A Question of Blood

by Ian Rankin

Book Overview

When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17-year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Inspector John Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316095648
• ISBN13: 9780316095648
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Terrific

A former soldier charges into a high school and shoots three students, leaving two for dead, and then kills himself. John Rebus and his partner Siobhan Clarke set out to investigate why this man did what he did, all the while dealing with allegations that Rebus himself has murdered a local thug who had been harassing Clarke. A Question of Blood explores the two mysteries, twines them togehter, all the while telling an excellent, compelling, gripping story. Ian Rankin is a talented writer--the writing is good, the dialog is excellent and the story works, keeping you guessing up until the last pages of the novel. This is the first of Rankin's novels that I have read and it certainly is impressive. Rebus is an complicated and entertaining character--a bit of a cynic, and certainly not one to tow the line. All in all, A Question of Blood is a terrific mystery.

As Good As It Gets

Ian Rankin has written his 19th book. This is the 16th novel in the Inspector Rebus series. Inspector John Rebus is a man with a rakish sense of humour and a dry wit. He is a loner. He has a past, and we are given a glimpse every now and then. He is as finely wrought a character as I have seen. He is a man after my own heart. I have always wanted to be a spy in the CIA and this comes close enough.Rebus is in the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. It appears that Rebus has scalded both hands and infection has set in. Did this happen as he says by putting his hands in scalding water for too long a period of time? It would appear that this might be too coincidental since Fairstone, a man who was stalking Detective Sargeant Siobhan Clarke, has just died in a fire. Siobhan is also wondering if Rebus came to her defense and killed the man.Detective Clarke is here in hospital to relate to Rebus the horrible events that have just happened in South Queensbury. An ex-SAS or army man had walked into a private school, turned his gun on three young men and then killed himself. What was this slaughter all about? What was the motive, was it revenge?Rebus is called upon by Detective Inspector Bobby Hogan to come to Queensbury to assist him in the investigation. Rebus is an ex-army man himself and may have insight into the why's and where's.Siobhan must accompany him since he cannot drive. His hands are bandaged and he is taking medication with his whiskey to stave off the pain. There is no mystery about whodunit. A creep, a loner, an army veteran who got his kicks out of terrifying the local teenagers in his speedboat. A man gone mad? Were the killings random? Why did this man bypass other rooms and go directly to the student lounge? With his superiors breathing down his neck, Rebus immerses himself into the investigation. He finds a family link and is drawn into the questions, "why does a man kill, is it a matter of revenge or a question of blood?"This is about as good as it gets in a Rebus novel. The characters are finely drawn, dark and gritty. The storyline is carefully detailed. We get a closer and more intimate look at Rebus the man. Bring 'em on Ian Rankin, you have only just begun! prisrob

He Has Blood on His Hands

An ex-con, Martin Fairstone, who had been stalking and harassing Edinburgh Inspector John Rebus's friend, partner and protegee, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke, is found burned to death after spending time the night before with Rebus. The hard drinking, smokaholic turns up with bandaged hands, saying he scalded himself in the bath, but gosh darn, too much to drink, you know, can't quite remember. Gil Templar, Rebus's boss and Complaints and Conduct (same as American Internal Affairs) suspect Rebus and he is officially suspended.Meanwhile, Lee Herdman, a veteran of the elite SAS, shoots two boys to death and wounds another at the Port Edgar Academy in South Queensferry, before turning the gun on himself. One of the murdered boys is the son of a judge, the other turns out to be Rebus's second cousin. The wounded boy is the son of a Scottish MP.Because of Rebus's army experience and, of course because of his excellent detective skill, DI Bobby Hogan, asks Rebus to assist in the investigation, which he is more than glad to do. Much better to be the investigator in the second crime than the investigatee in the first. At first it looks like Herdman just snapped, but Rebus wonders why the Army is so interested and after an investigation that leads to another dead man and to his Goth (dresses all in black) sister, who has a live webcam in her bedroom, and then to an SAS operation, Rebus knows there is so much more here than a pressure cooked guy that just went nuts with a gun.I don't know how, but Mr. Rankin just keeps getting better and better. I didn't mention above that Rebus doesn't have the use of his burned hands during the investigation. He has to depend on Siobahn, a lady who will do anything for him, except light his cigarettes, which of course angers our fiftish, overweight, alcoholic, chain smoking hero. It's touches like that, and the way Mr. Rankin uses music to help with his characterization, the complicated plot with it's twist and turns and the superb writing that make his books a joy to read.Haley Lawford, S/V Cheerleader Too

absolutely brilliant

All of South Queensferry is in shock when Lee Herdman walks into a private school (Port Edgar Academy) one day and opens fire in the student lounge killing two boys one day. Since Herdman was an ex-army man, everyone assumes that he just snapped one day. However, the police still need to try and establish what chain of events led to the shooting. So an overworked DI Bobby Hogan who's in charge of the case decides to draft Rebus onto the team. Rebus however is being investigated because of his connection in the suspicious death of an ex-con (with a tendency for violence) who was stalking Rebus's partner DS Siobhan Clarke for a while now. Relieved to have something else on their minds aside from the impending internal investigation, both Rebus and Siobhan throw themselves completely into investigating Herdman's past and everyone he had a relationship with. But with the military police showing a sudden and profound interest in the case, Rebus begins to wonder about what's really going on, esp when he discovers the ties Herdman had with certain prominent families of South Queensferry...Ian Rankin comes up trumps again! And while this latest Rebus installment is not the usual fare (as others have noted it's not much of a whodunit kind of novel), it still made for compelling and engrossing reading. Ian Rankin is an absolute wonder at creating scenes, characters and atmosphere, and coming up with a story that's unique and complex. So that even though I did begin to see which way the investigation was going, and even though the ending didn't really explain completely why the shooter did what he did, I would still rate this latest Rebus novel as a 5 star read. As usual there is Rankin's clever and witty prose/dialogue to enjoy; and I rather liked that you really got to enjoy and appreciate the good and close relationship that Rebus and Siobhan have -- a friendship that's affectionate but (thank goodness) free of sexual tensions. So yes, this is a book worth buying and recommending as an excellent read.

Outstanding crime fiction

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 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 catastrophically 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 a 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, which is as smooth and hard as marble, 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, often 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 increasingly understands the criminals more than he understands those around him, and who is ever so slightly disturbed by the parallels he sees between himself and the killer. The most interesting protagonist in the genre, he 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 s