A Good Hanging
Penzler Pick,January  2002:Ian Rankin is now the United Kingdom's bestselling crime writer.  His 15 police procedurals featuring the dour Scottish Detective Inspector John  Rebus are beginning, at last, to attract a devoted--and deserved--following in  this country. St. Martin's has just published this, Rankin's 1992 collection of  short stories, and I can't think of a better way to be introduced to John Rebus  and his creator.Dubbed "Tartan Noir" by James Ellroy, Rankin's tales are set in Edinburgh. Not  in the beautiful streets that tourists see (those cobbled sidewalks leading up  to Edinburgh Castle), but in its dark, damp recesses where crime flourishes.  That's where Rebus works. The crime and criminals there make Rebus's job a tough  one, and they also offend his sense of decency and order.These 12 stories tell of mystery, suffering, and mayhem, which Rebus alone of  all the detectives on the force, with his remarkable deductive skills, can  solve. In "Being Frank," a homeless man, from his unique perspective on the park  bench, is able to give Rebus the information he needs to break up a scam by  local ne'er-do-wells. Crimes gone unsolved for 20 years, religious sightings,  lovers crossed, and tales of revenge all come under the jaundiced eye of the  very talented Rebus.Even 10 years ago, when he was writing these stories, Rankin was a writer of  great gifts. Time has borne out this promise. So it is easy to predict that,  once you have sampled these short cases, you will become one of the many readers  eagerly awaiting another Rebus novel from this sensitive and enormously talented  young writer.--Otto Penzler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.