A Good Hanging and Other Stories

I've not read any of Ian Rankin's Rebus books, but if this colleciton of short stories is any judge, I probably ought to. Rebus is world weary and somewhat cynical, but he is always after the truth, in whatever form that might be. There are some stories that are quite distressing, others that have flashes of humour and asides that lighten the mood. None of the stories are very in depth, but they're all engaging to a degree.

This collection contains 12 Rebus stories: Playback, The Dean Curse, Being Frank, Concrete Evidence, Seeing Things, A Good Hanging, Tit for Tat, Not Provan, Sunday, Auld Lang Syne, The Gentlemen's Club, and Monstrous Trumpet. Of these titles, "Not Provan" is my favourite simply based on wordplay, with "Concrete Evidence" a close second.

My favourite stories were "Seeing Things" (for the avalanche of puns), "Not Provan", and "Auld Lang Syne", but all of the stories had something to like about them. For example, "Sunday" contains a great quote about hoarding books, and several stories contain literary references. "The Dean Curse" is a play on Dashiell Hammett's "The Dain Curse", which Rebus reads and abandons over the course of the story. show more "Playback" could be seen as a nod to the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, and the idea of Rebus showing the French police detective Cluzeau around in "Monstrous Trumpet" reminded me of Inspector Maigret having to play host to a Scotland Yard detective in Mon ami Maigret.

Because these are short stories, there isn't much room for twists and turns, and it may be fairly easy for readers to guess whodunnit. However, they work very well as capsule introductions to Rebus, so if you were looking to try the series, this might be a place to start. show less

I gotta admit - I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped I would. Turns out, despite being a huge Ian Rankin fan, I'm not so much a fan of mysteries in short format. Too quick, too easily resolved - not enough time for the tension to really build and so the payoff can't ever be all that satisfying.

I also don't think the short format is Mr. Rankin's strong suit.

Of course this is a must-read for any Rankin/Rebus fans, and it reads quickly - but otherwise, not one I'd recommend.

#5, 2004

Rankin is a Scottish author, who writes police dramas, and I'd read all of his books as of about a year ago. Then, we moved back to the US, and I hadn't looks for his books here, but my husband found this one (surprisingly enough) in the checkout line at the grocery store. It's an Inspector Rebus book (the hero from all his other books, as well), but this one is a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. I enjoyed it very much . . . I love the Rebus books, and so enjoyed reading more about him. I'm not sure if this book would appeal to someone unfamiliar with the rest of his work, though, as (because of their length) none of the stories were particularly complex. In any case, I enjoyed it, and would recommend Ian Rankin show more to anyone who enjoys this sort of thing - investigative police stories. Especially as these are set in Edinburgh, a beautiful city which is very near to my heart. show less

A collection of short stories about Rebus, set during his earlier career when his Detective Constable is Brian Holmes - no sign of Siobhan. Some were fairly lightweight, others more serious and downbeat, such as Aud Lang Syne when Rebus is part of a team assigned to intercept a drug's bust in busy Edinburgh on New Year's Eve, or 'Sunday' where Rebus is busying himself on his day off, attempting to keep his mind off an awful event which is haunting him.

As always, I like the character of Rebus with his wry/dark humour and offbeat way of viewing things. On balance, I would award this 3 stars.

It would be wrong to award a John Rebus book less than 3.5 stars but, it has to be said, that rebus does not work as well in the short story format.
The strength of Rebus is the way in which we are drawn in to a world of several investigations and the red herrings, twists and turns of a good whodunnit. Ten to twenty pages is simply not enough time to create the aura which surrounds the novels and, I would suggest that this is to the books detriment.
There are some fair stories here and, were it to be judged by anything short of the high standard which comes as the norm from an Ian Rankin book, this review would be much more positive.

My first taste of Ian Rankin, and a fine bit to chew on, to boot! These short stories serve as a nifty introduction to Inspector Rebus and his superior detecting skills, as well as provide some glimpses into the inner life of an extraordinarily lonely man. Wonderful. I'll keep my eye out for more from Mr. Rankin and Inspector Rebus.