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Ian Rankin

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A Question of Blood Paperback – January 1, 2005

by Ian Rankin (Author)

4.5 4,609 ratings

Book 14 of 24: Inspector Rebus Novels

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Two seventeen-year-olds are killed by an ex-Army loner who has gone off the rails. As Detective Inspector John Rebus puts it, 'there's no mystery ...except the why'. But this question takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Ex-Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone. Army investigators are on the scene, and won't be shaken off. The killer had friends and enemies to spare and left behind a legacy of secrets and lies. Rebus has more than his share of personal problems, too. He's fresh out of hospital, hands heavily bandaged, and he won't say how it happened. Could there be a connection with a house-fire and the unfortunate death of a petty criminal who had been harassing Rebus's colleague Siobhan Clarke? Rebus's bosses seem to think so ...

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orion Paperbacks; New Ed edition (January 1, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0752877135
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0752877136
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.33 x 1.06 x 6.97 inches

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4.5 4,609 ratings

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Ian Rankin

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Ian James Rankin, OBE, DL, FRSE (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. Photo byTimDuncan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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lizthemightyredhead

Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus solves another nail biting case

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2021

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Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus books are always good. Crime fighting John Rebus works his way through another case and solves it in a rather un-expected way. The cast of characters are always good and well developed in a Rankin book and even though many of the characters are from previous Inspector Rebus books, the book is a good one read out of order or on its own. Inspector Rebus seems like an old friend every time I read one, consistency in character and a well developed plot line with, as always, many twists and turns.

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2004

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Edinburgh is on my list of favorite cities. I considered it a safe city for walking around, so it was interesting to read a novel about the underside of the city. This is generally a good novel, but the criminals seem a little inept and do improbable things to call attention to themselves. There may be a few too many subplots which can create excess baggage to the main plot, especially when the plot is compressed into a time schedule of about a week.
The main plot concerns the shooting of three students at a private school and the suicide of the alleged gunman. Two of the students are killed by shots through the head. The third is wounded and is the only witness. It appears a cut and dried case of a murder-suicide by an intruder into the school, but their are questions about motive. The intruder is a former member of the Special Air Service (SAS), and the appearance of two military investigators compounds matters. What are they looking for? There are questions of Post Combat Stress Syndrome.
There is a subplot about charges against DI John Rebus, accused of arson and murder. There is a subplot concerning drug smuggling (by some individuals who do dumb things, but criminals often get caught tripping over their own feet). There is a subplot about teenage gangs. Matters are brought up about John's relatives, and incidents in his past life including his military service. Various strange characters wander through the plot. As the plot progresses, events tie together various people and events.
The Epilogue raises the question of whether well placed people can be convicted of crimes, especially when they have the funds to hire top-of-the-line legal assistance.

2 people found this helpful

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Fritz

Best Inspector Rebus

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2023

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This book has it all, Great story, great characters and a satisfying ending. Would make a terrific movie. makes you want to keep reading the inspector rebus series

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M. C. Crammer

I listened to the audiotape of this mystery

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2004

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Which is a good way to "read" Rankin -- you have the accents done more or less properly, and the leisurely pace of the tapes forces you to savor the details without rushing through it to find out what happens next (also keeps you from peeking at the ending!)

The plot involves an apparently irrational shooting in a private school in a town that is now a suburb of Edinburgh -- a former commando has apparently killed two youths, wounded another, and killed himself, for no discernible reason. The question for the police is not who but why. Hard-drinking and highly independent DI Rebus gets involved, although he is handicapped by having two scalded hands and an investigation against him underway (did he kill the scoundrel who burned to death in a fire about the same time as Rebus's burns? Rebus was the last person seen with him.) Rebus takes Siobhan Clarke along to take notes. As usual, Rebus is trying to get to the truth despite his troubled relationships with colleagues, superiors, news reporters, and army investigators. The book involves a lot of conversations with a lot of people, and Rebus is drinking so much it's amazing that none of his superiors have noticed that he's an alcoholic. (I can't believe that level of drinking is considered normal, even in Scotland!)

I love Rebus, and I love this series. Some of the books in the series are better than others, and I found this one of the better ones. I can't say I was totally surprised by the ending, but in Rankin's books, that's really not the point or the main pleasure -- these have the literary quality of novels and I read them as such.

4 people found this helpful

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Harold Garner

Nice read.

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2014

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Started these to kill time. I think what pointed me to this series is seeing the author talking up with Craig Ferguson on Craig's show. I'm not sure Ian is from Scotland but he is from somewhere in the British Isles so when he and Craig got going it was a very interesting show. Good books with good character building and interesting, ongoing plot lines along with the recurrent characters.

One person found this helpful

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G. Laverock

Rebus explained, or is it?

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015

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A complex and thought provoking story, believable in most aspects but with many twists and turns. We know from previous Rebus books that he is a complex character, definitely not a team player, in this book we learn some of the reasons why. His early background, not completely explained, but enough detail to form your own opinions, his army career shaped his future outlook, once he joined the police service. Not a lover of authority and command structure which gets him into trouble, but his attention to detail and painstaking tracking finally overcomes the heavy hand of his superiors. This one is, if you are looking for intrigue, plot and counter plot, bolshie nature of the main character, one for your collection. Don't take my word for it, read it.

4 people found this helpful

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Sam&Fred

WOW! Rankin hitting his stride with this one!

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2020

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COVID-19 has kept me at home. So,I’ve been seeking good reads. I started with Rebus #1, and have been reading a book a week. I have enjoyed the Rebus series, but this one is incredible. This book could make a full length movie. Great character development and story continuity make it easy to stay connected with the plot. Rebus seems even more human in this book.

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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2024

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I’m reading all the rebus books in order so looking forward to enjoying another cracking story

Clemens Schoonderwoert

A Tremendous Psychological Case!

Reviewed in the Netherlands on March 11, 2024

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This fabulous Scottish crime novel is the 14th volume of the wonderful "DI Rebus" series.

In this edition of mine (2017) you'll find an "Intro" by the author mentioning the subjects used in this book, such as good and evil, private school with access to guns and ex-soldier suffering from PTSD, and these features are superbly worked out in this fantastic DI Rebus crime novel.

Storytelling is superb, all characters are very realistic and lifelike in their dealings with life and work, while police procedures are also very believably executed by the author.

Originally from 2003, this edition of mine is from 2017, this book is about the fatal shooting and thus murder of pupils Derek Renshaw and Anthony Jarvies at a private school, and the wounding of pupil James Bell, and these murders and wounding are supposedly committed by a deranged ex-SAS soldier called, Lee Herdman, who after the killings turns the gun on himself, and so the question remains to be answered is not so much a whodunnit but more a whydunnit.

DI John Rebus is in trouble himself when Martin Fairstone is found killed at his home shortly after Rebus left his home, but still DI Rebus is still a suspect of his killing, and thus somehow sidelined.

Nevertheless his friend and colleague from Leith in Edinburgh, DI Bobby Hogan, is calling for DI Rebus's assistance, who as an unsuccessful ex-SAS trainee, who has some knowledge about the mental state of these solitary ex-soldiers suffering from PTSD, and DI Rebus will bring DS Siobhan Clarke into the frame, and they will start their investigations into this major killing, while other criminal cases will come to the surface along the way.

What is to follow is an intriguing and captivating crime novel, where DI John Rebus, DS Siobhan Clarke and DI Bobby Hogan have to do their determined utmost, even sometimes unorthodox, to entangle the threads of this web of secrecy and murder, in an attempt to reveal the real culprit of this evil deed and the reason why behind it all, while at the same time several other cases of crime will be solved along the way.

Highly recommended, for this is another marvellous addition to this superb realistic series, and that's why I like to call this latest episode: "A Tremendous Psychological Case"!

RICHARD MOORE

REBUS

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2023

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It's a book. I read it

Jacqui

Well Written and has a lot of twists

Reviewed in Canada on February 12, 2021

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Ian Rankin is an excellent writer. Rebus, the detective, is abrupt and does not necessarily follow the rules. It's a powerful novel and I encourage others to read it.