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Farewell Inspector Rebus…
When Ian Rankin conceived of the character Detective Inspector John Rebus, he imagined a crime fighter who would age in real time. Rebus weathered 20 years and 18 books while solving puzzling crimes around the Edinburgh, Scotland, area.
It was finally time to go. Rebus has reached mandatory retirement age. His partner, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke is ready to take the reins. As “Exit Music,” the final novel in this series opens, it is November 2006. Rebus is counting down the final nine days in his career as a cop.
He has some loose ends that need tying up. His long time nemesis, the hoodlum “Big Ger” Cafferty was still up to his old tricks. Rebus would love nothing better than to find an excuse to arrest Cafferty just for old time’s sake.
A Russian poet is found brutally murdered. The dead man was an outspoken critic of the Russian government. Meanwhile, wealthy Russian tycoons are doing big business in Scotland. Rebus suspects that the poet’s demise might have been underwritten by Russian mobsters.
When Rebus discovers that “Big Ger” Cafferty was seen hanging out with some of these Russian entrepreneurs, it sets off inner alarm bells. He wants to believe that Cafferty was involved in this homicide. The pressure is on. Rebus feels compelled to solve this case before he retires.
Fans of this series will probably find that “Exit Music” is a bittersweet experience. After spending the last two decades enthralled by this cranky curmudgeon we hate to see him go. In interviews with Rankin over the years, I have pressed the author to determine if this final book would really spell the end for Rebus.
Rankin always left that door open. He didn’t want to kill off his beloved character. And if Rankin decides to embark on a new series featuring Siobhan Clarke we can imagine that Rebus might pop out of retirement to provide her with his expertise and advice.
In “Exit Music” we find a Rebus who is more ornery than ever. When they banned smoking in Scottish pubs, Rebus took it as a personal affront. He once liked nothing better than nursing a single malt scotch and a smoke in some quiet pub while he deciphered clues and solved cases.
They took away that pleasure. Now, they are taking his badge away too. Rebus was never one to follow the rules. In “Exit Music” he quickly runs afoul of his boss, Chief Constable James Corbyn. When Rebus does some snooping into the Russians and their links to Cafferty, his boss orders him off of the case.
Pulling Rebus off this case on the eve of his retirement proves futile. The battle of wits waged between Rebus and Cafferty is adversarial but also almost brotherly. They have been going at it for decades. They feel as sad about it ending as we do.
Rankin concocts another tightly plotted mystery to send his last Rebus out in grand style.
Vick Mickunas
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Comments
By Laura
September 17, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this
I’m going to really miss Rebus. I believe it was Ian Rankin who said the best way to get to know a place was to read the crime fiction set there - he made Edinburgh come alive. Godspeed, dear Inspector.By Bookbloggin' Brian
September 16, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this
Hey, Vick. Speaking of farewells, have you seen this? http://nrabb2.blogspot.com/2008/09/hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy-part-6.html