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Because Rebus is involved in a drug case his boss, Superintendent Watson, invites the detective to lunch with a few Edinburgh bigwigs who are involved with an anti-drug campaign. Rebus seems to be of interest to these rich, successful men, who invite him to a classy party and give him an 'honorary membership' in a gambling club. Rebus is looking forward to climbing a little higher on the social scale of Edinburgh, a little. Hopefully, knowing these important wealthy men won't conflict with his police work. Hopefully... Yes, madam?’ he inquired, carrying her by the waist out of the kitchen, towards where the bedroom and the end of the weekend waited in shadow. He must have some clout. I mean, to get us the keys to this place, to set all this up. Some clout.’
He stared at her, his eyes seeming almost to recognise her. Then he looked away again, into a distance all of his own. The word was a snakelike hiss. It is, sadly, a topic that one should not have to preface with a “trigger warning”. I don’t like the term "trigger warning" only because they seem to me to be much like “taboo subject”, which I think is utter and complete horseshit. (I understand that there is a difference, and I apologize to anyone who may be triggered by this topic. I do not mean, in any way, to trivialize or downplay the issue of mental triggers.) I don’t believe any subject should be taboo. I believe labeling a subject taboo makes talking about important subjects that need to be talked about that much harder to talk about. Rebus enlists Detective Sergeant Brian Holmes -- "Someone who didn't know Rebus well enough to complain about being kept in the dark, about being used as a shunting engine" -- to help him out, and though there is some friction between the two they make a decent team. I enjoyed this more than Knots and Crosses. Rebus' worst character flaws got a bit less spotlight – most especially his own misogyny and fleeting but creepy private thoughts regarding younger women. I often like flawed protagonists, and don't necessarily mind when those flaws cross boundaries. In this case, Rebus at least seems aware and guilty about some of his more questionable qualities, and they present in his life as realistically low-key. I still disagree with the readers who take exception to Rebus' imbalanced erudition and Rankins' over-fondness for literary references. I find Rebus' positives to be more interesting than his stereotypical struggles. I don't think that literary references have to feel arrogant. For my own taste, they are an entertaining add to what feels like a trek through tropes...and I suppose at least explain how heavily those tropes are used. (I'm hoping Rebus will continue to grow into his own. It's still early game in light of the rest of the series.)
Table of Contents
He raised his eyebrows slowly, then brought them down low over his eyes. His lips broadened into a smile which had about it a touch of the leer. She became coy. Ronnie's girlfriend, Tracy, tells Detective Inspector John Rebus that Ronnie was distraught before he died, and repeatedly cried "hide, hide." At first it looks like Ronnie overdosed, but Rebus learns that Ronnie's dope was tainted with rat poison. Recurring characters Brian Holmes, a fellow detective, and Superintendent "Farmer" Watson first appear here.
in the series featuring Inspector John Rebus. In this installment, John Rebus is called in to investigate the death of a drug addict in a dilapidated flat in one of the worst parts of Edinburgh. He notices a lot of strange things right away, and shares his findings his fellow officers who do not seem to care. It's just another OD. The victim's girlfriend, however, says that the last thing he said was "Hide..." and that "they" murdered him. Rebus' investigation takes him into both the seamy side of Edinburgh as well as its social heights. The corpse at the centre of the murder inquiry is that of a down and out young junkie, living -- and dying -- in utter squalor. With so much behind my desire to read the books, and having heard so many great things, I went in with quite high expectations. Unfortunately, I wasn’t crazy about the first book, Knots and Crosses. It was an okay read, but it did not blow my mind in the way I had been hoping it would. Nevertheless, it did leave me interested in finding out more. Thus, as I own a fair few of the books, I decided to dive straight into the second book. I may not have loved Knots and Crosses but there was enough to leave me with the belief Hide and Seek would be more enjoyable. A pleasingly honest downbeat denouement is mitigated by a romantic upturn in the inspector's private life." - The Times Spoiler alert and trigger warning all in one: This review will be about the very disturbing topic of the international sex trade, which is what the book I am reviewing, Ian Rankin’s “Hide and Seek” is about.
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A friend of mine, a long time resident of Edinburgh, used to tell me that the city has this posh and calm appearance but what lurks just below the surface, invisible to the occasional visitor, is a darker, murkier place. And this is what John Rebus discovers here. He’s recently been promoted to Inspector and, in truth, he seems rather drunk with the power of it. The main plot line concerns a dead drug addict, found in a squat. Rebus just has a feel about the scene of death and decides to sniff around a bit more than would normally seem necessary in a case seemingly as cut and dried as this. There’s also a new Superintendent to deal with and he’s co-opted John onto a small team looking at the wider issue of the city’s growing drug problems.
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