A Reckoning or a Resurrection for Rebus ?. Review on Falls, The - Ian Rankin

A wealthy bank owner’s daughter goes missing in ‘Auld Reekie” and Rebus, a serious drinker and go-it-alone detective of the Lothian and Borders Constabulary is at the forefront of a team which is set the task of tracing this “MISPER” - as missing persons are apparently known in ‘the job’. (the police force) Right from the start Rebus feels that there is a link between this enquiry and earlier – sometimes much earlier – murder and missing person enquiries.

The team, which includes several interesting female protagonists, finds itself operating in an environment where the Edinburgh police force is stretched to its limits as they attempt to unravel the facts behind the ultra-rich young woman’s disappearance. Their task is complicated somewhat by the possible involvement of the ultra-mysterious “Quizmaster”, who would appear to be in possession of many valuable facts, but who is unwilling to release more than a few cryptic clues to both the disappearance or to his true persona. Speaking personally, this is the only ‘weak point’ of this entire narrative. If the police are not as yet in possession of the software which facilitates the tracing of almost all data back to its point of origin, then I for one am most surprised. This one factor would have been sufficient for them to trace this “Quizmaster” and bring the whole business to a more speedy conclusion. Then again, even if they did have access to the software, it would hardly have aided Ian Rankin’s storyline – as the book is basically written on the assumption that a single policewoman would be allowed free reign to follow up on the Internet Games interests of the missing girl. What does occur is far more exciting than would have been possible if Rankin had included knowledge of this particular area of software availability in the pages of this book. One other item I did find to be a little off-putting, was the theme of a ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ style on-line game, which runs throughout this otherwise fascinating tale. As a result of my aversion towards computer games of almost any genre*, if I had been involved in the tracking down of the missing girl, I would have been tempted to give up so early on in the proceedings that the person responsible for her disappearance would have got away with it – “Scot Free”. Maybe it’s just as well I chose to ignore my early leanings towards joining the police. Getting back to Rebus, who incidentally is portrayed in the books by Ian Rankin as being ‘nearing retirement’, and yet is played, to great effect, or so I am told, by the talented John Hanna in the television series. Wonderfully charismatic he may well be, but surely John Hanna is a young man with many good years ahead of him and no where near retirement age? Rebus is an alcoholic.

It has not been made ‘official’ in Ian Rankin’s books as yet, but I believe that it is only a matter of time before Rebus’ drinking habits ‘catch up’ with the world-weary detective and when they do, you can be sure that Ian Rankin will write as expertly in that yet to be written book about that topic as he has written about Internet Game Playing in this one. To conclude then, this is an excellent read – especially if you are from the area or know the area where the book is set in any way. In the same way that those of us in Glasgow can be found following every camera shot during the Taggart series, generally gesticulating when the setting of a scene moves from one area of Glasgow to another with apparent ease and no with no thought to any physical impossibilities, this book takes the reader into areas of Edinburgh which will be know to more than a few. All this and more make this book a believable read and an enjoyable one. This was my first Rebus novel and although there have been prequels, I had not ‘had the pleasure’ as the saying goes. However, I did not find my missing out on the earlier books in anyway spoiled my reading of this excellent detective yarn. That being said, it might well have set in motion a rather blatant quest on my part for more Rebus books, the next of which I believe is to be called “The Resurrectionist Men”. (‘resurrectionist’ is another name for the ‘body-snatchers’ – look it up – it’s fascinating stuff) To be totally honest, at this moment I have not actually finished reading this book.

However, I am ‘nearing the conclusion’ and as the tension in the book builds, so the tension in the auldmac/Glasgow Girl household builds accordingly; therefore, I had better make tracks and finish it post-haste. In this way I won’t spoil the ending for those of you who have yet to read it – as I do not know it fully myself as yet – but I will leave you with this thought , How many of you reading this know where the Apprentice Pillar is ? It’s amazing, the pieces of fascinating data you can gleam – reading crime fiction to this standard GG * I should qualify this remark by telling you that I do enjoy the occasional game (or six) of Solitaire. GG