Black and Blue

by Ian Rankin

Book Overview

Bible John killed three women, and took three souvenirs. Johnny Bible killed to steal his namesake's glory. Oilman Allan Mitchelson died for his principles. And convict Lenny Spaven died just to prove... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312966776
• ISBN13: 9780312966775
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Made My Kilt Curl

I was just introduced to Ian Rankin with this book. I loved it. Love Rebus. Rankin has a great knack for character and how to intertwine plots. I've been on a steady diet of Connelly, Deaver, Pearson, Crais, Kellerman, etc., and it was great to take a 'trip' across the ocean to get a glimpse of detective life in Scotland. It was much more gritty and hard-nosed than many of the stateside gumshoe tales. Felt a real affinity between Rebus and Harry Bosch. Maybe they are long lost cousins. Now plan to read all of Rankin's works in sequence. Keep up the good work Ian.

hard boiled

In recent months, word has come that authors of several of the very best police procedural series have decided to put an end to their heroes adventures. John Harvey is apparently retiring Charlie Resnick, Archer Mayor may do the same with Joe Gunther and Colin Dexter killed off Inspector Morse. This leaves something of a void in the genre, particularly at the more noirish margin, but luckily, Ian Rankin and Detective John Rebus seem to be just hitting their stride and, with the ranks of the competitors thinned, these tartan noir novels will hopefully gain the audience they richly deserve. Rankin began the series in 1987 with Knots and Crosses. His creation, John Rebus, a former SAS special op turned Scottish police detective, is driven by Calvinist guilt, fueled by whiskey, cigarettes and pop music and is willing, even eager, to cut corners and push boundaries in his pursuit of a pretty harsh justice. But now, eight books and ten years into the series, Rebus is reaching a crisis point as an overwhelming confluence of events threatens to swamp him. First, he's been transferred to a backwater division in the wake of the fallout from his last case and his first investigation there seems to tie into both the North Sea oil industry and the mobs. Second, an old case where he and his mentor played fast and loose with the rules has been reopened. Third, a copycat killer has started imitating the murder pattern of Bible John (a true life killer) who terrified Scotland in the late 60's. The new killer has been nicknamed Johnny Bible and Rebus is obsessed by both killers. Finally, one of his old partners is assigned to keep an eye on him and starts talking to him about the changes that AA has made in his life and pushing Rebus to reexamine his own. Rankin somehow manages to keep all these plates spinning in a really superior entry in one of the more underrated series around. The book won a well deserved Golden Dagger award (Best Mystery as awarded by the Crime Writers Association of Britain) and if you like your crime fiction hard boiled, this is a book you should not miss GRADE: A+

Rankin's finest

Ian Rankin is described as the father of tartan noir, and Scotland's answer to James Ellroy. I would disagree with the latter description - Ellroy being a great prose stylist, with an approach, and an ability to plot all of his own. However, Rankin is a good writer, and with Black and Blue he has written a great novel.This novel probably stands comparison with Ellroy more then some of Rankin's other work. There are two principal reasons for this. Firstly, Rankin brings together fact and fiction, merging them seamlessly into an entertaining whole; secondly, he demonstrates a mastery of running four concurrent labyrinthine plotlines that come together in a gripping conclusion.The novel focuses on a series of killings by an individual nicknamed, Johnny Bible. These crimes echo those of late 1960s Glasgow where "Bible John" killed three women in a series of unsolved crimes that ended as abruptly as they started. The meshing of fact and fiction is handled adroitly.The interlinking plots have as their hub, Rankin's regular Inspector John Rebus. Rebus is divorced, hard-drinking, and a compelling presence over the series of novels.Here, the plots include the Johnny Bible killings, a vicious gangland murder on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and a media programme on miscarriages of justice reviving an elderly case Rebus was involved in as a young detective. Navigation around the plots is not straightforward, but the links between the seemingly disparate strands are made with mastery.Rankin's prose style is not innovative, but he deftly draws characters, and some of the incidental characters here, e.g. DCI Grogan, a detective in Aberdeen, and Major Weir, a Scot-loving American oil magnate, are deftly sketched in such a manner that you can see their having a life off the page. The central character remains the majestic Rebus. From menace (resolving a problem for a colleague) to mawkish sentimentality (his memories of a murdered prostitute) Rebus is one of the most compelling characters in the genre. He reacts erratically, and because of this seems all the more human. Rankin is to be congratulated on this wonderful creation.However, these elements are present in most Rebus novels. What is it that prompted the description as "Rankin's finest"? For this Scot the reason is Rankin's engagement with modern Scotland. He looks at the oil industry, social deprivation, and drug culture. Rankin's novels are "state of the nation" books, revealing many facets of society. Sometimes he drops into hectoring pedagogical mode, more often these observations inform the plotting, and the characterisation.At his best Rankin is as good as anyone in the genre. And this is Rankin at his best.If you enjoyed this novel try Ian Rankin's Set in Darkness or The Hanging Garden; Denise Mina's Garnethill; or James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia or The Big Nowhere.

An Excellent Read

I'd heard some good things about Rankin, and this book was the first I read. While it's true the numerous plots can be somewhat confusing, they add to the realism; do any of us believe that police detectives only have one case assigned to them at a time? The darkness of Rebus' world, his cyncism and bitterness, combined with his stubborness and tenacity, give us a picture of a complete but flawed man. Rebus is a fully developed character, and for once we're given a portrait of a loose cannon that we can BELIEVE would continue to hold down a job.

Top stuff - by any genre standards

I came to this book looking for something a little different. Having won several awards, I thought it would be good as a sampler of the crime genre. It is quite splendid. Human characters with the kind of flaws you have to accept in people you know and meet, in a familiar but grim surround, like viewing your own house after a burglary. I have since read several more Rebus novels and enjoyed damn near every page. The sharpness of the dialogue and the bold depictions are instantly memorable.The only downside is that I enjoyed 'The Hanging Garden' even more!