Let It Bleed by Ian Rankin

Let It Bleed is the seventh Inspector Rebus novel by Ian Rankin. Published in 1995, it comes after Mortal Causes and before Black and Blue, which I read late last year. For nearly a year now, I’ve been working my way backwards and forwards through the more recent Rebus novels, after seeing Ian Rankin at Cheltenham Literature Festival.

I didn’t have any definite plans to go right back to the earlier novels, but I’ve really been enjoying them, so decided I would complete the series. I worked out that I needed to read Let It Bleed next and then found a copy in the community library in a bus stop in our village. Result!

The story begins with Rebus involved in a car chase, following two suspected kidnappers. The Lord Provost’s 17 year old daughter, Kirstie Kennedy, has vanished and the police are under pressure to track her down. Before they make much progress, a former prisoner commits suicide in dramatic style.

Rebus is sure there is more to the suicide than meets the eye, but he is under pressure to drop it. The more he looks into it, the more he is convinced of corruption in the police, the council, the government and business.

Why is he invited to a clay pigeon shoot at the home of the Scottish Office’s Permanent Secretary? And can he trust anyone apart from DC Siobhan Clarke and DS Brian Holmes?

Let It Bleed might be nearly 30 years old, but it doesn’t feel dated. The plot around corruption in business and government is still relevant today. The only real clue to the book being so old is that computers have only just started to make an appearance and everyone is unsure how to use them. It is also strange reading about Clarke as a DC rather than a DI, but her partnership with Rebus is as strong as ever. Rebus is a big drinker throughout the series, but he drinks even more in Let It Bleed than in the more recent novels. Other than that, this story could slot in at any point in the series!

If you enjoy detective novels, I would recommend Let It Bleed. There are 24 Rebus novels in total – dating all the way back to 1987 and Knots and Crosses, culminating in A Heart Full of Headstones, published in 2022. In an ideal world, you would read them all in order, but I haven’t had a problem reading them out order. (I usually read two or three in order, then skip to elsewhere in the series and read another two or three in order.)