The Black Book

The Black Book, originally published in 1993, is the fifth novel in Ian Rankin’s more-popular-than-ever Inspector John Rebus series. I didn’t begin reading the Rebus books until 2003’s A Question of Blood, but it’s been a favorite detective series of mine ever since picking up that one. In more recent months, I’ve started reading the novels from the beginning, fascinated all the while to watch Rebus and his supporting cast gradually morph into the characters I know so well from the later books. It is, I think, in this fifth novel that Ian Rankin really hits his stride, and The Black Book is now one of my favorite ones in the entire series.

On display is an early look at the cranky, funny, insightful, dedicated cop that Rebus show more really is. Already his doctor has told him to quit smoking and to eat better - an ominous hint of what Rebus’s health will be like just a couple of decades into the future. Because the man spends so many hours of his day working cases, he finds it difficult to share his life with anyone, something he regrets only until he gets so busy again that his social isolation slips from his mind. He is reckless when it comes to placing himself in physical danger, and his equally reckless policing methods always see him in danger of finally losing his badge for good. But with one exception - finally putting away “Big Ger” Cafferty - John Rebus always gets the job done.

“On Monday morning word went around St. Leonard’s police station that Inspector John Rebus was in an impressively worse mood than usual. Some found this hard to believe, and were almost willing to get close enough to Rebus to find out for themselves…almost.”

Rebus has now reached the stage of his policing career where he effectively serves as mentor to the younger cops who report to him. That is the kind of work relationship he has with DS Brian Holmes and, especially, with DC Siobhan Clarke. At the moment, though, Rebus is also dealing with his ex-con brother Michael who has recently returned to Edinburgh and with being kicked out of the house by the woman with whom he’s been living. Thus, the grumpiness on display in the above quote.

And just when it seems that his personal life could not be in more of a shambles than it already is, Rebus gets sucked into a situation at work that rivals every other bad thing already happening to him: DS Holmes gets the back of his head bashed in and is left in a coma, maybe never to wake up again. Rebus wants to know if the attack was work-related, but with Holmes in a coma for days, the only thing the inspector has to work with is Holmes’s “black book,” a notebook filled with investigatory notes that mean little to anyone other than the critically injured detective himself. Rebus, though, is prepared to follow the clues wherever they take him - and after his brother is attacked, it all gets very personal.

Bottom Line: The Black Book is notable because of its development of the Siobhan Clarke character and her budding friendship with Rebus. It also, I think, marks the first time that Rebus and Big Ger Cafferty butt heads in a face-to-face confrontation. Interestingly, almost three decades later, Rebus will still be trying to put away Cafferty, and his bond with Siobhan will be as strong as ever. Too, Rankin is now hitting exactly the right note with his humorous asides and displays of Rebus’s own sense of humor. On offer is the dry, smart kind of wit that never fails to make me laugh - even in the middle of another look at John Rebus’s brutal world. show less

When DC Brian Holmes is attacked in a cafe parking lot and hospitalized in a coma, DI John Rebus is obsessed with the need to find out what happened; despite being assigned to a long-term surveillance case with the (very faint) hope of finally developing enough evidence to arrest a major villain, he spends most of his time mulling over the files of a long-ago unsolved case: a fire in an unsavory hotel where an unidentified body was found, shot to death. Rebus works with DC Siobhan Clarke, a newcomer to his team, on both cases, while at the same time trying to get back into the good graces of his girlfriend, who has kicked him out, and sorting out what to do with his brother Michael, now out of prison and staying at Rebus’s flat. show more It’s not as if he doesn’t have enough on his plate already, after all…. This is the fifth Rebus novel, and one in which we get more of a glimpse into his personal life, both past and present. Of course, this being Rebus, that personal life is very messy and complicated - and quite believable, which illustrates one of the best things about this series: Mr. Rankin’s ability to conjure up wholly believable, living characters whom the reader comes to know and respect (if not always like). I’m late to the game with this series, the first novel having been published in 1987 and I’m only finding them in 2022, but as they say, better late than never and I know I have loads more books to enjoy before I get caught up! Highly recommended. show less

I'm trying this year to read all the Ian Rankin books on my bookshelf. I kept buying them as I saw them but I wanted to wait until I had all the Rebus books so I could read them in order. I have had them all for a while but there are so many other books to read that I kept putting it off. Also, there's that part of me that knows that once I read them I won't have any more stockpiled unless Ian Rankin writes another Rebus. I keep hoping.

At the start of this book Rebus is actually not alone having moved in with Dr. Patience Aitken and rented his apartment to students. However, after spending one too many evenings away from home Patience locks John out so he has to go sleep on the couch in his own apartment. His brother, Michael, has just show more gotten out of jail and is also staying in the apartment. Rebus calls his life a black comedy but there is nothing funny about his sidekick DS Brian Holmes getting knocked on the head and staying in a coma for days. Holmes may have been targeted because of an old case he was looking into so, of course, Rebus starts looking into it as well. Five years before the Central Hotel burned down and a body was found in the ashes. It wasn't someone who perished in the fire. The body had a bullet wound through the heart and was dead before the fire started. The victim has never been identified nor has the killer. This investigation is not sanctioned by the police brass but that has never bothered John Rebus. His team is supposed to be helping in another operation to try taking down some money lenders. Big Ger Cafferty may be involved which is interesting to Rebus but he doesn't hold out much hope of actually getting a conviction. So it is Siobhan Clarke who is putting most of the time on surveillance while Rebus follows his hunches about the old case. Things get a little personal when his brother is abducted and hung upside down from a rail bridge. Michael was not physically hurt but he is mentally bruised and battered and John is worried about him. Rebus even goes so far as to get a gun for protection. Before he can decide whether to use it his superiors at the police station find out he has it and suspend him. That's okay with Rebus because it leaves him more time to pursue the hotel case. If he was a different man he might use the time to try to get back with Patience but he is too busy. That does somewhat intrigue Patience and they are together on a park bench on the last page of the book. show less

From Amazon:

Five years ago, a mysterious fire burned Edinburgh's seed Central Hotel to ashes. Long-forgotten and unsolved, the case reappears when a charred body--with a bullet in its head--is found amongst the ruins. Inspector John Rebus knows that his superiors would rather he let sleeping dogs lie. He knows that part of the answer lies somewhere in a cryptic black notebook. Ane he knows that to solve the case, he'll have to peel back layer upon layer of unspeakable secrets to arrive at the truth.

My Thoughts:

Inspector John Rebus himself, is such a fascinating character. His inner conflicts, history of broken relationships, addiction to good Scottish whiskey and love of his extensive and eclectic music collection serves to make him as show more much of a mystery as the series of murders he investigates. This is a stunning piece of work; but I would expect nothing less fro Ian Rankin. The plot and the solution takes more twists and turns than Edinburgh's ancient streets and alleyways. This book is sure to delight anyone who likes to be taken up numerous garden paths and back again. From the first page to the last you are sure to find plenty of surprises in this novel. show less

I wavered between a 3.5 and a 4 on this one. Apparently I've rated all of my Ian Rankin reads as 4 stars, when there are probably some that are closer to 3.5. But I guess the 4 stars is for the evocation of Edinburgh and the fact that Rankin is generally a dependable read, so we'll keep going with that.

In terms of the series, this is the first one to feature Rebus's nemesis, Big Ger Cafferty, in a significant role (after his cameo in Tooth and Nail) and DS Siobhan Clarke plays a bigger role than Rebus's usual colleague, DS Brian Holmes. As for the book itself, Rebus spends a great deal of time on a cold case that may be linked to a recent attack on DS Holmes, and the twists and turns to get us to the end of the story are mostly easy to show more keep track of, although I did keep forgetting who Rory Kintoul was and why he was important. That said, as always I enjoyed visiting Edinburgh, delighted in the names of the dishes at the Elvis-themed cafe, and nearly applauded at my book on the bus when I read the pun involving the Scottish word for "chimney".

Rebus fans might like this. Newcomers might as well, given that it's the first with Cafferty, and enough backstory is provided in chunks to keep the reader oriented. show less

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1342672.html

An excellent Rebus mystery: raking through the ashes of an Edinburgh hotel brings out all kinds of seamy connections between the business elite and Scotland's criminal underworld, with Rebus and his colleagues bending rules slightly beyond my suspension of disbelief, but accepting the consequences when things go wrong. Rebus' brother reappears as well. I worked out the significance of the gas being turned on before Rebus did, but there was a sufficiently satisfying series of twists before we reached the end. One of the better Rebuses I have read (of five so far).

Se nota mucho que a partir del libro 4 de la serie se comienza a madurar el tipo de libros que entregará esta serie y en esta ocasión se nota la maduración de la historia y personajes.

Ya no vemos a ese Rebus relajado, también lo ligero de las primeras entregas se ha ido diluyendo poco a poco, vemos una historia mas completa y compleja, si bien es cierto que esa parte en la que Rebus no se va nunca por el camino fácil, ese olfato que tiene para perseguir historias que nadie ve, enlazar hechos, su capacidad de deducción son partes esenciales de la personalidad de nuestro protagonista, lo cierto es que al principio nos pintaban a un policía mediocre y eso ha dejado de ser así, Rebus va tomando fuerza, carácter, se viene haciendo show more de varios enemigos a fuerza de dar siempre en el clavo.

Se nota mucho la diferencia entre el primer libro y este quinto, hay mucho crecimiento en estilo, en historia y personajes, así que estoy deseando continuar que todavía me faltan muchos libros.

Por supuesto recomiendo esta serie, pero aunque cada libro tiene su propia historia y cierre, lo cierto es que creo importante leerlos en orden para comprender no solo a Rebus si no a todos los actores y el tipo de relación que hay entre ellos.

Se que estos libros, por algún motivo que no termino de comprender, de origen no fueron traducidos en orden y creo que las editoriales deberían de pensar en la congruencia de la historia cuando de series se trata. En mi caso y en el que sea que comience a leerlos actualmente tenemos la suerte de poder comenzar desde el primero y seguirlos en orden, pero estos no son el único caso en que de entrada los primeros seguidores de esta serie se han tenido que ir leyendo todos estos libros como han ido saliendo al mercado y no me puedo ni imaginar como han podido empatizar con todos los personajes y comprender la profundidad de algunas de las relaciones que aquí se presentan. show less