Mortal Causes

DI Rebus is caught up in a variety of struggles, between competing law enforcement entities, between gangs in Edinburgh, between Catholic and Protestant in both Ireland and Scotland. He is seconded to the Scottish Crimes division because he recognized that the murder of a young man showed signs of torture known to be used in The Troubles, as a result of his own stationing in Belfast many years before; but when the bodies begin piling up, including that of an undercover officer, he wonders if the various police forces might be harbouring a leak somewhere…. This is the sixth Rebus book, and in it we learn a bit more about his checkered history, which helps to explain some of his behaviour in the present; we also see more of his show more interactions with various women in his life, which are all of course complicated - sometimes by his own poorly understood actions. Although sometimes quite bleak (especially dealing with the poor and unemployed youth of 1990s Scotland), we also see a bit of the brighter side of Edinburgh such as the annual summer Festival; and Mr. Rankin’s writing is, as ever, both lucid and, at times, very funny indeed. I’m not convinced that one must have read each of these books in order (although that is what I myself am doing), as it seems to me that any of the books that I’ve read so far could serve as an entry point into this series; but of course, part of the pleasure of discovering a series that has been around for a long time is the fact that one will have so many more books to look forward to; recommended! show less

Mary King’s Close is spooky enough, being an underground street in the Old Town of Edinburgh that is known for hauntings, but it’s even worse to come across the body of a young man hanging on a hook in the old butcher’s shop. Rebus notes that the man was killed in a manner reminiscent of the IRA—could this death have sectarian implications? Or is it a message being sent by melodramatic gangsters? Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Festival is going on, stretching police resources to the limit and providing perfect cover for out-of-town criminals.

This was another great Rebus book. Ian Rankin’s introduction to the edition I read explained the joke that runs throughout the book, which was helpful to know as I read. I liked the setting of show more the Festival and the exploration of the Troubles, as well as the contrast between tourist Edinburgh and the areas that you don’t see or hear about unless there’s trouble. show less

I think that this is my favorite Rebus novel to date because the case was very thrilling and I also enjoyed how the characters were written. There were some parts about Rebus's private life, but they were not as chaotic or drawn out as in the previous novels, and I liked that much better.
The case - a body found in Mary King's Close during the Edinburgh festival - has a deep and dark background, and it leads to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was a very gripping reading experience for me and I enjoyed the Edinburgh setting but was also very interested in the background story connected to Belfast and Sectarianism. I'm looking forward to the next book and don't think I will wait too long until I get to it.

This is the first Rankin novel I've read, after seeing him recommended here and being amused by his walk-on part in Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street. I might revise these comments when I've read some more...

With modern detective stories I always start off wondering whether what I have in front of me is really a novel, or just the book version of the TV script. This one took quite some time to get me hooked. The detctive is miserable, drinks too much, keeps getting beaten up, and has a complicated personal life, none of which leads me to expect anything very original; there are no fully-formed characters other than the detective; the settings range from standard-issue touristy to standard-issue urban squalor.
Despite all this, show more it's very well written, the plot did make me want to keep reading to find out what happens in the end, and there is an underlying sense of irony to it all. show less

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I was already becoming a fan of Rankin's novels about Edinburgh policeman John Rebus, but particularly enjoyed this one for the Northern Ireland dimension. Last time Rebus went outside Scotland (to London, in Tooth and Nail) it wasn't really a success, but here he takes an effective day trip to Belfast(though he mysteriously visits a fictional Malone Road police station) to chase up Loyalist terrorists who may be planning to attack the Edinburgh Festival. The whole picture came together rather neatly at the end, in an arrangement of events reminiscent of the better Agatha Christie novels but in a believable police procedural setting - including high-level collusion with the terrorists, and the show more blurred lines of demarcation between organised crime, the forces of law and order, and the press. I did wonder about the sub-plot with the seductive and mildly psychotic lady lawyer, but perhaps this is a set-up for something in a later volume. Apart from that, all nicely done. show less

This john Rebus series is getting better and better. This is the sixth book in this long-running series and I enjoyed it. I love the "other look" that we get of Edinburgh and some of its underground life. Rebus is called in to work with a special police branch when a brutally tortured body is found in an old underground shop. This leads him into extremists and a ton of danger. He even makes a trip to Belfast to try to figure this one out. I love the character of John Rebus. He seems so real and authentic it almost feels like reading true crime. These books have a lot of blood and realistic and chilling villains. This is totally different than most of the British police procedurals I have read, and still do love in their way. But I am show more fascinated with Rebus. Rankin's writing is brutal, and he holds back nothing. Love it! show less

A step back up from The Black Book but didn't quite blow me away like Strip Jack did. I read the second half of the book in a single day which is fast for me because the pacing was just perfectly judged. The plot ended up a bit too vague and a couple of paragraphs of exposition dump at the end made it feel like the author knew it, too.