Hide and Seek (Ian Rankin) Intro,” Monday” and “Tuesday”

Ian Rankin’s writing style, for me, is hard to analyze for some reason.  It flows very nicely, like riding a bicycle downhill, but it’s hard to see just why.  This story actually begins rather stutteringly, with several disjointed events happening in short order, as if you’re listening to someone saying, “What happened is that – but before that … no, what I really meant was – but then; no, wait the first thing you need to know is…”  but somehow he makes it work and it doesn’t distract at all.  There is a dark aura about the Inspector Rebus novels that I find especially appealing.  “Tartan Noir” is the term I’ve encountered, referring to a tendency of today’s Scottish mystery writers to write dark, dreary stories.  The first book in the series, Knots and Crosses (the British name for tic-tac-toe), is a perfect example.  The later ones I’ve read had the same darkness but to a lesser degree, so I’ve picked up this book – the second in the series – anticipating another very dark story.

Once the storyline does get going, it stays nice and steady, developing the way a good mystery usually does.  It seems to me that there are two main types of mysteries: the kind that features a “professional” of some sort, in which a detective or police inspector is officially or unofficially looking into a crime, using time-tested investigative techniques; and the kind that features an amateur investigator, with or without experience or skills in sleuthing.  John Rebus is, of course, a good example of the former, though he doesn’t always play by the book, being something of a rebel in his profession.

He has a reckless streak in him, which prompts him to actions that might be frowned upon by his superiors or his colleagues.  When “Tracy” shows up at his flat (“How the hell did you find this place?”) and asks for protection from the men who are following her, he not only lets her in, he lets her take a shower in his bathroom and even spend the night on his sofa.  This has to violate all kinds of protocol for a city cop, unless things are extremely different in Edinburgh!

His interrogation techniques are fun to watch.  “Rebus was all calmness.  He exhaled smoke before responding.  ‘There were candles in the living room.’  He was getting close to telling Charlie something Charlie didn’t seem to know.  All during the interview, he had been spiraling inwards towards this moment.”  And, “’He was murdered.’ he said. ‘Or as good as.’  Charlie’s mouth opened.  The blood drained from his face … ‘Christ, man, you’re not going to pin this on me!’  ‘Why not?’ Rebus stubbed out his cigarette.  ‘Because it’s crazy.’  ‘Seems to me it all fits, Charlie.’  String him out, Rebus was thinking.  He’s already stretched to snapping point.  ‘Unless you can convince me otherwise.’”

The dialog is among the best I’ve seen anywhere.  The setting:  well, I have to admit, it’s one of the main reasons I was drawn to this author in the first place.  I have a deep fascination with this city, Edinburgh, and Rankin’s descriptions make it real to me. I have even looked up some of the place names and streets on MapQuest.  At a recent Meet-the-Author event in a local bookstore, one of the attendees brought up the point that Edinburgh is almost like one of the characters in this series, which I thought was a great observation.  Rankin seemed to think so too, and went into some detail about its "role."  Fun meeting!

 

Next week's segment: “Wednesday”