A Good Hanging: Short Stories (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
An omnibus of twelve short stories in the Detective Inspector Rebus mystery series revolving around an Edinburgh detective.This was an odd collection with most of the stories not feeling very Rebus-like. I don't know if it has simply been too long since I've read a Rebus or if Rankin needs more pages to develop the inspector.There's a smugness to this, although I do enjoy reading how Rebus figures them out, even if the process and Rebus' solutions do irritate the hell out of Detective Constable Brian Holmes. I'm curious as to Rankin's background as he does have a lot of fun making up clever headlines in a lot of the stories.The Stories"Playback" discovers a dead Moira Bitter lying in a pool of her own blood with her boyfriend, John MacFarlane, fleeing the scene.It's clever if a bit easy for Rebus to figure out. "The Dean Curse" is another that becomes obvious quickly. A former Army major has retired after traumatic events resulting from his undercover work, but it seems that the people he worked against have found him and are enacting revenge. It pits Rebus against a London terrorist unit with the requisite jockeying for jurisdiction.It's also weird as Rebus is reading Hammett's The Dain Curse and gets rather dramatic about Hammett "influencing" him. I suspect it was Rankin having read some Hammett and getting ideas from his reading."Being Frank" is one huge coincidence when Frank, a gentleman of the road who is full of stories, overhears a pair of men in a suspicious conversation. They are words that Rebus blows off until he hears them again in a different, unexpected circumstance.Cute and the level of coincidence is unbelievable."Concrete Evidence" is a convoluted cold case that Rebus follows to its bitter end. Seemingly unsolvable, Rebus follows each thread as it leads to another and another until the truth rears up. Whew, talk about coldblooded..."Seeing Things" is a religious experience when three Catholic girls see God appear in the Hermitage of Braid, and Father Byrne and some zealots appear to protect the area. It doesn't seem they do so well since a dead trunk is found. One that leads to the discovery of a murder."A Good Hanging" finds a Fringe festival in Edinburgh with people performing all over the city, and at first, the man hanging from a gibbet is thought to be part of the drama. This had a weird beginning and ended by being too easily solved and so very sad."Tit for Tat" is aflame in arson when a young man's flat is torched. His own fault as he provides the police with the motive.Cute bit of detecting, but what an idiot the victim was!"Not Provan" starts with a thrilled Rebus watching a trial for a young man who's been a thorn in his side for years. Finally, this berk is going to be put away. Only, during the trial, it appears that he'll get off. Rebus is trying to figure out how when he encounters another amateur detective investigating the night in question. Another clever bit of detecting."Sunday" was intended as a day of reflection, and Rebus is spending this Sunday, trying to find a peace as he submerges himself into Sunday's weekly routine.This one was slow to unveil and finally makes sense as to why Rebus is so obsessed with his home life. This was one of my favorites if only because there's a yin-yang in Rebus' thoughts on the reasons for his introspection."Auld Lang Syne" finds Rebus and a contingent of policemen out on New Year's Eve trying to stop a drug deal when an unexpected suspect turns up. When Trigger confirms having seen the light, Rebus doesn't quite buy it. It's a very suspicious hope.While the encounter between Rebus and bad guy is interesting, I suspect it's more of a statement on the stupidity of inter-law enforcement rivalry. I did like the twist Rankin used in this. "The Gentleman's Club" discovers a young girl naked and in the bath, having committed suicide. Her distraught and wealthy parents are clueless as to why, but the clues pile up and the truth is just horrifying.Wow, the resolution of this was enough to make my blood run cold. "Monstrous Trumpet" takes the piss out of Inspector Clouseau, er, I mean, Inspector Cluzeau, a visiting French cop who wants to see how the Edinburgh cops do it. Chief Inspector Lauderdale thinks it'll be laugh to make Rebus responsible for him. Desperate to figure out what to do with him, Rebus begs the desk sergeant for a case. One which finds the Scot and the Frenchman in the Royal Mile at an art gallery to investigate the theft of a bronze.This was clever, funny, embarrassing, and sad with the betrayal. The CoverThe cover feels more like a Victorian mystery with its smoggy looking gray background speckled in black accented with the distorted perspective of the orange, glowing street lamp.The title is taken from one of the short stories and could be thought to reflect on the fate of those who are caught, metaphorically A Good Hanging.
A Detective Rebus collection. Not a novel, but a collection of 'shorts'. It is one of those books you grab in haste because of the author. Or, you are a really really big fan and need to have everything the author has ever written.Even though I have enjoyed many Rankin books in the past, I am in the 'haste' category.I picked this up at a booksale. The booksale where you fill a box for $5. The sale is a mad dash into an overly crowded barn with two rows of tightly packed books. You have to fight your way, with your box, into the melee where you grab anything and everything. You see the name of an author you slightly recognize? You grab it! You see a cover of a book that looks slightly interesting? You grab it! You find the fantasy section? Grab everything! After your box is overflowing, or hitting the fifty pound mark and getting to heavy to carry with one hand (because you need the other hand to grab books and fend of others going through your box), you take the box aside and go through it. This is where you realize you've picked up two copies of the same chic-lit book, book 12 and 15 from the same fantasy series (which you've only read book 1 and 2), and a microwave cookbook which you though by the cover picture was some funny memoir about the 80's. You toss these rejects and head back for more...you want to get your $5 worth, right?!After you get home and start analyzing your box of books you run across things like A Good Hanging. It was picked up because of the author's name. It made it through the barnyard toss, unlike that microwave cookbook, because it appeared to be a worthwhile novel - a real gem. But, upon closer inspection it turned out to be a collection of short stories. One of those books authors seem to put out to get that last little bit of coin from the most die hard of fans. Unpublished and unfinished sorts of things tend to end up in books like this. If you've ever read anything like this you'll nod your head in agreement that the quality of these things tend to be a bit shoddy. Sometimes there will be an anecdote or two that stick with you for years, but, for the most part it's in one ear and out the other.What you'll find with A Good Hanging is reminiscent of what Sherlock Holmes' I've read; tiny, one off, mysteries that are quickly solved by that magic piece of evidence or through a tricked confession. For the most part entertaining and interesting to read, but, lack the substance of a novel. What I really found strange was the lack of a sidekick, no Siobhan in this book. All Rebus. As long as you know this going in, you should find this book ok. Not one to write home about, but, solid enough to buy for under a dollar.And, I believe as intended by Rankin, reading this book made me recall that I really enjoy this Detective Rebus. But, what I really like is the non-crime related part of him, where he hangs out in seedy bars and coerces ratfinks to give him bits of underworld info with a 20 pound note (or an arm twisting). This is the stuff you learn about when you read an entire novel, not just the shorts...so, I hit up the Rankin section at my library.
What do You think about A Good Hanging: Short Stories (2004)?
Rankin is a very gifted mystery writer,as is evident from his short stories.He writes textured mysteries and his mysteries are unique in the way,they focus on character development and social commentary as equally as the mystery itself.The slow pace proves to be an asset in this collection,because it draws us easily into Rankin's world.To be fair the mysteries are very predictable.Even a non seasoned reader of mystery novels can well predict in advance the solution to the mysteries.If the mysteries would have added a touch of unpredictability,this book would easily have been a 4 or even a 5 star read.As it is in this form it is fairly good enough to give this collection a try
—Varun
Excellent. John Rebus short stories. Most are told with a sense of humor, sometimes a very dark one. "The Dean Curse" plays on Hammett's "The Dain Curse" with Rebus throwing the book across the room because no one has that many coincidences. He's looking at it with far too much of a professional eye. And then he gets called out on a case that uses it ironically.My favorite, I think, was "Sunday". Most of the story is Rebus taking us through his typical Sunday - walking down the block to get the paper and sundries, making coffee (on his filter day), fixing breakfast, thawing a steak, doing the crossword, etc. Then his underling, Brian Holmes, comes over and we find out why he is concentrating on all of the mundane matters of life.I wondered if he had been looking in my apartment: he picked up some books from the floor and stacked them against a wall, beside other columns of paperbacks nad hardbacks, read and unread. One day he would get time to read them. They were like contraband; he couldn't stop himself buying them, but then he never really did anything with them once he'd bought them. The buying was the thing, that sense of ownership.
—Jan C
This is a collection of twelve short stories by Ian Rankin with CID Detective John Rebus as the focus. The first story titled "Playback" happened on a late night in Edinburgh with the stabbing death of a legal secretary named Moira Bitter. A call was received at headquarters from a man professing to the murder. John goes a lot by his gut feeling, and this time it is calling, "not guilty". He gets the woman's answering machine and plays it back and forth listening to her last recording. He finally notices a split where something has been erased and recorded over. Now, he has proof that the man in jail is not the guilty one and he zooms in on a past lover. Another case solved.The following eleven cases prove just as challenging until John out thinks and out maneuvers the best of Edinburgh police. Another "palpable hit" for Ian Rankin.
—Bonnie
