Some years ago my ex and I were hobnobbing in England and we had the idea to take a daytrip from York into Scotland to visit Edinburgh. When we saw the place, we fell in love with it and, on the fly, completely altered our itinerary -- more Edinburgh, less London! Ian Rankin writes literary crime novels and stories, and this one, 21 short stories, are mostly set in Edinburgh, and many of them feature his singular creation, John Rebus, a police detective with a cheerful and thoughtful disposition. Rebus also appears in 22 novels so far, and when you note some of their titles -- Black & Blue, Let It Bleed, and this collection, Beggars Banquet -- you can sense, if you know me at all, why I would find his books (as well as this wonderful city beautifully featured) so appealing. (In fact, one story ends at the Stones 1969 concert at Altamont.) Rankin's novels and stories are not just 'crime stories,' they are literary masterworks peopled with memorable yet flawed characters, who lead lives of quiet desperation; and who react, not respond, with spasms of fear and violence! All of it makes for gripping entertainments! ( )

Haven't read much by Ian Rankin so far, just a couple of Rebus novels & I gather they weren't really representative of his work.

So this is a collection of short stories, and I'm enjoying the mix of different viewpoints and the various twists in the tale (some of them feature Rebus, but not all). It's keeping me nicely entertained without stretching me too much - after some of the books I've read recently, that's a nice change. Also enjoying the humour - I don't remember much in the way of humour in the two Rebus novels I read previously (Knots & Crosses, Black & Blue) - and the various descriptions of place I know in around Edinburgh/Scotland.

Definitely enjoyed these and Will have to start reading more of Ian Rankin's books. ( )

Review: Murder, robbery, blackmail, and other crimes and misdemeanors are the subjects of this collection of short stories. The stories run the gambit from humorous to chilling. Several of these tales involve Inspector Remus, the lead character in Rankin's novels. Enjoyable reading. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1908210.html

The stories in this collection varyin in length from full novella (a variation on the opening of Dead Souls) to a few pages; about half of them have Rebus solving a mystery, and the weaker stories tend to be from the other half. Generally good and entertaining stuff, though. ( )

I'm not a big fan of short stories. Often they leave me unsatisfied as if they haven't finished the story they started to tell. There are exceptions. Most science fiction authors are also great writers of short stories. And I love Alice Munro's short fiction. I think writers who try short stories have to be top notch in order to succeed. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me that Ian Rankin can write a great short story.

Some of these stories are about John Rebus, the idiosyncratic Edinburgh police detective. In fact, the last story, Death is not the End seemed so familiar to me that I had to go back to the Rebus books I have read. Sure enough in Dead Souls the same story about the missing son of high school friends shows up as one of the plot lines. The one distinction is that the mother, who used to be Rebus' girlfriend, is named Janis here is called Janice there. Perhaps Rankin realized that it was more likely that a girl the same age as John Rebus would have been named the more traditional way. Anyway, it provides an interesting view into how a novelist constructs a book using some details that have percolating through the brain for some time.

A couple of the other stories have to do with art heists which of course was the subject of Rankin's first non-Rebus book after Rebus retired, Doors Open. Obviously another thing that has been percolating through his brain for a while.

There is a short introduction by Rankin in which he talks about how some of the stories came to be. I referred back to it several times as I was reading the book. ( )