The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories: From the iconic #1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

Product Information

This anthology brings together 31 short stories about Rebus that were written between 1990 and 2014. So we experience Rebus as a young police officer, getting older, right up to retirement. And that's the feeling I came away with from The Beat Goes On. After his first few fumbling novels, Rankin has never been anything less than a supremely talented writer. Here, though, it was as if I'd been listening to that Beethoven's Great Hits CD. The detective instinct of John Rebus is quite entertaining, as is with any detective that you come across. The most mundane crime scene and he could smell it like a police dog from a mile away; as if the crime was just playing in front of him. The author does a great job in portraying his innate abilites, while also not making him look like someone possessing supernatural powers. Rather creating a typically normal character who is unusually perceptive and not easily missing out on the tiny details unseen to the common eye. Ian Rankin is sublime, even in the shorter format of storytelling. Each story is just a snippet in to both the writing style of Rankin and also the Life and Times of Inspector Rebus, Gentleman. Edinburgh is also a formidable presence and Rankin draws on the history and literature of his adopted city, as well as portraying the lives of its wealthy and destitute. Castle Dangerous focuses on the death of a retired QC who shares a name and knighthood with the Scottish historical novelist Sir Walter Scott. The old lawyer’s body is even found by the Scott Monument. Being Frank is a touching tale about a gentleman of the road. The Passenger, a new story, is inspired by Muriel Spark and is one of the more sinister in this collection.

The stories include all kinds of mysteries, from shop-lifting to murder, and the occasional one is really more an observation of a particular aspect of Edinburgh life than a crime story. In total, they left me in no doubt that Rankin is just as much a master of the short story as the novel. I found this a completely satisfying collection, and one that I'm sure to dip in and out of many times again. There is no detective like DI Rebus – brilliant, irascible and endlessly frustrating both to his friends and his long-suffering bosses. For over two decades he has walked through the dark places of Edinburgh . . .As per the collection, I would never choose something like this to read. But since it is in the advent book box, I accepted the challenge. The worst part about the collection was that they were all so PREDICTABLE. Rankin writes in the same way for every story. I could predict when to stop and prepare a chapter update because, of course, detective Rebus solved every single case. Amazing. Hurrah. A round of applause. Or 29 rounds, one for every short story. Brilliant, irascible and frequently frustrating to both his friends and his long-suffering bosses, John Rebus has made the dark places of Edinburgh his home for over two decades. THE BEAT GOES ON collects all of Ian Rankin's Rebus short stories for the first time, including two never-before published tales written specifically for this collection.

That's what Sunday was all about, wasn't it? Maybe he could try one of the crosswords. It was ages since he'd done a crossword. A glass of wine and a crossword...Glanced at his watch again. It was half past eleven. A bit early to be drinking. Cheers. First performed at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre, the first stage play from the SUNDAY TIMES No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES… What a delightful collection of Rebus stories! This volume collects all of Ian Rankin's short stories featuring cranky but brilliant Inspector Rebus, and nearly all of them are gems. They all sort of run together after a while, as usually happens with these things, and the only story that really stands out isn't really a story at all, let alone a mystery. It's the usual boring meditation on the lost spirit of the sixties that Baby Boomers feel a need to write, and we've all read a thousand times over. There is no detective like DI Rebus. Brilliant, irascible and endlessly frustrating to both his friends and his long-suffering bosses, he has made the dark places of Edinburgh his comfort and his home for over two decades. From his beginnings as a young Detective Constable in 'Dead and Buried', right up to his dramatic - but as it turns out, not quite final - retirement in 'The Very Last Drop', we see one of the most compelling, brilliant and mesmeric characters of modern times in his every guise and very much in his element.Just for fun I tried the newish Whispersync feature for Kindle with this one – that is, that if you buy the Kindle book, you can add the Audible version at a reduced cost (or for free if, like me, you have a bunch of Audible credits you haven't yet used). Technically, it didn't really sync on the Kindle Fire which was a disappointment – it meant that when switching from reading to listening I was always having to find my place. Not too much of a problem with short stories, but could be tedious in a full-length novel. Richard Prather (I think) once said that every short story featuring a series character should make the reader want to buy the novels. In this, the book was a failure for me, as I'm not moved to go buy a novel. A collection of short stories, many involving Inspector Rebus, but others as well. The Rebus stories are interesting as there are no big involved cases, but just Rebus out and about doing the day-to-day policing in Edinburgh. I'm not sure I can explain.' There were words - community, history, memory - but Rebus didn't think they'd be enough."

This collection of short stories was just the tonic, and so easy to get comfortable with. Get snug, put my feet up, and peep over Rebus' shoulder. Brilliant, irascible and frequently frustrating to both his friends and his long-suffering bosses, John Rebus has made the dark places of Edinburgh his home for over two decades. The Beat Goes On collects all of Ian Rankin's Rebus short stories for the first time, including two never-before published tales written specifically for this collection. Each story is just a small, non-significant mystery that Rebus has to solve, some of which featured as side-plots in one of the fully-formed Rebus novels. With these stories you gain an insight in to John Rebus himself, the people he works with and against, Edinburgh and of Rankin's writing style as it is. The Beat Goes On is a collection of short stories concerning John Rebus-right from his time as DS to DI, with another story concerning him whilst he was retired but still going at it like a good ole Detective.It's a collection of short stories featuring Scottish cop Rebus. The character is fairly highly regarded in some circles, but I've never read any of his stuff before. The Gentleman's club was my favorite story. A twisted tale of suicide and pedophilia and teenage jealousy making room for an incredible mystery, with an afterthought:

But despite it being 21 days, I finally read it all, save for the last chapter which I don’t quite care about - yes I appreciate the short stories but I don’t want to know about your life. It seems mediocre. I prefer fiction. an old story from his files "My Shopping Day" which was first published in "Herbert in Motion and Other Stories" (1997). Officers from other cities, people Rebus met from time to time, would remark how cushy he had it in Edinburgh. Such a beautiful place, and prosperous. So little crime. They thought a dangerous city had to look dangerous.There are several written for Christmas that involve perps dressed as Santa. They range from a case involving a young Rebus to one in which he's recently retired. They all include his trademark dark humor and love of drinking, smoking and loud music. I'm now looking forward to reading the latest Rebus installment A Song for The Dark Times. I got my copy the other day...looking forward to it. Soon. Soon. Now Rebus's life is revealed through this complete collection of stories, from his early days as a young DC in 'Dead and Buried' right up to the dramatic, but not quite final, retirement in 'The Very Last Drop'. The imagery of a normal Edinburgh neighbourhood perfectly balanced with the criminal setting is very well done, clearly pointing out Ian Rankin interest in writing about the city. Dennoch hat mir diese Anthologie außergewöhnlich gut gefallen. Zum einen, weil ich ein großer Fan von Inspektor Rebus bin. Und zum anderen, weil fast alle Geschichten eine ordentliche Dosis Humor enthalten. Dadurch ist die Atmosphäre erheblich weniger düster als in den Romanen und ich konnte beim Lesen sehr viel schmunzeln.