Hide and Seek (Dead Letter Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ian Rankin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dead Letter Mysteries | Publication Date: December 15, 1997

At night the summer sky stays light over Edinburgh. But in a shadowy, crumbling housing development, a junkie lies dead of an overdose, his bruised body surrounded by signs of Satanic worship. John Rebus could call the death and accident--but won't. Instead, he tracks down a violent-tempered young woman who knew the dead boy and heard him cry out his terrifyng last words: "Hide! Hide!" Now, with the help of a bright, conflicted young detective, Rebus is following the girl through a brutal world of bad deals, bad dope and bad company. From a beautiful city's darkest side to the private sanctums of the upper crust, Rebus is seeking the perfect hiding place for a killer.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ian Rankin is up there among the best crime novelists at work today." - Michael Connelly

 

"A superior series." - The New York Times Book Review

 

"Ian Rankin, you cannot go wrong." - The Boston Globe

 

"A novelist of great scope, depth, and power." - Jonathan Kellerman

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ian Rankin is the worldwide #1 bestselling writer of the Inspector Rebus books, including Knots and Crosses, Let It Bleed, Black and Blue, Set in Darkness, Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, The Falls and Exit Music. He is also the author of The Complaints and Doors Open. He has won an Edgar Award, a Gold Dagger for fiction, a Diamond Dagger for career excellence, and the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He has been elected a Hawthornden Fellow, and received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to literature. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons. 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312963971
• ISBN-13: 978-0312963972
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent police procedural/mystery by under-rated author, April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hide & Seek: A John Rebus Mystery (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of Rebus - and of anything Ian Rankin writes. Rebus is a believable cop - with lots of personality quirks and a not-so-perfect "home" life. The descriptions of his work environment and the politics involved in being a cop (in any country) are dead-on. Scotland comes alive - its weather, moods, citizens, crime. I highly recommend this book to any reader who is looking for something deep, different, and compelling.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On hunting a modern-day Mr. Hyde., October 6, 2006

By 

Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hide & Seek: A John Rebus Mystery (Hardcover)

He had wanted to update Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for modern times, Ian Rankin writes about his first Inspector Rebus novel, "Knots and Crosses" in the introduction to the 1999 British compilation "Rebus: The Early Years," which contains the first three installments of the series. Oblivious to the mere existence of such a thing as the mystery genre -- or so Rankin says -- he was stunned to soon hear his book described first and foremost as a crime novel. But eventually this characterization prompted him to have a closer look at the work of other mystery writers, and he found that the form suited his purposes just fine; that in fact he "could say everything [he] wanted to say about the world, and still give readers a pacy, gripping narrative."

Bearing in mind the original duality of Jekyll and Hyde, however, Rankin's tales are not dominated by a contrast painted in black and white. While the villains Inspector Rebus faces are certainly every bit as evil as Stevenson's Mr. Hyde, Rebus himself is far from a clean-slated "good guy:" Divorced, cynical, hard-drinking and a former member of the SAS, he is a brother in spirit to every noir detective from Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe to Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, James Ellroy's squad of crooked cops and Peter Robinson's Alan Banks. Nor is Rebus's Edinburgh the touristy town of Calton Hill, castle and Summer Festival (although the series has meanwhile sparked real-life guided tours to its most famous locations, too) -- as befitting a true detective of his ilk, Rankin's antihero moves primarily in the city's dark and dirty underbelly, which is populated by society's losers and where those who have "made it," those with money in their pockets, only show up if they have shady deals to conduct as well.

The title of Rankin's second Rebus novel, "Hide and Seek," is an even more overt play on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous dual character(s) than the mere juxtaposition of cop and killer in "Knots and Crosses;" and when the villain's identity is finally unveiled, the parallels between this book and Stevenson's become even more obvious. Here, Rebus is on the hunt for the killer of a junkie whose half-naked body is found in a run-down, deserted building in the Pilmuir housing estates -- the worst part of town, notwithstanding a nearby construction project involving high-priced luxury condominiums -- positioned crucifixion-style and near a drawing possibly hinting at Satanic rituals. And Rebus's only witness seems to be the young woman who had been living with the dead man for the last three months and heard him yell "Hide!" before pushing her out of the door, telling her: "They've murdered me;" but who is now more than just a little reluctant to cooperate, taking refuge, instead, behind an almost unbreakable rebel-against-society-facade, complete with peroxide hair, stud earrings and Attitude with a capital "A."

While this series had a terrific start already in its first two novels, published in 1987 and 1991, Rebus's character -- and Rankin's writing -- has evolved significantly over time. Thus, it is probably wise to read it in the order of publication. Contrary to his early nonseries books, however, which he views much more critically in hindsight, Ian Rankin overall still seems to be happy with his early Rebus books, commenting: "I can't read them without thinking back to my own early years, my apprenticeship as a crime writer. Read and enjoy." I have nothing to add to that ...

Also recommended:
Rebus: The Early Years (Knots & Crosses / Hide & Seek / Tooth & Nail)
Rebus - The St Leonard's Years
Rebus: The Lost Years (Let It Bleed / Black & Blue / The Hanging Garden)
Rebus: Capital Crimes (Dead Souls / Set in Darkness / The Falls)
Ian Rankin Inspector Rebus CD Collection: Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, Fleshmarket Alley (Inspector Rebus) (Inspector Rebus)
Exit Music
Rebus's Scotland
Rebus
The Jack Harvey Novels
Rebus: The Complete Short Stories~Ian Rankin

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above and Beyond the average crime novel, March 15, 1998

By 

A. N. Smith (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hide and Seek (Dead Letter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Rankin is really, really good. His plots are interesting enough in these Scottish police procedurals, but he weaves them through the lives of Inspector John Rebus and those close to him. Great character development, great details about Edinburgh, and the investigation is step by step, believable, timed just right. This is an early Rebus novel, so the language and style aren't as polished as later ones in the series. So what? Read them all. This is one of the best detective series going.