The Hanging Garden

John Rebus is investigating a crime from World War Two: A war criminal, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of French people, is supposed to have hid in Edinburgh since the end of the war. But Rebus is also drawn into a battle of different gangs in the city, and everything becomes personal when his daughter has an accident that might be connected to it.

I must say that to me this was the best Rebus book so far. All the strands of the story were equally gripping, and I enjoyed the style and atmosphere so much. Usually I am not a fan of the plots involving the Scottish gangsters and too many police persons from the different stations, but while it was still a bit hard to not loose track of who was who, it was easier than in the previous show more novels and did not distract from the plot. What a superb crime novel! I hope to continue with the series soon! show less

I don't think I would want to inhabit John Rebus's world but it sure makes for a gripping read.

In this book, Rebus's daughter, Samantha, is hit by a car just after she and Rebus had dinner together. Samantha suffers a serious head injury and is unconscious for days. Rebus is out for revenge and he goes to Big Ger Cafferty, crime boss of Edinburgh presently in jail, for help in finding out who did this. Rebus thinks it will probably lead back to Tommy Telford, another criminal who is trying to take over Cafferty's turf. Rebus got involved in saving a woman, Candice/Katrina, who was a prostitute in Telford's organization. For a few nights Candice stayed with Samantha and Rebus thinks Telford targeted Samantha because of this. So Rebus is show more also wanting to take Telford down. His assigned case involves a man who is suspected of committing wartime atrocities during the second World War. It's a common device to link disparate cases together but Rankin handles it so masterfully I couldn't find a fake note.

One of the things I really like about the Rebus books is the constant reference to music, primarily rock and roll from the sixties. Rebus is a fan of Van the Man Morrison and he has this to say about one of his recordings:

He put Van Morrison on the hifi: Hardnose the Highway. He'd played this music on East Neuk beaches and tenement stakeouts. It always seemed to heal him, or at least patch the wounds.

I know just what he means. show less

A suspected war criminal, gang warfare and sex trafficking from Eastern Europe, are the current caseload to test Rebus and his attempt to stay off drink. His daughter Sammy suffers a hit and run that Rebus suspects is punishment for him in connection to his investigations. Rankin is able to take wildly diverging storylines and knit them all together neatly and with satisfaction. Although he can bring out the worst of Edinburgh in his gritty stories, Rebus takes the edge off with his pragmatic approach and a classic rock song title appropriate to the moment. This is another enthralling page-turner featuring Rebus, as usual flawed but endearing. In an afterword Rankin obligingly describes the actual event that was the source of his war show more crime component. show less

There’s a gang war brewing in Edinburgh, even though Ger Cafferty is behind bars, thanks to DI John Rebus; a young newcomer from Paisley is determined to take over Ger’s territory, and he has no qualms about bringing in representatives of both the Russian Mafia and the Yakuza. In the meantime, Rebus is assigned to look into the possible presence in Edinburgh for some 50 years of a Nazi war criminal. But all of those puzzles fade away when his daughter Sam is struck by a hit-and-run driver and left in what the doctors won’t yet call a coma…. This is the ninth book in the Rebus series, and it brings together some threads from earlier novels: the return of Patience in Rebus’s life, his struggles with maintaining his sobriety with show more the help of his friend Jack Morton, Sam’s move to Edinburgh and what it means for Rebus and his ex-wife, in addition to his increasingly compromised position with crime boss Cafferty. Published in the late 1990s, there are references to world events of that time, particularly the conflict in Bosnia, which help keep the story rooted to its time, but one need not be conversant with all of the global political complexities to enjoy this as a hard-boiled crime novel; recommended. show less

Ian Rankin balances his books perfectly. In this outing for Rebus, the detective, is fighting his alcoholism, questioning his relationships to other people and dealing with a three way gang war on the streets of Edinburgh.
Rankin manages to make us like Rebus, without making him perfect. The author's other great strength, is that this never feels like a soap opera. Every character trait that is revealed, has an intrinsic place in the plot of a story that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from page one.
This is that to which all detective fiction should aspire.

Stuck looking for an old Nazi war criminal while gangland war is breaking out, Rebus is forced to make a deal with the proverbial devil, Big Ger Cafferty, when his own daughter is attacked. This is another captivating installment in the Rebus-series and, as usual, Rankin doesn't disappoint with excellent characters, great dialogue, and plot-twists that'll give you whiplash. I'm loving this series! Even though I had seen a TV-episode based on this novel, there are so many different layers that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read despite already knowing the resolution to some parts of the mystery.

This ninth book in the Inspector Rebus mysteries, was a page turner. Who am I kidding, I think all of these books by Ian Rankin do that to me. I wind up staying up late trying to finish. Here we have gang warfare, an Eastern European prostitution ring, a man suspected of being a Nazi war criminal, investigation into a rumored post-WWII secret "train" by which the Vatican and the Allies smuggled high-ranking Nazi figures to the West, called the Rat Line, a Japanese crime gang called Yakuza, and drug smuggling by unsuspecting senior travelers. As complicated as all of that crazy mish mosh of a plot sounds, it all comes together very nicely to a satisfying conclusion. All this is going on while Rebus' daughter is in the hospital in a coma show more due to a hit and run accident (or was it intentional?). I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the next one in the series. show less