Synopses & Reviews
There is no mystery. Lee Herdman stormed into a private school just north of Edinburgh and killed two boys. He was a loner, a creep, an army veteran who got kicks out of terrifying local teenagers on his speedboat just the sort of shady character to commit a random and heinous crime. It's a simple case of a man gone mad.
But how random were the killings at Port Edgar Academy? Why did Herdman open fire only in the student lounge, bypassing the swarm of students outside the school? What exactly was his relationship with the school's misfits? Why are military detectives snooping around the murder scene? And why is the only survivor of the attack, recuperating in the hospital, reluctant to talk?
There is indeed a mystery only this time, it's why.
When Detective Inspector John Rebus is called out of his jurisdiction to investigate the killings, he is relieved to have the distraction. His entire precinct is abuzz with rumors of his involvement in the death of Martin Fairstone, an ex con who had been menacing Rebus's partner, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke.
For weeks Fairstone tormented Siobhan: followed her home, left her cryptic messages, even threatened violence. But her woes don't end when Fairstone dies in a fire that consumes his apartment. Now Siobhan has a new worry the morning after Fairstone's body is found, Rebus appears with bandages on his severely burned hands. No one, not even Siobhan, can ignore the coincidence.
Immersing himself in the Port Edgar killings does little to help Rebus avoid everyone's suspicion, but an unexpected family tie draws him deeper into the case. With his superiors at police headquarters breathing down his neck, his partner's trust diminishing, and the key witness to the entire private school inquiry staying silent in a hospital bed, Rebus finds himself against what may become insurmountable odds, asking himself what drives a man to kill is it a matter of revenge, or a question of blood?
Review
"A Question of Blood confirms Mr. Rankin's place...as part of the nouveau-noir pantheon that dominates contemporary mystery writing....The Scottish turns of phrase abound, sometimes a might impenetrably, but the book's essential language is universal." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"It's a complex narrative, perhaps too much so at times, but the plot is less important than Rebus himself, a brilliantly conceived hero who is all too aware of his own shortcomings." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Even if [Rebus's] demons have become familiar, his rants are like poetry to kindred souls." Bill Ott, Booklist
Review
"A web of delicate relationships lies at the heart of the latest entry in Rankin's benchmark Inspector Rebus series....A good choice for public libraries." Library Journal
Review
"[T]he most impressive of the Rebus novels I've read it can certainly bear comparison with the best of today's American crime writing and, for those who have not yet met the inspector, it's a good place to start." Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
Review
"A notch below quintessential Rankin with a wrap-up that doesn't quite ring true and a Rebus too dependent on painkillers and single-malt. But Siobhan now there's a lassie to admire." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Praise for Resurrection Men: "Rankin has found a way to infuse the police-procedural with the new exuberance of rock 'n' roll." --CQ
Synopsis
Handle: #1 bestselling UK mystery writer Ian Rankin returns with another chilling case from Inspector John Rebus's file: when two students are gruesomely murdered at Edinburgh boarding school, the investigation leads to a group of sinister teens. Description: When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17 year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Inspector John Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye. Army investigators show up to snoop around the scene of the crime, and links between the killer and a local group of "Goths, "a morbid clique of teens who dress in black and listen to metal, begin to surface. Then, just as Rebus finds himself in the thick of the murder inquiry, he's threatened with suspension from the police force. A man who had been menacing his partner and friend, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, dies in the same house fire that leaves Rebus with horrible, painful burns, and Rebus is immediately suspected of foul play. Now Rebus is faced with two harrowing missions: he must get to the root of the boarding school killing even as he tries to clear his own name.