Sleuth in the slammer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/11/2024 (684 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

John Rebus is where? Oh no…

This goes way beyond our lad finding himself in a spot of bother — retired curmudgeonly Edinburgh police detective John Rebus is in prison, for life, for murder.

Rebus hadn’t reckoned on killing longtime nemesis mobster boss Big Ger Cafferty, but Rebus wasn’t engaging in lawful activities when he triggered a fatal heart attack in Big Ger.

Now he’s in prison, surrounded by many of the villains he’d put away in an illustrious career as Edinburgh’s finest (and most unorthodox) sleuth.

And wouldn’t you know it, there’s a murder just a few cells down the range.

You think being a convict will quash Rebus’s investigative instincts? As if.

Midnight and Blue is the 25th book in Sir Ian Rankin’s outstanding Rebus series, and it’s one of his best. Even after all these years, Rankin still has it, and your book club would be safe in betting that so does John.

Ruling that cell block is Darryl Christie, who runs vice in Edinburgh from prison after a vicious feud with Cafferty. Cunningly calculating Darryl is, despite Rebus having sent him up the river; Rebus eliminated Big Ger, and Christie won’t take personal revenge on Rebus yet until he figures out if he’s more valuable alive.

It’s further complicated that there’s one huge psycho who thirsts for revenge against Rebus, and there’s another hard man enforcer on the block who works for the don in Liverpool — does that Merseyside mobster have ambitions in Scotland?

Meanwhile, we have Rebus’s pals, detective inspector Siobhan Clarke and detective sergeant Christine Esson, tasked with the murder investigation. Not only that, but a 14-year-old girl has disappeared, who may have been victimized by a young lout she’d dated for a wee while, or who may herself be the killer of — of course there’ll be more murders, but you won’t find out here who they are. Or just how wicked a mess entrapped her.

Did we mention that the vanished girl’s BFF’s dad works for Christie?

Naturally, the police see Rebus as a great source on the inside, which doesn’t half put him in danger — especially since a prison guard may have done the deed.

Rankin plays fair with his readers. When something trivial gets mentioned, pay attention; when it pops up a second time, focus.

The case also attracts detective inspector Malcolm Fox, who’s connected to the evil doings in ways he is reluctant to share.

Anyone remember when Sir Ian unwisely decided it was time to retire Rebus? There were actual real-life MPs raising Police Scotland retirement rules in the House of Commons so Rankin could give Rebus back his badge. Meanwhile, he wrote two books about young Fox, working in the internal affairs department investigating bent cops.

Young Malcolm has not aged well. He’s zealously ambitious, a master manipulator, obsequious with his seniors and ready to smarmily use anyone who can help him rise in the hierarchy. Fox has morphed into a complete bounder.

Rebus reveals at one point that he’s closing in on 70 — still a relatively young guy and still as sharp as ever, even if he lacks a badge and his movements are somewhat restricted.

Midnight and Blue is as good as it gets with police procedurals.

Retired Free Press reporter Nick Martin looks forward to returning to Edinburgh and having a pint or two in the Oxford Pub, hoping he can buy John Rebus a round — or at the very least Sir Ian.