Of the great British crime/thriller/detective novelists of the last half century, all of them save one are women (e.g. Ellis Peters=Edith Pargeter, Agatha Christie, P.D. James). The one is Edinburgh’s own Ian Rankin. There have been 20 some novels, and now there is a play which has been touring the U.K. since 2018— Long Shadows. Rankin wrote the story, then it was adapted for the stage, turned into a screenplay by Rona Munro. It has now appeared as a book as well in the U.K. and I have snatched up a copy. The play only fills about 140 pages, but it is a new Rebus story and is quite excellent, with the three central characters John Rebus (retired detective), Siobhan Clarke, Inspector Detective and still on the force, Rebus’ one time understudy, and Big Ger Cafferty…. a villain ala Kingpin in the old Marvel Spiderman comics. The story is excellent with several surprise twists and is an able telling of the old adage— be sure your sins will find you out….. eventually. Especially excellent in this play is the tension you can cut like a knife between the 3 main characters in the drama. It is suspenseful.
As a bonus, you have a dialogue between Munro and Rankin at the end of the book, and some pictures of the staging done for the play, as well as some words from the director of the play. What this book shows is how very different a play is from a novel— all action and talking. No long descriptions or vivid depictions with words from an omniscient narrator. While this play is not creative in the way, say Hamilton is, yet music plays a crucial role in the story telling— specifically Peter Frampton’s famous songs from Frampton Comes Alive. This is an enjoyable afternoon’s read, if you like crime fiction and John Rebus.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In