As is so often the case in a first novel, this initial Detective Sergeant John Rebus mystery is a bit too chock-full for its own good. But you can't blame an author who may not know if they'll ever get anther shot at readers for including every theme, scene, and character they've ever wanted to write about in the one book they know is going to be published. And, especially when an author settles into such a good groove in subsequent efforts, as Ian Rankin unquestionably has, we ought to cut them some slack on their earliest forays.
Here we meet Rebus just as he teeters on the edge of a nervous breakdown, plagued by inchoate memories and fears of his time in the SAS and the brutal methods they used to break him and a friend in an interrogation-resistance experiment gone badly wrong. He's drinking too much, his wife has given him the boot and kept their daughter, and being a wise-acre and engaging in an act of violence with a suspect have left him persona non grata on the police force. He's groping for a relationship with his brother, who followed in their magician father's footsteps and has done surprisingly well financially, and with God, who he believes in but can't determine what form that faith should take, especially since he identifies most with Job. In the midst of all this he gets assigned to the case of the Edinburgh Strangler, who's murdering young girls and sending Rebus taunting notes along with bits of knotted string and matchstick crosses. But things get downright "incestuous," as one character even notes, when it turns out that his supervisor's son is his ex-wife's new lover and the Strangler takes Rebus's daughter. That's some knotting that's just too tight and I haven't even revealed the whole ball of string.
Still, the story cranks along at breakneck pace; Rebus is an alternately sardonic and soulful guide through the mystery; and Mr. Rankin doesn't talk so much about Rebus's backstory in future books, so it's important to get your grounding here. It's a good intro but the best comes later in the series.
(Reviewed:18-Oct-05)
Grade: (B+)
