A Question of Blood

The number one bestselling series that inspired BBC One’s REBUS

By: Ian Rankin

Narrated by: Ian Rankin, James Macpherson

Two seventeen-year-olds are killed by an ex-Army loner who has gone off the rails. The mystery takes Rebus into the heart of a shattered community. Ex-Army himself, Rebus becomes fascinated by the killer, and finds he is not alone. Army investigators are on the scene, and won't be shaken off. The killer had friends and enemies to spare and left behind a legacy of secrets and lies.

Rebus has more than his share of personal problems, too. He's fresh out of hospital, but won't say how it happened. Could there be a connection with a house-fire and the unfortunate death of a petty criminal who had been harassing Rebus's colleague Siobhan Clarke?

Read by James Macpherson

(p) 2006 Orion Publishing Group©2003 John Rebus Ltd

More Rankin and Rebus

Any additional comments?

I should just copy and paste my Rebus series reviews to save time. Macphearson is an excellent narrator as long as he doesn't have to try at American accents, and Rankin rarely puts a foot wrong. I'd ding it a touch for being an abridged version, but I've actually come to enjoy those because they are even more tightly wound than the unabridged versions. As long as you get the Macphearson reading version there is no harm done. Obviously if you don't like crime fiction novels this is not your cup of tea, but if you like crime fiction, in particularly crime fiction set in Scotland and/or the UK in general this is a no brainer purchase. One caveat, if you are new to the series, there are probably better entry points. Consider either the short stories, the first book or one of the last two (they are, I think, better standalones than the books in the middle of the series).

the writing and plots just get better and better.

Rebus is growing up, the characters are evolving but also unpredictable. the small details such as looks and micro body gestures makes one fall into the story. Subplots and complex relationships add so much to an already got main Story linen.