex-SAS bloke goes into a school and shoots three boys dead. They expend a great deal of energy and then the chaps in forensics get to the same solution anyway just by looking at the blood-spatter on the walls. So why did they bother?

OK I suppose. I think he's starting to struggle slightly with his plots. Not quite so dark and grim as some of them.

Journo-Jim gets killed in slightly mysterious circumstances and his ex-SAS brother decides to see if can help discover the truth and also get revenge on the crazy also ex-SAS bloke who let then all down in the Falklands.

Strangely, not a Rebus in sight, and the ex-SAS crazy people who do survival stuff on Scottish mountainsides and kill lots of people aren't quite as cerebral as Rebus and Shiv-awn. Pretty page-turnery though! Read this mostly on the plane on the way out to Libya with La and Janfrie.

Rebus has retired, but when Big Ger (also now retired) gets a bullet through his living room window and a threatening note, Rebus can't help but go to Siobhan's aid in investigating the case. A gang from Glasgow appears to be trying to muscle in on Edinburgh territory...

Quite enjoyed this one, although I am writing this review about 3 months late, so really can't remember much about it at all. Christmas present from Richard and Michelle I think.