Customer Reviews

Mortal Causes: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Windsor Selection)

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After a particularly gruesome murder is discovered during Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, Inspector John Rebus is seconded to the elite Scottish Crime Squad. The reason for this is that aspects of the murder make it appear that a terrorist group was responsible and Rebus's previous SAS experience would come in handy. The investigation takes him from his home base to the villages of rural Scotland and across to Belfast and back again.

Throughout the book, the Catholic versus Protestant problem is continually raised, comparing Scotland to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and suggesting that the same uprising could be imminent. While the characters were discussing terrorist organisations there were enough three letter acronyms being bandied about to make me think I might have stumbled into a Microsoft manual.

Once again we are treated to the bare bones of Edinburgh's back streets and dingy estates that have fallen into ruin. Rebus is as inscrutable and removed from his fellow officers as ever, yet, at least for me, he is becoming more and more likable. I feel this series is getting more and more enjoyable with every book I read, this one is no exception.

I only discovered Ian Rankin's John Rebus mysteries quite recently and have read through all those available in a relatively short time. Rebus is a memorable character and Rankin's portrait of Edinburgh and the police department in his procedurals rings as very convincing and true-to-life.

In _Mortal Causes_, the most recent of the Rebus titles to see paperback, Rankin's hero must investigate a particularly gruesome murder which begins to look like it might be the work of a terrorist cell from Northern Ireland. Rebus had spent time there earlier in his career, before joining the police. His expertise comes to prove valuable in this case, on in which not everything is as it appears.

Set during Edinburgh's annual summer Festival, readers are treated to an exciting, realistic mystery which takes place in the side streets and housing estates that tourists don't normally see. Inspector John Rebus continues to develop into one of the more multi-faceted and interesting characters in contemporary mystery fiction and Ian Rankin's ability to grab the reader by the throat shows no signs of letting up. All in all, this is the best of the Rebus series, with a new book, _Let it Bleed_ currently out in
hardcover, and another, _Black and Blue_, waiting in the wings. Receives my highest recommendation

It's a good thing that Inspector Rebus is so smart. Otherwise, drinking too much and losing every fight he gets into would surely do him in. When a brutally murdered body turns up during the Edinburgh Festival, Rebus starts our tour of the city's seamier underside. There are more than enough additional murders, beatings, pubs, slums, betrayals, and manipulations to satisfy any mystery fan. The story is taut, well-paced, and peopled by memorable, well-developed characters. Although there was a bit too much impenetrable British slang for my taste, it certainly adds credibility and color to the tale. Pour yourself a single-malt, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

A boy is found tortured in an underground alley in Edinburg that is below the local courthouse. This is just the beginning of the best Rebus yet. The story itself is intriguing and thought provoking (it has to do with a home grown terrorist group that is working with the Protestant Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland). As the story builds, we meet some old friends that we didn't think we'd see again, and some new ones we hope never to see again.

Rankin always does a great job in tying in humor and the comic relief in this one is precious (not to mention with a lot of patience). Unlike the last two, this is really a one man show, and John gets beat up, beat on, and seriously pummeled. (I would sure like for Rankin to take it easy on this guy, since he quickly approaching 50). John's instincts are amazing and he is as relentless as a junkyard dog with a new bone.

A great fun read.

I have to admit that I am an Ian Rankin junkie. I have never been much of a murder-mystery devotee, but Rankin has a way with drama and putting characters together within the Edinburgh context that is exceptional. Mortal Causes is one of my favorite Rankin mysteries because it breaks away from many of his typical roles. Inspector Rebus is not called on the carpet, as usual, he is hard on the case, and we have the chance to see a bit of his own personal history. This novel is an 'easy read' and I found it thoroughly delightful.

well where to start,again rankin astuonds me with his talent.The plots always twist and turn but never to the extreme of you losing the thread, beatifully deep rich characters with a high sense of realism. I first discover rebus series a few years and now it's worse than a bad coke habit, when you "score" a new novel you just want to be left alone to devour it. must be at least on par with james ellory. if you enjoy police books then this must be the best contempory series come on ian , we want more

Mortal Causes was written to tell a story within a story. Rankin appears to have set the crime so that he can tell a political story in addition to the crime.

The novel starts with a gruesome murder and Inspector Rebus is sent to investigate. He notices these strange letters on the corpse and this sets in motion a chain of events involving Ireland and the religious issues between the Protestants and the Catholics.

Intertwined in all of this, there are personal issues that Rebus must face.

I found that the novel was a good read but there were so many characters, it was difficult to keep up with them or care about them.

Another issue I had with the book is that I think Rankin has his character straying from the street crime that he is renown for and entering an area that he is not comfortable with. This results in a jumbled ending that I sped through.

All in all, Rankin is always good reading but this is not the best he will do.

"Mortal Causes," (1994) is, by my count, thirteenth in the Detective Chief Inspector John Rebus series, by the outstanding, award-winning, author Ian Rankin, currently the best-selling author of British mysteries in the United Kingdom. It can, like most of his work, be described as a police procedural, within the tartan noir school, and it is set in Edinburgh, in contrast to most Scots mystery writers at work now. The east coast Edinburgh is more or less Rankin's home town; in comparison to the west coast Glasgow, it's a more beautiful, smaller city, the capital of the country, where you might expect the crime to be white collar, rather than blue, and bloody. But Rebus always seems to find enough to keep busy. Now, just what's tartan noir when it's at home, you ask? A bloodthirsty, bloody-minded business, to be sure, more violent than the average British mystery, but, thankfully, leavened a bit with that dark Scots humor. Written (duh!) by Scots.

Thirteenth in the series "Mortal Causes" may be, but it is still written with unflagging power, wit and energy, crackling with sharp descriptions of Scotland, its capital, its people, diet, social life and weather. The book was written in 1994, and is set in '93, a time when some of us may remember that the unrest between the Protestants and Catholics of Northern Ireland was at its height. And the situation in Northern Ireland dominates this book, not least because Rebus is said to have served there during his military stint. As the book opens, it is August in Edinburgh, apex of the summer tourist season; plus the city's famous Festival, featuring all kinds of new theater, is in full swing. Yet a horribly tortured body is discovered in one of the city's ancient, famous subterranean streets,and its method of execution causes Rebus to suspect sectarian zealots. Does this presage a terrorist war in a city packed with tourists? And when the victim turns out to be the son of Morris Gerald Cafferty, notorious crime boss of the city, with whom Rebus has crossed swords many times, well: what's going on?

The plot is satisfyingly complex, though the fact that Rebus has been seconded, for this case, to another cop shop, at Fettes headquarters, means there are an awful lot of characters, particularly cops, milling about, and I was occasionally confused among them. I also could have lived without the introduction of Clyde Moncur, an ugly American if ever there was one, and, apparently, an early Tea Partyer.

Rankin opens this book with a powerful set piece, arguably his greatest next to the cop's Arthur's Seat suicide that opens Dead Souls: An Inspector Rebus Novel. Here, we have the finding of the first victim's body in an ancient butcher shop, in the ancient street Mary King's Close, that now serves as a storage room under the City Hall. Mind you, there is such a butcher shop, and such a street. It was walled off during the great medieval plague, too bad for any survivors still there, and it was simply built-over.

Come to mysteries, I am a crazed fan, and did actually go to Scotland for a week, tracking my favorite authors. Had only a day in Edinburgh, but did find a tour of Mary King's Close, under City Hall, the heart of the old city. It's all there, as described, and pretty eerie, too.

Rankin was nominated for an Edgar Award for Black and Blue: An Inspector Rebus Mystery, for which he won England's prestigious Gold Dagger Award. He was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, and graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He's been employed as grape-picker, swineherd, taxman, hi-fi journalist, and punk musician. His first Rebus novel Knots and Crosses was published in 1987. His works are now receiving television treatment. If you love British mysteries, he's a dead cert.

This book shows why Rankin is one of the best-selling authors in Europe. Unlike too many mystery writers, Rankin can write, and doesn't make the reader mentally edit half of what's on the page. If you've read only his more recent Inspector Rebus stories, you'll still enjoy this one, as much for seeing the beginnings of some of the later relationships as for the story itself. If you haven't encountered Rankin yet, start with this one and read your way through to 2008.

This john Rebus series is getting better and better. This is the sixth book in this long-running series and I enjoyed it. I love the "other look" that we get of Edinburgh and some of its underground life. Rebus is called in to work with a special police branch when a brutally tortured body is found in an old underground shop. This leads him into extremists and a ton of danger. He even makes a trip to Belfast to try to figure this one out. I love the character of John Rebus. He seems so real and authentic it almost feels like reading true crime. These books have a lot of blood and realistic and chilling villains. This is totally different than most of the British police procedurals I have read, and still do love in their way. But I am fascinated with Rebus. Rankin's writing is brutal, and he holds back nothing. Love it!