As the series progressed, Ian Rankin refused to shy away from contentious issues such as corruption in high places, paedophilia and illegal immigration, combining his unique seal of tight plotting with a bleak realism, leavened with brooding humour.
In Rebus the reader is presented with a rich and constantly evolving portrait of a complex and troubled man, irrevocably tinged with the sense of being an outsider and, potentially, unable to escape being a ‘justified sinner’ himself. Rebus’s life is intricately related to his Scottish environs too, enriched by Ian Rankin’s attentive depiction of locations, and careful regard to Rebus’s favourite music, watering holes and books, as well as his often fraught relationships with colleagues and family. And so, alongside Rebus, the reader is taken on an often painful, sometimes hellish journey to the depths of human nature, always rooted in the minutiae of a very recognisable Scottish life.
The Oxford Bar – Rebus and many of the characters who appear in the novels are regulars of the Ox – as is Ian Rankin himself. The pub is now synonymous with the Rebus novels to the extent that one of the regular medical examiners called in to assist with investigations is named after the pub’s owner, John Gates.
Edinburgh plays an important role throughout the Rebus novels; a character itself, as brooding and as volatile as Rebus. The Edinburgh depicted in the novels is far short of the beautiful city that tourists in their thousands flood to visit. Hidden behind the historic buildings and elegant façades is the world that Rebus inhabits.
For general discussion
regarding the Rebus series
How does Ian Rankin reveal himself as an author interested in using fiction to ‘tell the truths the real world can’t’?
There are similarities between the lives of the author and his protagonist – for instance, both Ian Rankin and Rebus were born in Fife, lost their mothers at an early age, have children with physical problems – so is it useful therefore to think of John Rebus and Ian Rankin as each other’s alter egos?
Could it be said that Rebus is trying to make sense in a general way of the world around him, or is he seeking answers to the ‘big questions’? And is it relevant therefore that he is a believer in God and comes from a Scottish Presbyterian background? Would Rebus see confession in both the religious and the criminal sense as similar in any way?
How does Ian Rankin explore notions of Edinburgh as a character in its own right? In what way does he contrast the glossy public and seedy private faces of the city with the public and private faces of those Rebus meets?
How does Ian Rankin use musical sources – the Elvis references in The Black Book, for instance, or the Rolling Stones allusions in Let It Bleed – as a means of character development through the series? What does Rebus’s own taste in music and books say about him as a person?
What do you think about Rebus as a character? If you have read several or more novels from the series, discuss how his character is developed.
If Rebus has a problem with notions of ‘pecking order’ and the idea of authority generally, what does it say about him that he chose careers in hierarchical institutions such as the Army and then the police?
How does Rebus relate to women: as lovers, flirtations, family members and colleagues?
Do the flashes of gallows humour as often shown by the pathologists but sometimes also in Rebus’s own comments increase or dissipate narrative tension? Does Rebus use black comedy for the same reasons the pathologists do?
Do Rebus’s personal vulnerabilities make him understanding of the frailties of others?
How does the characterisation of Rebus compare to other long-standing popular detectives from British authors such as Holmes, Poirot, Morse or Dalgleish? And are there more similarities or differences between them?
THE BLACK BOOK
Convinced now that he is writing a series, Ian Rankin introduces a new level of humour into his story as he takes Rebus into his first head-to-head with Big Ger Cafferty.
But at first Rebus believes he’s investigating a murder in a butcher’s shop that belongs to one Jim Bone, although the powers that be are more interested in co-opting him on to Operation Moneybags, a joint operation with Trading Standards to investigate a money-lending scam (with some protection on the side). And when DS Brian Holmes is badly injured at the Elvis-themed Heartbreak Café, it’s not long before Rebus and new colleague DC Siobhan Clarke are plunged into unravelling a labyrinthine mix of an old rent-boy scandal, an insurance fraud, a murdered body found five years earlier in the ashes of the Central Hotel, Nationalist politics with the Scottish Sword and Shield and, of course, the protection racket …
Meanwhile Rebus’s relationship with Dr Patience Aitken has hit a rocky patch, and ex-con brother Michael drops by; then there’s the arrival of an illicit weapon to further complicate things. And so Rebus finds himself veering between the sublime and the ridiculous as he slowly pieces the puzzle together, only to end up in an evenly balanced confrontation with Big Ger, the first of many the reader will savour.
Discussion points for The Black Book
The Black Book is the first time Ian Rankin moves Rebus to a real-life police station and mentions the street where he lives. Is this new level of authenticity reflected in any other areas?
When Rebus meets former Parachute Regiment colleague Deek Torrance he’s reminded of ‘the whole black comedy of his past’. Is this better in Rebus’s eyes than his past being a ‘tragedy’, or does he feel there actually might not be too much of a difference?
Is the fact that DS Brian Holmes has his own unofficial notebook with jottings on unofficial lines of enquiry indicative of the time he has spent working with Rebus? Does the ‘black book’ of the title refer more to Holmes’s notebook, to Big Ger’s diary or to Black Aengus’s journal?
Characters from previous Rebus novels reappear. Does Ian Rankin make allowances for readers who might not have read the earlier books? Discuss the different sorts of ‘ghosts from the past’.
Is Michael similar to Rebus in that he treats the thought of ‘scary’ things with humour?
‘The past was certainly important to Edinburgh. The city fed on its past like a serpent with its tail in its mouth. And Rebus’s past seemed to be circling around again too.’ How does Ian Rankin explore these notions, and why does the reader feel a sense of threat?
Ian Rankin claims that by the end of The Black Book, newcomer DC Siobhan Clarke has usurped Brian Holmes: ‘It was not in Siobhan’s mind to remain “just another colleague”; she seemed to have other ideas entirely’. How does this play out on the page, and in what ways does she prove herself to Rebus?
‘Despite being English, there was something of the Scottish Protestant in Siobhan Clarke.’ What does this mean, and is this perhaps why she and Rebus get on? What distinction does Rebus make between a Protestant work ethic and Calvinist guilt?
How does Siobhan feel that Rebus draws one into a case?
Why does Rebus find his visit to Auntie Ena so touching?
Big Ger Cafferty recognises that there are similarities between him and Rebus; why does Rebus not see this? How does Big Ger manipulate the meeting he and Rebus have?
What effect is Rebus’s behaviour having on his relationship with Patience?
Where does Rebus stand on the potential of ‘rehabilitation’ for offenders?
‘The bullets shook in the box like a baby’s toy.’ How does this simile work? And how does Rebus justify to himself the fact that he has acquired a gun?
Even though his faith is different, Rebus visits the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Hell (Help) where he has his first meeting with an unnamed Catholic priest who will reappear in later books. What does Rebus find so thought-provoking about the conversation?
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 1993 by Orion Books.
First published in ebook form in 2008 by Orion Books.
This updated ebook published in 2011 by Orion Books.
Copyright © J
ohn Rebus Limited 1993
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
The right of Ian Rankin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1988.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 0767 5
Orion Books
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper St Martin’s Lane
London WC2H 9EA
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www.orionbooks.co.uk
Ian Rankin, The Black Book
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