Hide and Seek (Ian Rankin) “Wednesday”

The deliciously dark tone continues:  “Midday Edinburgh seemed darker than ever, reflecting his mood perhaps.  The Castle appeared to be casting a shadow across the expanse of New Town…”  For those not familiar, Edinburgh is one of Europe’s most scenic cities, modern by European standards, but surrounding a gigantic rock topped by a huge medieval castle which can be seen for many miles around.  Imagine something like that in the middle of Dallas…  The darkness even creeps into Rebus’ reflections on religion:  “He might not attend church often, detesting all the hymn-singing and the bald sermonizing, but that didn’t mean he didn’t believe in that small, dark personal God of his.  Everyone had a God tagging along with them.  And the God of the Scots was as ominous as He came.”

The theme of this story is “religious” in a sense – as long as we include witchcraft or Satanism as “religious.”  Rebus is still struggling with that aspect of the case, resisting the idea of considering it a religious crime.  Yes, the body was found lying in a crucifixion pose between two burned out candles with a pentagram and other symbols on the wall.  But forensics determined it a drug overdose, and Rebus is much more comfortable with that kind of “darkness.”

Rankin continues to include Edinburgh place names in the narrative, including them as an integral part of the story.  On leaving a pub:  ‘”Where’ll it be’ said Rebus.  ‘I hope you didn’t drive here, Tony.’  ‘Got a patrol car to drop me off.’  ‘Fine. We’ll take my car then.’  ‘We could drive down to Leith [the shipyards area on the south coast of the Firth of Forth, just a mile or two north of Edinburgh’s famous castle].’  ‘No, I fancy something more central [The area around the castle]. There are a few good pubs in Regent Road.’  ‘By Calton Hill?’  McCall was amazed.  ‘Christ, John, I can think of better places to go for a drink.’   ‘I can’t,’ said Rebus.  ‘Come on.’”  Rebus wants to do some “research” into his case.  The Calton Hill area features Calton Cemetery [See https://www.google.com/search?q=calton+hill+edinburgh&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=7--CUqaYCYirkAfs_4CoBg&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1301&bih=641#q=calton+hill+cemetery&tbm=isch “Calton Hill Cemetery” for some intriguing images!] where certain things go on at night, apparently things that the police feel compelled to turn a blind eye to, such as prostitution of the standard and not-so-standard varieties.

Again practicing some rather dodgy policing techniques, Rebus goes to that area after drinks and “picks up” an underage male streetwalker in order to get some answers regarding the junkie whose death he is investigating.  With the help of a little strategic police brutality, as well as a little payola to grease the skids, he gets some clues, if not straight answers.  The name “Hyde” comes up, which trips some wires in Rebus’s brain, something to mull over as he heads home for a badly needed bubble bath. 

“Just for a few hours he wanted to be away from it all, all the sordid tinkering with other people’s lives.  His flat didn’t feel so secure anymore, didn’t feel like the castle it had been only a day or two ago.  And there was internal damage as well as the structural kind: he was feeling soiled in the pit of his gut, as though the city had scraped away a layer of its surface grime and force-fed him the lot.  To hell with it.  He was caught all right.  He was living in the most beautiful, most civilized city in northern Europe, yet every day had to deal with its flipside, with the minor matter of its animus.”




Next week: “Thursday” and “Friday”



And join us next month for March’s book of the month: “Hammerfall,” by C. J. Cherryh.

One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C.J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel -- possibly Cherryh's masterwork -- the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet.