Underneath the cobbled streets of Edinburgh's old Town are medieval stone cellars where a man could scream and never be heard. In mortal Causes, th...
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Jan 08, 2012
Steve
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Just to get you into the mood of the book, the first scene in Mortal Causes is of a man being tortured to death. His body is found not long later in one of Edinburgh's underground streets, that was closed for building work. Inspector Rebus is soon on the case, but then the Scottish Crime Squad and also Special Branch from London are taking an interest. Is it connected to the bomb threats that have been coming in frequently recently? With the Edinburgh festival in full swing, there's even more pr
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Jan 09, 2012
Paul
rated it:
by Ian Rankin, published in 1994.
Most of us like visiting old friends. And that is exactly what reading Mortal Causes is like, Ian Rankin’s sixth Inspector Rebus novel.
Gritty, dark and quite humourous at times, this novel has all the elements I am beginning to really like in Rankin’s crime fiction.
Murder, of course, plays into Rebus’s daily life - he is an inspector after all. But the first particular grizzly murder in this novel is not normal. A body, found in a da More...
Most of us like visiting old friends. And that is exactly what reading Mortal Causes is like, Ian Rankin’s sixth Inspector Rebus novel.
Gritty, dark and quite humourous at times, this novel has all the elements I am beginning to really like in Rankin’s crime fiction.
Murder, of course, plays into Rebus’s daily life - he is an inspector after all. But the first particular grizzly murder in this novel is not normal. A body, found in a da More...
Apr 28, 2011
Diane
rated it:
Ian Rankin is one of my favorite authors. His John Rebus series, set in Edinburgh, features a main character as dark as the Scottish landscape. Things are even darker than usual in Mortal Causes, which is set during the late summer Edinburgh festival. Usually, the worst the police have to worry about are pickpockets and the Can Gang, but this year the festival is under threat from terrorist groups with ties to the Irish and Scots separatists. Rebus and colleagues deal with this threat and the mu
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Jun 06, 2010
Lourdes
rated it: 
In this, the sixth novel in the Rebus series, Rankin really gets things humming along. Rankin, who has said before that he’s tried to show the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Edinburgh, gives us the touristy Edinburgh Festival – and a murder right underneath the noses of festivalgoers. Literally. A young man’s body is found in the underground St. Mary’s King Close, tortured and shot six times.
When it seems that Scottish nationalists and extreme hardline Irish groups are involved, Rebus is More...
When it seems that Scottish nationalists and extreme hardline Irish groups are involved, Rebus is More...
Oct 25, 2009
Nms
rated it:
I think there are 18 books in Rankin's Inspector John Rebus series. This is the one I read first. The series takes place in Edinburgh--which is cold, rainy, dark and dour for much of the year, with a nice stiff wind blowing in from the North Sea in the winter. It's a very old city, with the oldest part having been built on top of ruins from centuries past. (which you can go down to and visit) And Edinburgh's got its very own Scottish castle on a hill, and a mini-mountain right in town called Art
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Jul 28, 2011
Scruffy
rated it:
It's been quite a long time since I read a Rebus novel and I really enjoyed getting to know the character again. I was surprised by how familiar I was with the supporting cast. I think this is the sixth book in the series and the cast has grown quite large but all the characters seemed well developed.
The most interesting part of the book for me was the continuing relationship between Rebus and the local gangster Big Ger Cafferty. They have a understanding of mutual respect and obvio More...
The most interesting part of the book for me was the continuing relationship between Rebus and the local gangster Big Ger Cafferty. They have a understanding of mutual respect and obvio More...
Mar 09, 2011
Alex
rated it: 
Reading Rebus novels in whatever order I find them is not doing Rankin's work any favour, but at least I've put off reading the final book until I've got to the others. The fact that some Rebus novels are brilliant while others are simply okay is emphasised by my scattershot approach. Mortal Causes is not one of the stronger Rebus mysteries.
Sectarian violence as the backdrop makes for an interesting through line but it feels that Rankin did not do as much as he could have to construct More...
Sectarian violence as the backdrop makes for an interesting through line but it feels that Rankin did not do as much as he could have to construct More...
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Apr 12, 2011
Ken
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Its been a while since the last Rebus Mystery and I have no idea why I took so long. Damn good
A body is found during the Edinburgh fringe festival. Rebus notes that the injuries point to a
paramilitary group. Rebus is loaned to the special police crew investigating terrorism. Rebus uses
this to his advantage and spends most of his time investigating the murder on his own.
His investigation leads him to an criminal he put away previously, a group out of the Gar-B
housi More...
A body is found during the Edinburgh fringe festival. Rebus notes that the injuries point to a
paramilitary group. Rebus is loaned to the special police crew investigating terrorism. Rebus uses
this to his advantage and spends most of his time investigating the murder on his own.
His investigation leads him to an criminal he put away previously, a group out of the Gar-B
housi More...
Jul 31, 2009
Naomi
rated it:
I was in Scotland in 2006 and hope to return, which is one of the reasons that I've been reading Ian Rankin's books, but not the main reason. His books are good reads -- they are well-written, fast-paced, and I have picked up some historical and current information on Scotland, particularly Edinburgh, in the meantime. (For some reason, I wasn't that keen on Edinburgh the first time I visited -- perhaps it was a bit too tourist-y for me. But with some of the insights I (hopefully) have gained
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Aug 10, 2008
Shari
rated it:
Just gritty enough to make me feel dangerous for reading it but not so much that I needed to shower afterwards.
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Nov 21, 2011
Ankur
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there is a pleasure unknown, when u start reading a series from the wrong end, and then when u go back, u discover hw the characters were and how they grew over a period of time!
this is the pleasure that i got from reading Mortal Causes - where Big Ger and Siobhan are not the confidant, secure in their place in the narrative , characters, but some1 whom we dont even know if they'll last.
this is also 1 of the few ( or is it the only) terrorist themed stories in rebus' series.. More...
this is the pleasure that i got from reading Mortal Causes - where Big Ger and Siobhan are not the confidant, secure in their place in the narrative , characters, but some1 whom we dont even know if they'll last.
this is also 1 of the few ( or is it the only) terrorist themed stories in rebus' series.. More...
Oct 28, 2011
Maddi
rated it:
This is John Rebus at his best, dealing with Edinburgh police politics, an actual relationship, a would-be new relationship who won't take no for an answer, and a series of murders showing up in odd places. Rankin not only makes Rebus and his colleagues fresh and real, the City of Edinburgh is as much a character as the police and criminals. Rebus' sometimes nemesis Big Ger Cafferty shows up several times in this book as well, becoming more than a caricature of a crimelaird.
I had rea More...
I had rea More...
Jul 14, 2010
Dorothy
rated it:
It's 1993 and Northern Ireland looks about ready to explode - again. This time there is a Scottish connection and Inspector John Rebus is seconded on to the investigation to ferret it out. Soon we find him in Belfast, remembering his history there when he was in the army, and trying to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
No doubt about whose side Rebus is on. He's one of the good guys, the guys who put themselves on the line to try to keep the irrational and More...
No doubt about whose side Rebus is on. He's one of the good guys, the guys who put themselves on the line to try to keep the irrational and More...
Jan 06, 2010
Nicholas
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I was already becoming a fan of Rankin's novels about Edinburgh policeman John Rebus, but particularly enjoyed this one for the Northern Ireland dimension. Last time Rebus went outside Scotland (to London, in Tooth and Nail) it wasn't really a success, but here he takes an effective day trip to Belfast(though he mysteriously visits a fictional Malone Road police station) to chase up Loyalist terrorists who may be planning to attack the Edinburgh Festival. The whole picture came together rather n
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Oct 18, 2010
Carla
rated it:
Set during the Edinburgh Festival of the mid-90s, Inspector Rebus attempts to uncover a terrorist plot carried out by the underground Scottish Nationalist group "Sword and Shield." Rebus is a bit of a bruiser, which I find fun. He fights just about every other character in this novel which results in a lot of blood, but not much information. This is more of an action adventure story, rather than a cerebral mystery, but it's fun.
Jul 20, 2008
Bnschmid
rated it:
This is the first time I've read one of Rankin's "Inspector Rebus" novels.It makes it sound like Scotland and Ireland are extremely dangerous and violent places to live.I admit to a bit of ignorance on the history of these places,except what I've read in books.Anyway,about the book,I enjoyed reading it,but was slightly mystified by some of the language used,but could pretty much follow the gist of it.I have been in many dangerous places myself in the past decade,here in good old Americ
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Mar 21, 2010
Babette
rated it:
I am hooked on Ian Rankin - reading his books is like eating popcorn, I just cannot stop. I usually don't read two books in a row by the same author, but with Rankin I make an exception. I like Rebus. He can behave badly, but just when I expect him to make the wrong decision, he surprises me. And he is shrewd, not just smart, but shrewd. I am glad there are still lots more Rankin books to read.
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Dec 27, 2011
Mike
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Rebus seems to be a little more of a lone wolf in this one despite there being plenty of other police and SB involved in the case. And a touch more rogue as well. "Where would the crime detection rates be without a few shortcuts?" he muses. And he takes them freely.
The poor underbelly of Edinburgh, Gar-B especially, is well portrayed and frighteningly lawless.
A little convoluted in plot, but then life is isn't it?
The poor underbelly of Edinburgh, Gar-B especially, is well portrayed and frighteningly lawless.
A little convoluted in plot, but then life is isn't it?
Sep 19, 2011
Marie
rated it:
Interesting depiction of Scottish protestant militant groups. A lot is written about the IRA but this is the first I've read about a Sottish/Ulster connection. I know the main character is supposed to be a "loner" who doesn't follow the rules or work well with his fellow police, but I thought this book carried it to an extreme at the end where he ran from crime site to crime site, solving the case, following the killer into a crowd, then being the first at the scene of a fire.
Jul 27, 2011
Jen
rated it:
Another thoroughly good Rankin Rebus novel. Interesting reading this now quite some time after it was published and thinking about it in relation to our modern day terrorist threats. As usual the characters are great, the storyline is gripping and the writing just pours of the page for you. I can't imagine getting bored of these, I'm looking forward to the next one!
Apr 09, 2009
Louise
rated it: 
Inspector Rebus Novel #6
From cover:
"It is August in Edinburgh and the Festival is in full swing. A brutally tortured body is discovered in one of the city's ancient subterranean streets and marks on the corpse cause Rebus to suspect the involvement of sectarian activists. The prospect of a terrorist atrocity in a city heaving with tourists is almost unthinkable. And when the victim turns out to be the son of a notorious gangster Rebus realizes he is sitting atop a vo More...
From cover:
"It is August in Edinburgh and the Festival is in full swing. A brutally tortured body is discovered in one of the city's ancient subterranean streets and marks on the corpse cause Rebus to suspect the involvement of sectarian activists. The prospect of a terrorist atrocity in a city heaving with tourists is almost unthinkable. And when the victim turns out to be the son of a notorious gangster Rebus realizes he is sitting atop a vo More...
Oct 31, 2010
Sandi
rated it:
Another good solid read in this series. A tortured body is found in a medieval cellar during the Edinburgh Festival and Rebus and his team investigate. I have really started to enjoy this series. Rebus and his supporting cast are becoming more fleshed out and believable and the plots in the last couple of books have been much more to my liking.
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Nov 25, 2011
Diana
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Rebus ist wie Whisky, er wird mit der Zeit immer besser! Diesmal rollt Rankin den Konflikt zwischen Katholiken und Protestanten auf, wird wieder mal von den bösen Jungs verprügelt, bleibt aber trotzdem auf der richtigen Fährte.
Herrlich auch der Pathologe mit seiner treffenden Diagnose: poor chap's dead.
Herrlich auch der Pathologe mit seiner treffenden Diagnose: poor chap's dead.
Jul 29, 2009
Sanity
rated it:
another solid rebus novel that kept me on tenderhooks. read it in such a short amount of days too. days is very good going for me. i enjoyed the paramilitary angle and getting the background on the northern ireland/ republic quarrel. an easy going one from rankin. yay
Mar 03, 2011
Bettie
rated it:
workaday mp3
Rankin is a clever writer and Mary King's Close is a spooky setting for a grisly six pack performance, however sectarian violence is not my reading preference.
Jun 22, 2010
Herzog
rated it:
So far, I've found this series nothing more than average. For me, it's not nearly as compelling as the Inspector Banks series. This book was a bit better because of the Ulster angle, but overall left me wanting something more.
Aug 06, 2011
Another great Rebus book, this one revolves around a grizzly death in a street buried deep under the city, and leads the inspector to Belfast to sort out the case, can't wait to read the next one now...
Jun 03, 2009
Godzilla
rated it:
I found this Rebus novel patchy. I enjoyed the subject matter, but the plot was too tangled and, for me, unrewarding it it's resolution. Some great dialogue, as ever, but I missed the regular peripheral characters.
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Aug 21, 2009
Ginnz
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found this book on my way to Brisbane and finieshed it by the time I returned a day later. Really good story and the first time Rebus and Big 'Ger interacted as more than just cop and villan. Really enjoyable
Feb 08, 2012
Ricardo
rated it:
It was okay but I didn't like it nearly as much as the previous one. Maybe it was because Holmes and Clark, Rebus's sidekicks, were basically absent in this one
