I love Ian Rankin's novels, especially the non-Rebus ones....
2024
is shaping up to be a pretty fine year, in terms of new books by my favourite
writers. In chronological order of their projected release dates, I’m looking
forward to Sixteen Again, Paul Hanley’s soon published tribute to
The Buzzcocks and all they meant to him, before some real fiction
heavyweights have their say. Irvine Welsh, Resolution (12th
July), David Peace UKDK (1st August), Roddy Doyle
The Woman Behind the Door (12th September), Michael
Houellebecq Annihilation (19th September) and Ian
Rankin Midnight & Blue (10th October).
In
preparation for the final book on that list, I’ve set myself the task of reading
the complete works of Fife’s finest purveyor of Caledonian Noir. This is
no small undertaking, as Rankin has been publishing novels for nearly 40
years; not just the Inspector Rebus series, of which there are 25 volumes, plus
a high volume of short stories, two stage plays and an autobiographical
commentary on Rebus’s relationship with Scotland as a whole, but his non-Rebus
oeuvre. Before embarking on this task, I knew that Rankin wrote novels
utterly unconnected to Police Scotland’s most famous intuitive curmudgeon,
because the first thing of his that I read was Doors Open, a rattlingly
good art heist thriller, set in Edinburgh, though it was only this year that I
realised I would have to make my way through the grand total of 11 novels,
including one collaboration, a dozen short stories, a graphic novel and a stage
play. Though I’ve still got a dozen Rebus novels to finish before I’m ready for
the publication of Midnight & Blue, I’ve now finished the rest of
Rankin’s work, which I’d like to discuss below.
The
Flood
(1986): Set in a fictionalised version of Rankin’s home village of
Cardenden, a former coal mining settlement in the less salubrious part of Fife,
his debut novel is perhaps the most consciously literary text of his entire
published output. Starting in the early 1960s, it charts the miserable life of
the outcast Mary Miller. As a child, she fell into a stream of pollution from
the pit that flowed through the village, which turned her hair permanently
white. Initially she was treated with sympathy by the local community, but all
that changed when the young man who pushed her in, died in a workplace accident.
In the present day, still shunned, Mary is a single mother caught up in a
faltering affair with her son’s English teacher. Meanwhile, her son, Sandy, has
fallen in love with a strange homeless girl, and, as both doomed relationships
hit the rocks, mother and son are forced to come to terms with a terrible
secret from Mary's past: Sandy is the product of his late grandfather’s rape of
his mother. Nothing good can come of this situation, set amidst the unforgiving
dark, suffocating, Calvinist village mentality. The book is both gripping and
depressing. It is also considerably better than most of Rankin’s
non-Rebus quasi juvenilia.
Watchman
(1988): A
preposterous espionage thriller, in the manner of Len Deighton, Watchman
tells the story of Miles Flint, a surveillance officer who works for MI5. After
two high-profile operations involving Flint go badly wrong, with deadly
consequences, he is sent to Belfast to witness the arrest of some of the Boys.
However, after accompanying a bunch of rather loathsome Loyalists (are there
any other kind?), he discovers that what has actually been planned is the murder
of the Ra men and then realises that his own life is at risk. As the executions
are about to be carried out, Flint escapes with the aid of one of the Provos, who
is supposedly a former UVF member who swapped sides after reading about the
fellas on the blanket (aye right…). The two of them go on the run, while piecing
together the bones of a conspiracy which goes right to the very core of the
British Government. Fairly predictably, spilling the beans on this, allows them
all to live happily ever after. Flint even manages to patch up his marriage,
which had previously been badly on the skids.
Westwind (1990): The Zephyr computer system monitors the
progress of the United Kingdom's only spy satellite. When this system briefly
goes offline, Martin Hepton becomes suspicious following the death of a work
colleague who suspected
something strange is going on at the satellite facility where they both work, and
then goes missing before winding up dead. Needless to say, Hepton doesn’t
believe the official line of suicide. Refusing to stop asking questions, he
leaves his old life behind, aware that someone is shadowing his every move. The only hope he has of getting to the bottom
of this mystery is enlisting the services of his ex-girlfriend Jill Watson, a
crusading journalist who believes his story. Rather a lot of cross and
double-cross occurs on both sides of the Atlantic as Hepton, Watson and her new
squeeze, the only astronaut to survive a suspicious space shuttle crash, outwit
malfeasant security services and manage to live happily ever after. It’s daft,
but very entertaining and hints at the three novels to follow.
Witch
Hunt
(1993): In the early 90s, recently relocated to rural France and finding that
the Rebus books were niche fiction, rather than blockbuster airport reads, Rankin
made the decision, presumably for financial rather than aesthetic reasons,
to publish some mainstream thrillers under the nom de plume of Jack Harvey,
combining his first-born son’s name and his wife’s maiden name. Stylistically, Witch
Hunt, Bleeding Hearts and Blood Hunt are all cut from the same cloth;
breathless action, one-dimensional or idee fixe characters, labyrinthine
plot twists and unconvincing denouements but, as far as page-turners go, they
aren’t a bad, undemanding read.
In
Witch Hunt, the action begins with the sinking of a fishing boat in the
English Channel in the middle of the night, and the evidence points to murder.
Ex-MI5 operative Dominic Elder comes out of retirement to help investigate, as
it appears that his long-time obsession, a female assassin known as Witch, may
be responsible. Using the boat to get to England from France, Witch left a
subtle trail of clues to announce her arrival and to warn off Elder, who knows
her to be a resourceful enemy, always seeming to be a step ahead of the
authorities. With an imminent summit of world leaders to be held in London,
Witch's probable target seems obvious. A team of detectives and MI5 agents, and
the terrorist, play cat-and-mouse with each other in Scotland, England, France,
and even briefly visit a former associate of Witch in prison in Germany, before
taking the enemy down, with only one high ranking casualty; the nefarious Home
Secretary who turns out to be Witch’s long-estranged father.
Bleeding
Hearts
(1994): This is the only Rankin novel I know of that is written, only
partly I’ll acknowledge, in the first person, though the rest of the narrative
is told in the third person, which creates a slightly uncomfortable, if not
clumsy, atmosphere. It is also the only novel I’m aware of that is told from
the perspective of a haemophiliac hired assassin, one Michael Weston. Yes,
we’re talking that level of reality as the wealthy father of a girl he killed
by mistake years ago has sworn vengeance on the killer, hiring an American private detective, the deliciously crass Hoffer,
to track Weston down. Hoffer does, but doesn’t pull the trigger, as the love of
a good woman intervenes and Weston retires from the game, allowing him and
Hoffer to part on equal terms with no blood spilled, of the clotted or
unclotted variety.
Rankin
has claimed that he wrote this book under the influence of Martin Amis's novel Money and that Weston was
influenced by that novel's protagonist John Self, but I can’t see any
connection myself.
Blood
Hunt (1995):
In this final Jack Harvey novel, Rankin recycles the character of
Gordon Reeve, who was Rebus’s nemesis in the first novel in that series, Knots
& Crosses, though he does imagine a different life for Rebus’s former
SAS buddy.
The
novel begins when Reeve takes a phone call informing him that his brother Jim
has been found dead in San Diego. While in the USA to identify the body, Gordon
realises that his brother was murdered, and that the police are more than
reluctant to follow any leads. Retracing Jim's final hours, he connects Jim's
death with his work as a journalist, investigating a multinational chemical
corporation. Gordon soon discovers that he is being watched, so he decides to
ask Jim's friends back in Europe for further information.
In
London, he finds more hints, but no evidence for his brother's sources. After
returning to his wife and son, he finds that his home has been bugged by
professionals. Sending his wife and son to a relative, he determines to take on
his enemy on his own. There are two parties after him: The multinational
corporation, represented by Jay, a renegade SAS member, and an international
investigation corporation, somehow connected with the case.
Travelling
to France, in order to find out more from a journalist colleague of Jim's, they
are attacked by a group of professional killers, resulting in multiple deaths,
and leading to Gordon becoming a police target. Gordon decides to return to the
USA, where he infiltrates the investigation corporation, and learns more about
the history of the case. Then he travels to San Diego, to collect more
evidence, and eventually returns to England, deliberately leaving a trail for
Jay. Their long enmity leads Jay to follow Gordon to Scotland, where Gordon
kills him and his team in a final showdown. Gordon manages to locate Jim's
hidden journalistic material, thus enabling him to hopefully clear Jim's and
his own name. It is by far the best of the three Jack Harvey novels and
offers a glimpse into what kind of a writer Rankin would have become, if
he’d decided to go down the espionage rather than the psychological police
procedural route. Ironically, it was the success of his Rebus novels, not to
mention their increasing complexity and the attendant length of time it took
him to write the things, that caused Rankin to park the Jack Harvey
project.
Beggars
Banquet
(2002): I read the entire collected Rebus short stories in The Beat Goes On,
so when I got this one, I only read the non-Rebus ones and I like them
tremendously. Well worth seeking out.
Doors
Open
(2008): As I mentioned earlier, this was the first Ian Rankin book I
read and, only knowing his work from the Ken Stott Rebus dramas at that
point, it certainly wasn’t what I expected. Mike Mackenzie is a software
entrepreneur who has sold his company for a substantial amount of money but is
now bored and looking for a new thrill. His new-found wealth has funded a
genuine interest in art so when his friend Professor Robert Gissing presents
him with a plan for the perfect crime, he is intrigued. With a vast collection
but limited wall space, the National Gallery has many more valuable works of
art in storage than it could ever display. The plan is to stage a heist at the
Granton storage depot on "Doors Open Day" during which a selected group
of paintings will be stolen. The gang will then give the appearance of having
panicked and fled without the works of art but will have switched the real
paintings with high quality forgeries good enough to convince anyone
investigating the matter that no theft has been committed.
Intrigued,
Mike willingly helps set that plan in motion. As they begin to plan it out, it
becomes clear that they need some "professional assistance" and a
chance encounter with Chib Calloway, a local gangster who Mike went to school
with, fulfils that need, presumably as Big Ger was on holiday at that point.
It’s a good old-fashioned heist yarn, with a surprisingly moral ending. I
suppose if I hadn’t enjoyed it, I wouldn’t have embarked upon this journey
through Rankin’s collected works.
A
Cool Head
(2009): It’s very fashionable to decry Tony Blair, simply on account of
the fact he’s a war criminal who spent his entire Premiership toadying up to
the Great Satan across the pond, but he did do some good things. The Quick
Reads initiative was one of them. Quick Reads were launched by Blair
on World Book Day 2006. By mid-2020, over 100 titles had been published, over
4.8 million copies had been sold and over 5 million copies had been loaned
through libraries.
For
those unfamiliar with the project, Quick Reads are a series of short
books by bestselling authors and celebrities. At no more than 128 pages, they
are designed to encourage adults who do not read often, or find reading
difficult, to discover the joy of books. In a long-forgotten celebration of the
philosophy of lifelong learning, Quick Reads were a collaboration between
leading publishers, supermarkets, bookshops, libraries, government departments,
the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), Arts Council
England, the BBC, World Book Day, National Book Tokens and more. They are used
as a resource for adult literacy teaching and have been used in Skills for
Life and ESOL classes in colleges, community centres, libraries,
prisons and workplaces across the country. They have also been used in
hospitals, stroke recovery units, dyslexia centres, care homes, family learning
groups, pre-schools, organisations working with homeless people and traveller
communities, and Army and RAF bases. In a survey covering 50,000 readers in
2010, 98% said that Quick Reads had made a positive impact on their
lives. Certainly, as someone who taught for many years in Adult Education, I
can vouch for their value in demystifying the vexed concept of reading fiction
for pleasure. In 2018, the programme was due to come to an end because of a
lack of funding. Another thing to thank the Tories for, eh?
What
has this to do with Ian Rankin? Well, in 2009, Quick Reads
published his contribution to the series, A Cool Head. It tells the
story of Gravy, who works in a graveyard. One day his friend turns up in a car
he doesn't recognise. His friend has a bullet in his chest. Gravy is asked to
hide the gun and the body. In the back of the car is blood, and a bag full of
money. Soon Gravy is caught up in a robbery gone wrong and is pursued by some
desperate and mysterious men as well as the police. Thanks to Ian Rankin
for writing this story.
Dark
Entries
(2009): I’ll come clean with you; this is the Ian Rankin book I liked
the least. In fact, I probably dislike it, because of my own prejudices. You
see, it’s a graphic novel or, if you’re an adult, a comic. The story involves DC
Comics character John Constantine, the series Hellblazer, apparently.
The
plot involves John Constantine being convinced to enter a reality television
programme which has suffered several strange hauntings, which is clearly a
thinly veiled satire of Most Haunted and Big Brother. The set
turns out to be not a television programme made for humanity, but for the
denizens of Hell, and John must work out a way to escape from this. I’m not
really sure if he did and, frankly, I’m not bothered. Then again, I doubt I’m
the target demographic for such balderdash.
The
Complaints
(2009): The character of Malcolm Fox, who ends up in at least 4 of the later
Rebus novels, as well as the two dedicated solely to him, is the best and most
satisfying Rankin creation outside of Rebus and Siobhan Clarke, in my opinion.
A dogged, recovering alcoholic loner, with a bad marriage behind him, a drunken
underachieving sister with an attitude problem and an ailing father in a care
home, Fox throws himself into his job with silent gusto. The fact is his job
entails investigating potential misconduct by other officers, hence The
Complaints, makes him a figure to be truly despised by those on the force
as well as off it. The fact he somehow manages to shrug this shroud of enmity
off and solve complex, intractable cases shows us why he ends up back in CID.
In
The Complaints, Fox and his team are tasked with investigating Detective
Sergeant Jamie Breck, suspected of being a member of a child pornography ring.
However, Breck is in turn investigating the death of Vince Faulkner, who was in
an abusive relationship with Fox's sister. This brings Fox into direct contact
with Breck, and as he develops both a friendship and a working relationship
with him, he begins to doubt the validity of his assignment. Despite his
personal connection to the case, and against protocol, Fox gets involved in the
investigation into Faulkner's death. This brings him into conflict with Breck's
superior officer, who harbours a dislike of Fox for investigating a corrupt
officer under his command.
Eventually,
Fox and Breck are both suspended and Fox is also placed under investigation.
However, they continue to investigate Faulkner's death, discovering that he had
links to a bankrupt property developer who appears to have committed suicide.
This leads to further links to members of the criminal underworld, and in turn
to a senior member of the police force, who is found to be responsible for
having Breck framed and for having Fox placed under investigation. When Fox
comes out on top, I actually punched the air in celebration, such is the superb
characterisation Rankin has employed to turn a potentially
mealy-mouthed, paper clip counter into a sleuth supreme. Also, Fox’s activities
take place back in familiar Edinburgh locations which, as Rankin became ever
more certain of his craft, are the best and most fitting place for his fiction.
The
Impossible Dead
(2011): The second and, sadly, seemingly final Malcolm Fox novel is even more
enjoyable than The Complaints, partly because we get to travel to
Rankin’s home turf of the Kingdom of Fife. Proper Fife as well; Kirkcaldy, not
the Vichy Fife of Dunfermline or the lah di dah East Neuk and that
unspeakable posh place east of Leuchars.
Fox
and his team, Tony Kaye and Joe Naysmith, are assigned to an investigation into
Detective Sergeant Paul Carter, who has been found guilty of misconduct. Fox’s
job is to reassure the Fife Constabulary top brass that the
other Kirkcaldy police are clean. Fox visits Paul’s uncle Alan, a seemingly
jovial retired Polisman who had reported Paul in the first place and is drawn
into the murder investigation when Alan is killed, and Paul is framed for it.
Fox and his team must dodge, while exploiting as sources, not only the hostile
Kirkcaldy police but contingents of Fife headquarters CID, Murder Squad, and
even an emissary from London’s Special Branch.
When
Fox visited him, Alan Carter was investigating the suspicious 1985 death of an
Edinburgh lawyer named Francis Vernal, who was involved with Scottish Nationalist paramilitaries in the 1980s. Fox becomes obsessed by
Vernal’s story, in part because there are similarities between Vernal’s death
and Carter’s murder. He interviews various former associates of Vernal,
including his onetime law partner, his widow, a madman, a TV personality, and a
Chief Constable who is herself trying to deal with a group of terrorists.
Eventually Fox identifies the person who killed both Vernal and Carter, but Fox
has to risk his own life to capture them. He does, coming out clean as a whistle,
having wrecked the career of the Chief Constable of Fife in the process. So it
goes, eh?
Dark
Road
(2013): Thus far in his career, Ian Rankin has written three plays: the
Rebus connected A Game Called Malice and Long Shadows, which I’ll
talk about next time, as well as the unsettling Dark Road. Bearing in
mind I’ve not seen any of his plays performed, I can only talk about them in
terms of how they appear on the page. Co-written with Lyceum Edinburgh’s
director Mark Thomson, the play is set in modern-day Edinburgh and
follows Scotland's first (fictional) female Chief Constable Isobel McArthur now
Chief Superintendent of Edinburgh following the creation of Police Scotland, as
she considers retirement and ponders writing a book. As part of that she
reviews the case of Alfred Chalmers a serial killer who killed four girls a
quarter of a century previous, a conviction she has long held doubts about.
What follows is a thriller that throws herself, her daughter and her colleagues
into a psychological battle against Chalmers. As a piece of writing, the ending
may be a tad predictable, but I’d imagine it is a bit of a chiller to sit
through. I’d like to see this live I must admit.
The
Dark Remains
(2021): While I’ve long been an admirer of the football writing of the esteemed
Hugh McIlvanney, I’m sorry to report I was unaware of the works of his
brother William. This is a situation I intend to remedy when time
allows. Following William McIlvanney’s death in 2015, he left among his
papers an unfinished draft of a police procedural, involving his Glasgow copper
Jack Laidlaw. It was the fourth Laidlaw novel but set chronologically before
the other three. Ian Rankin took
on the project and produced the vivid and compelling The Dark Remains.
Jack
Laidlaw has been moved to the Central Division of the Glasgow Crime Squad. He
is a DC working for DI Ernie Milligan. Robert Frederick the commander of the
Glasgow Crime Squad assigns DS Bob Lilley to keep an eye on him, saying
Laidlaw's reputation has always preceded him .... who has he rubbed up
the wrong way this month? .... he’s good at the job, seems to have a sixth
sense for what’s happening on the streets (but) he needs careful handling, if
we’re to get the best out of him.
The
novel is set in October 1972, early in Laidlaw's career. Bobby Carter the
right-hand man and lawyer cum money launderer for Cam Colvin one of Glasgow's
top gangsters has disappeared, and then his body is found, in enemy territory.
John Rhodes is Colvin's main rival; not minor gangsters like Matt Mason and
Malky Chisholm. Milligan pontificates to his team that the graffiti tells him
that the Cumbrie are encroaching on the Carlton turf. A stabbing is one
hell of a calling card, wouldn’t you agree? He assumes, like other
gangsters, that a rival gangster arranged Carter's death, and gang warfare
intensifies. But Laidlaw sees in Carter's home evidence of recent painting to
cover up bloodstains from a domestic dispute after Carter was stabbed by his
bullied wife and children. His wife eventually confesses to Laidlaw, to keep
the children out of it. Laidlaw bypasses Milligan, who he despises, by
reporting directly to Commander Frederick. When the team are celebrating the
end of the case, Frederick says privately to Lilley that if he doesn’t
manage to detonate himself in the near future, he might be in line for a swift
promotion .... (although he is) not exactly a team player. This is a great
book by two great writers about a great fictional cop.
In
a dozen books time, I look forward to discussing 25 great books involving
Scotland’s greatest fictional cop.
