The Rankin Files— Mortal Causes

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:59 pm by Ben Witherington

The Rankin Files— Mortal Causes 2015-03-13T22:59:26-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

‘Getting mortal’— it’s an interesting phrase, and it recurs at various junctures in Ian Rankin’s sixth John Rebus crime novel— Mortal Causes. What it seems to mean is getting inebriated, inebriated enough that one loses one’s inhibitions and the true self, the self below the facade, below the surface of the skin is revealed. Getting mortal then is in one sense, going the way of all flesh. In another sense its undressing one’s real desires and thoughts in public. It’s an apt phrase, and Rankin is full of them. For example, check out this phrase from p. 314— “[he] was sitting in his chair, prevented from moving by a sudden case of death.” Rankin makes some other crime novelists look like rank amateurs when it comes to style and substance, and pizzazz.

Having said that, ‘Mortal Causes’ is not the best of the first six novels in this series. In a sense it is a continuation of novel 5, because it continues to deal with Big Ger Cafferty and his various permutations and machinations. Here is the Amazon summary of the plot…

“In Edinburgh you’re never far from a peaceful spot, or from a hellish one either. Now, in the heart of summer, in the midst of a nationalist festival, Inspector John Rebus is on the murder case of a young man left hanging in a spot where his screams would never be heard. To find the victim’s identity–and his killer–Rebus searches from Edinburgh’s most violent neighborhood to Belfast, Northern Ireland–amongst petty thugs, gunrunners, and heavyweight criminals. But before Rebus can get to the truth, he’s bloodied by the dream of society’s madmen–and staring into the glint of a killer’s eyes.”

This novel is more somber, less playful, with less humor than some in the series, and I have one complaint— namely why would you set the novel during the famous Edinburgh Festival and Tatoo and fireworks, and not tell us more about the Festival itself when you obviously know a lot about it? Contrast what happens in this novel with the classic Ellis Peters tale St. Peter’s Fair, where the action doesn’t just happen behind the scenes of the fair, the fair becomes the scene of the action at various points so the author can describe for us the fair itself. This was a missed opportunity in this novel, which is nonetheless a good one.

This novel does however reveal Rebus’ mortality, vulnerability. He is still nursing along his relationship with Dr. Patience Aitken, but in a moment of stupidity and hormonal overload, he does the tango with a local female lawyer— Caroline Rattray (emphasis on the last syllable please, unless you want to fall into a rattrap). The man is not perfect, indeed he regularly uses the phrase ‘justified sinner’ but the good news is, he knows immediately he should never have done the beast with two backs with someone he isn’t committed to. The man does have a conscience… much of the time a guilty one which he attributes in part to being John Knoxian sort of Calvinist.

One of the notable trends in this series, is that the novels have gradually been getting longer (this one is 320 pages in the paperback edition which I read). They are still quite easy to read and the pace is breezy if not brisk at times, though this one lacks the breathtaking windup of Tooth and Nails. The characters are mostly new in this one because Rebus is temporarily on loan to the Scottish Crime Service unit that deals with terrorist activity, which brings me to the most interesting aspect of the novel.

This novel deals with ‘the troubles’, the troubles between Catholics and Protestants, and how Scots and Scotland get dragged into it, not least because there were plenty of Scots who were moved to northern Ireland, William of Orange men, men like their descent Ian Paisley, pugnacious to the last. Americans tend to know about the IRA, but interestingly they know little about the Protestant terrorists– the Ulster boys who produce ulcers. The UVF for example. And Rankin does not spare the horses in his criticism of the support of these violent men by Americans, Canadians etc. of Scottish Protestant descent. What I would want to say is that the ‘troubles’ have little to do with actual Christianity. It’s after all, not a dispute about Christology, for example. It has to do with history, heritage, and hate. It has to do with ethnic animosity and ethnic cleansing. In short, it has nothing to do with the religion Jesus proclaiming and his followers set up, for that religion was all about being cross bearers and lovers of enemies, not about being cross wearers and totters of guns. In other words, both sides in this fight are behaving entirely like heathens, not Christians at all.

John Rebus is a wonderful creation— warts, wrinkles and all, and in the next volume in the series, we will discover more about his penchant and that of Rankin’s as well for the Rolling Stones. It is called—-wait for it ‘Let it Bleed’.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 5, 2013

The Durham Chronicles-- Botanic Gardens (2)

Next Post

June 7, 2013 The Many Moods Manifested when Music Moves You

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz