Death Is Not the End

"Death Is Not the End," (2000) is a 70-page novella. If you were counting, it would be ninth, and although by far the shortest, by no means least, in the Detective Chief Inspector John Rebus series, by the outstanding author Ian Rankin, currently the best-selling author of mysteries in the United Kingdom. Rankin was nominated for an Edgar Award for Black and Blue: An Inspector Rebus Mystery (Inspector Rebus Novels), for which he won England's prestigious Gold Dagger Award. This novella can, like most of his work, be described as a police procedural, within the tartan noir school, and it is set in Edinburgh, in contrast to most Scots mystery writers at work now. The east coast Edinburgh is more or less his home town; in comparison to the west coast Glasgow, it's a more beautiful, smaller city, the capital of the country, where you might expect the crime to be white collar, rather than blue, and bloody. But Rebus always seems to find enough to keep busy. Now, just what's tartan noir when it's at home, you ask? A bloodthirsty, bloody-minded business, to be sure, more violent than the average British mystery, but, thankfully, leavened a bit with that dark Scots humor. Written (duh!) by Scots. "Death," in its brief length, gives us two subplots. Matty Paine, who'd worked his way around the world as a croupier, only to end up back in his old home town of Edinburgh, working in a mob-connected casino (are there any other kind?) His work and his friendships will put him in danger; Rankin will get a chance to bring his favorite mobster, Big Ger Cafferty, into the mix. This subplot might well be considered fairly insubstantial. The other, stronger, more resonant subplot concerns the missing son of two of Rebus's schoolmates from childhood days in Fife: Brian and Janis Mee. To quote the author from his afterword on the subject, "I wrote this novella a couple of years ago....The theme of `vanishing' has stayed with me ever since, to the extent that I have, in Raymond Chandler's phrase, `cannibalized' part of it for a sub-plot in the subsequent full-length Rebus novel, Dead Souls: An Inspector Rebus Novel (Inspector Rebus Novels), while altering the histories of the characters involved so that both can be read independently." However, I see that most reviewers believe things happened the other way around, and that Rankin cannibalized "Dead Souls" for this novella. In any event, his folding this subplot into the other novel resulted in what I believe to be a mistake in that other novel. But back to this novella. It gives us some of the most beautiful, brilliant, high-energy writing Rankin has ever done, particularly on Edinburgh, and the ancient "Kingdom" of Fife, best-known now for its now slumbering coal mines, and its vanished linoleum factory. Also as the birthplace of Adam Smith, the most dismal of economists pursuing that dismal science. And, currently, as the birthplace of Val McDermid, another leading light in the tartan noir school;

A Good Hanging: Short Stories (Inspector Rebus Novels) This is one of over a dozen "Inspector Rebus" books written by Ian Rankin, a Scottish detective. Rankin always gives you your money's worth with each novel, which are always intelligently written with an original plot. Protagonist John Rebus is a rebel, and like most rebels, frequently in hot water. It is important to read these books in the order of their copywrite date in order to watch Rankin and his female partner mature and advance in their careers. These books are written with a story line of many layers and subplots. Rankin's novels are so far superior to the pap offered by most American mystery writers that I've been thoroughly spoiled. When reading Rankin, you are living Rhebus, day by day. If you prefer an intelligent, complicated story line, Rankin is for you.

If you've never read one of Ian Rankin's extraordinary John Rebus mysteries, "Death is Not the End" is a great introduction to the troubled Edinburgh detective and his dark world. On the surface, it's a police procedural (the Rebus books remind me of the also-excellent Bill James "Harpur and Iles" British police procedurals), but Rebus is such a loner, breaking out into his own investigations, that it's virtually a private detective novel as well. This imagery fits "Death is Not the End" especially well as the (intentional) echoes of Raymond Chandler and the theme of "vanishing"--from missing persons to long-lost youthful innocence--permeate Rankin's alcoholic, cigarette-addicted hero's search for the son of an old girlfriend. It's a quick read, but layered with such detail that this would make me want to read more Rebus mysteries even if I wasn't already a fan. I agree in part with the Kirkus Review above: this is pricey for a 74-page book, even a hardcover (this novella might have been better served by publishing it as trade paperback original). Rankin also re-used part of this plot for a recent novel ("Dead Souls"). Some may see this as a cheap excuse to get you to buy the same plot twice; I prefer to look at it as an interesting exercise in covering the same themes in a different manner and from different angles. It is by no means the best or definitive Rebus--one of the full-length novels must surely fill that role. Still, if you're a Rankin fan and completist you'll definitely want this one, and it makes a great introduction to suggest to your friends searching for a captivating crime series and a brilliant author.

Scotland-based Detective Inspector John Rebus works two cases. One involves the disappearance of the twenty-three year old son of a woman John once loved. John's boss Chief Superintendent Watson assigns him the task of providing a special birthday present: evidence to send Topper Hamilton to jail. John considers both cases personal for different reasons.DEATH IS NOT THE END is a compelling dark police drama that keeps reader interest from the first page to the last. The story line contains a complex plot and deep characterizations than normally found in a novella, but not at the level found in Ian Rankin's novels. Although a short work, it retains a powerful punch, leaving fans with the dilemma of considering the price tag.Harriet Klausner