Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #399721 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 360 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sometimes crime affects you directly: in A Question of Blood Inspector John Rebus is caught up in two cases that are closer to home than he would like. He is under investigation for the burning alive of a minor psychopath who threatened his attractive young sergeant Siobhan Clarke; and the son of an estranged cousin has been murdered in a high-school shooting.

As always in Rankin's novels, Rebus's bad attitude to his superiors comes back to bite him: even though doctors testify that damage to his hands is a scalding from trying drunkenly to get into an over-hot bath, it is regarded as circumstantial evidence of his possible guilt. The high-school shooting looks at first sight like another ex-SAS crazy going wild--and here Rebus's own past as an SAS washout comes to haunt him--and the constant meddling of army investigators screams cover-up. In fact, though, this is one of those occasions on which Rebus's slightly paranoid preparedness to see connections everywhere pays off and he manages to solve both crimes and a lot of other unsuspected pieces of mayhem besides. Along the way, the book offers Rankin's usual intense commentary on embattled masculinity and what it means to be a Scot, and this excellent sequence's usual portrayal of an Edinburgh where modernity rubs up against time-worn slums and ancient privilege. --Roz Kaveney

Review
'Rankin is an astute social commentator and, as here, serious observation is often at its most effective when it comes in the form of exciting entertainment' --TRIBUNE

Review
'The real strength of Rankin's work...- is that it's a good deal more than a crime novel. The genre is simply the wrapping in which a complex story of human flaws and frailty is contained...Fortunately, A Question of Blood is just about as good as Rankin gets. As a crime novel, it stands favourable comparison with almost anything else currently being written in - or out of - the genre. Detective Inspector Rebus, I suspect, has a way to go yet' (Allan Laing GLASGOW HERALD )

'He writes with a natural rhythmn which exerts an almost hypnotic effect' (Andrew Taylor THE INDEPENDENT )

'You'll love every second of it' (DAILY MIRROR 4-STARS )

'Exemplifies the enhanced craftmanship of the author's recent work; the sheer number of handicaps Rebus overcomes and of the puzzles he solves evinces a relishable virtuosity' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES )

'A rich absorbing narrative in which the focus is not on who did it - that we know - but why. Artful, moving and entertaining' (Peter Gutteridge THE OBSERVER )

'Retiring the DI would be a risk, but this 16th Rebus suggests that, while readers wouldn't push him, Rankin could survive that jump' (Mark Lawson THE OBSERVER )

'Ian Rankin's John Rebus...is a flawed but very human creation, and his Edinburgh and its inhabitants beautifully drawn and utterly real' (Myles McWeeney IRISH INDEPENDENT )

'Exceptionally well-plotted book, which is guaranteed to hook you and keep you hooked' (Antonia Fraser SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'Still miles ahead of most modern British crime fiction' (SHERLOCK MAGAZINE )

'Recent crime writers...have at their disposal all the opening for alienation afforded by the modern world - and, if one of them has to be singled out as being especially attuned to contemporary murder and social malaise, it is Ian Rankin' (Patricia Craid TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT )

'Skilfully composed and powerfully written, with a vein of compassion that Rankin taps to startling and justified effect' (Philip Oakes LITERARY REVIEW )

'He is an addictive writer, which accounts for his immense popularity, but he is also a serious and disturbing one...What he does after Rebus is an interesting question. To track back and offer us some of Rebus's earlier cases would be to reduce the novels to mere entertainment, hugely popular no doubt but a betrayal of his remarkable talent' (Allan Massie THE SPECTATOR )

'Rankin at his raw-edged, page-turning best. Plot strands expertly twist around each other, puzzles are puzzling and the Edinburgh/South Queensferry locations are as real and atmospheric as it gets. With Rankin you can practically smell the fag-smoke and whisky fumes' (Martin Radcliffe TIME OUT )

'Rankin is the thinking man's thriller writer' (Vincent Banville IRISH TIMES )

'This latest story crackles with tension, energy and suspense. And it's a credit to Rankin's writing that despite our familiarity with the detective inspector, it is quite believable that Rebus is capable of committing a violent crime to protect a friend' (Lise Hand SUNDAY TRIBUNE (Ireland) )

'Nobody is better than Rankin at creating a diversion or leading readers astray only to abandon them in a cul-de-sac' (Alan Taylor SUNDAY HERALD (Glasgo) )

'As his best, few writers can match him for imaginative, multi-layered plots....he has returned to form with a novel of startling depth...In a genre where murder is the norm, it is a testament to Rankin's talent that he succeeds in making death seem as incongruous and painful as it does in real life' (Nicola Upson NEW STATESMAN )

'This gritty, fast-paced novel confirms why Rankin is such an indisputable leader' (Allan Radcliffe THE LIST (Scotland) )

'Seamlessly plotted, effortlessly compelling read. Rankin is in total command of his idiom. Rebus himself may be showing signs of burn-out and disaffection with conventional police procedure, but there is no indication that the series is running out of steam' (Simon Humphreys MAIL ON SUNDAY )

'Rankin is an astute social commentator and, as here, serious observation is often at its most effective when it comes in the form of exciting entertainment' (TRIBUNE )

Customer Reviews

Outstanding novel by Rankin
Rankin's latest begins straight off, plumping us right in the middle of the plot, and has a pace that continues in that vein, right until the shocking end. It starts with Rebus, in hospital, hands burned and bandaged following a severe scalding from hot bathwater. Or so he says. He is about to be called into a case that will question his notions of his family, his past, his future, and his present. There has been a horrific shooting incident at a private school just north of Edinburgh. Three people are dead, one injured. After his rampage, the killer - who was, like Rebus, ex-army - turned the gun on himself. As everyone puts it, "there's no mystery, except the why".

Given his army background, Rebus is asked to advise, on the quiet, to try and give some insight into what made this man go so catastrohpically off the rails. Rebus becomes fascinated with the dead man and his motives, and when the military police start sniffing around it makes him suspect that this thing might go a lot deeper than at first it seems.

But, before very long, Rebus too finds himself under investigation. A petty criminal who had been stalking and harassing his colleague and friend Siobhan (pronounced "Shivawn". As one character puts it, "So that's how it's spelt.") Clarke has been found burnt to death in his home. And not everyone is prepared to believe Rebus's excuses for his injuries...

For me, at least, this is surely going to be crime novel of the year. Rankin (so good he has already been awarded an OBE) has produced another outstanding novel of "Scots noir", which is sure to only cement his immense reputation among his fans as well as garnering him a good few more.

His prose and plots work like an acid, gradually corroding the genial touristy facade of the city and showing us the dark oily mechanics beneath. His writing is crisp and powerful, building atmosphere and character with a deceptive ease. His dialogue is sharp and realistic, and at times very clever, while his plotting is thick and complex. Everything hangs together beautifully.

As a Rebus novel, this one is, if not quite the strongest, definitely unique. There's no real whodunnit type mystery here, but Rankin makes the whydunnit aspects just as fascinating. Also fascinating is Rebus himself, who is ever so slightly disturbed by the parrallells he sees between himself and the killer, and who continues to grow and evolve as he ages, becoming softer yet harder at the same time, if at all possible, while still retaining the dark "lonerness" that has endeared him to so very many. However, this time around the fascination of Rebus himself is almost equal to the fascination of his increasingly complex and interesting relationship with his colleague DS Clarke (who is pretty darn interesting just by her self, busily avoiding social contact and living in a style eerile similar to that of her boss) which here sometimes threatens to become the main psychological draw of the story, rather than Rebus. This has been in the coming for several books now. At times he seems fatherly towards her, at times merely friendly (which is in itself unusual) and at times we realise just how much he has come to care, even though he doesn't always seem to know it himself. A particularly interesting happening here is how Clarke is forced to accompany him everywhere and act as his "hands". ("How will you go to the toilet?" "A man's got to do what a man's got to do.")

A Question of Blood is an outstanding novel, dark and fascinating, this is Rankin at his best, and that is something indeed

Another triumph for Ian Rankin!
Ian Rankin's faultless record in the crime fiction genre once again cannot be questioned after reading this book. The well-loved protagonist of DI Rebus once again makes the reader long for his alignment with the values that 'society' holds, if only for a true recognition of his character. However an admiration for DI Rebus cannot be quenched - a thirst for answers, disregard for bureaucracy and an understanding of the criminal mind. Edinburgh is yet again treated not just as a beautiful city with a 'nice' tourist scene, but as a dark place, somewhat pretentious, with underlying sadness. It exhibits the nature of crime and humanity, the urges and desires, the pitfalls and the despair that is human life. The Rebus novel are not novels that you pick up, read and put back on your bookshelf. When you read these Ian Rankin novels you are involved. These are not just formulaic novels with a plot which gets resolved by the quirky detective. These are touched by a reality which is sometimes shocking but always necessary. It would be an injustice not to read this novel or any other Rebus novel.

As Determined As Ever
This is the 15th book in the Inspector John Rebus series (not counting the 2 books of short stories) and once again Rebus is hard at work intimidating criminals and annoying his superiors. This book is a little unusual in that Rebus is actually working with partners, alternating between Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke and Detective Inspector Bob Hogan.

The reason for Rebuses acceptance of assistance comes from the fact that both of his hands have been very badly scalded, so badly that he even has trouble drinking a beer or lighting a cigarette (shocking). The burnt hands are a bit of a mystery but seem to have been done the same night that a man who had been stalking Siobhan, and who Rebus warned off once, was burnt to death. Suspicions hang over Rebuses head throughout the book.

The main case is a murder suicide investigation that Rebus is called in to advise on due to his previous experience as an SAS trainee. The murderer is also ex-SAS and it is thought that Rebus might be able to add some unique insights. So, rather than trying to solve the question of who committed the murder, it’s more a question of why the murder was committed. During the investigation we get a little more of an insight into Rebuses army days through his digging into the murderer’s past.

Thanks to the extra interaction between Rebus and Siobhan Clarke, I thought this was an excellent addition to what is already an outstanding series. It’s also nice to see that his dogged determination to solve the case and his disregard for his superiors hasn’t diminished at all either.