The softer side of Rebus (Fleshmarket Close - Ian Rankin)

Member Name: martin24

Product:	Fleshmarket Close - Ian Rankin
Date:	18/01/08 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Another in a much loved series; superb writing

Disadvantages: Long; Thick plot

This is the 15th instalment in the series of books written by Ian Rankin focussing on the maverick Detective Inspector John Rebus. This is one of the best known books in the series, as it was one of the most highly acclaimed TV Rebus' to be screened. The book itself won Ian Rankin the Edgar Award in the USA for best crime novel in 2004.

=== The Author - _Ian Rankin_ ===

Born in the Kingdom of Fife (the same as Rebus), in 1960, Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh and has since been employed as a grape-picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist and punk musician. His first Rebus novel, _Knots & Crosses_, was published in 1987 and the Rebus books have now been translated into 26 languages. Here is a list of his achievements:
* Hawthornden Fellow
* 1997 CWA Macallan Gold Dagger - _Black & Blue_
* 2004 - Edgar Award (USA) for Best Novel - _Resurrection Men_
* 2005 - BBA Best Crime Thriller - _Fleshmarket Close_
* 2002 OBE for services to literature
* 1999 Honorary Doctorate from Abertay, Dundee
* 2001 Honorary Doctorate from St. Andrews
* 2003 Honorary Doctorate from Edinburgh
* 2005 Honorary Doctorate from the Open University
* _Black & Blue_, _The Hanging Garden_, _Dead Souls_ and _Mortal Causes_ have been televised with John Hannah starring as Rebus
* _The Falls_, _Fleshmarket Close_, _The Black Book_, _A Question of Blood_, _Strip Jack_, _Let it Bleed_, _Resurrection Men_, _The Naming of the Dead_ and _Knots & Crosses_ have been televised with Ken Stott starring as Rebus.

=== The Star - _John Rebus_ ===

Ian Rankin thought up the idea of John Rebus whilst at university in 1985. Rebus himself was born in 1947 in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. He had a troubled childhood with his mum dying young, and joined the army after leaving school. After years touring with the army in Northern Ireland, Rebus decided to try out for the SAS, but the mental side of the training ruined his soldiers mind and was offered a route out with the Lothian and Borders police.

This is where the series of books picks Rebus up, and during the early books he still has contact with his wife and daughter. However as the series plays on, Rebus becomes a loner who is interested in only one thing - his work. Rankin often introduces characters into the series who could become Rebus' genuine friends, only for them to be killed or disappear from his life in some way - adding to his collection of 'ghosts'.

=== Fleshmarket Close ===

In my opinion this is. . .

It is written in the same style as the previous Rebus novel, _A Question of Blood_, with the book encompassing a week, and Rankin divides the book into the days, starting with Monday.

As with most of the Rebus novels there are two storylines in the book and Rankin cleverly intertwines the two cases to involve both Rebus and his ally, (upgraded from sidekick!) DS Siobhan Clarke.

The start of the book sees Rebus' police station closed for refurbishment and officers are shipped out all over Scotland the time of this refurbishment. DI Rebus is not initially assigned a station to move to, and he takes this as a sign that those in power above him are hinting that they want him to move on. Obviously, Rebus is not going to accept this and follows Siobhan to Gayfield Square, where she has been posted. Here he finds himself without a desk, just planted on a table shared only by the coffee maker. He doesn't care though, and ploughs on diligently with his work, never stopping until he has the answers he is loking for.

The first storyline we pick up on is the sudden appearance of a human skeleton in the cellar of a pub that is being refurnished. This is the case Siobhan takes on, whilst Rebus gets himself involved in the death of an immigrant in one of Edinburgh's hardest housing schemes, Knoxland - a true concrete jungle of high rise tower blocks and drug addicts.

How will Rebus solve the mystery of the murder, when nothing is known about the man who died? How will his relationship with DS Clarke survive when he dates somebody with opposite views to her? And how will Siobhan solve the mystery of Mag Lennox?

=== The Setting ===

Obviously, most of the book is set around Edinburgh. However, Rebus makes the odd trip to the west coast and Glasgow, and one of the storylines is based around Banehall, a small town near Livingston, half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

=== The Characters ===

* DI John Rebus - see above
* DS Siobhan Clarke - Rebus' faithful ally who always sticks by him. This really could be a turning point for the two of them. . .
* DS Ellen Wylie - officer at Gayfield Square, she has appeared in earlier novels
* DCI Macrae - the boss at Gayfield Square
* DS Reynolds - officer at Gayfield Square, disagrees with Rebus on issues of race
* Jardine Family - the family Siobhan has offered to help regarding their daughter going missing
* DC Phyllida Hawes - officer at Gayfield Square
* Mo Dirwan - Asian lawyer who befriends Rebus when he saves him from a raciel attack
* Morris Gerald Cafferty - Rebus' old adversary who he pops in for a chat with in the middle of the novel - and more
* Donny Cruikshank - the man who raped the Jardines' eldest daughter and still lives in the town of Banehall
* Caro Quinn - human rights protester who Rebus gets a little too close to
* Lex Cater - one of the students who stole the skeleton that Siobhan finds
* Felix Storey - immigration officer working alongside Rebus

=== The Issues ===

As always, Rankin steps close to the line here and deals with illegal immigration as the main issue. This is a topic that is popular within the tabloid press, and always sparks a lot of debate when brought up in conversation at the pub, or elsewhere. He portrays it very evenly, with Rebus being the soft, calming voice in defence of the immigrants (his granddad was Polish) and Charlie 'Rat-arse' Reynolds being the hard-line nationalist. Within this Rankin explores other topics such as families dealing with death and the attitude of the housing schemes towards these incomers. The line that sums up Rebus' attitude towards immigration and how natives think of them is early in the book when talking to a young lad from one of these housing schemes who is talking negatively about immigrants, and in response Rebus' muses to himself 'and just what is your sum contribution to humanity laddy'! There are other issues, such as families dealing with rape and consequential suicide in the form of the Jardines and also young girls going into prostitution - a seemingly growing trend in Britain.

=== What the Critics Say ===

'Britain's finest detective novelist' _Scotland on Sunday_

'[Rebus] is a superbly drawn character; matched by the edgy authenticity of the Scottish locale and dialogue' _Sunday Times_

'Very ambitious and very confident with acute observation of the not so bonny side of Scotland' _Daily Telegraph_

=== Recommended? ===

Obviously, I would recommend this book to anybody; however that is me with my fanatic's hat on, not my book reviewer's hat. If you have never read a Rebus novel before, I would not recommend you to begin with this one. The book is amongst the longest of the novels, and the plot thickens immeasurably towards the end. However, if you have dipped your toe in Loch Rebus before then I highly recommend it.

=== Availability ===

* www.play.com - £5.49
* www.amazon.co.uk - £4.89
* www.waterstones.com - £6.99

Thanks for reading

_www.ianrankin.net_
_www.rebusonline.net_

© Martin24 (MMVIII)
(published as martin0201 on Ciao)

Summary: Another in the DI Rebus series