Skinner's Rules
Encyclopedia
Skinner's Rules is a 1993 novel by Quintin Jardine
. It is the first of the Bob Skinner novels.
. It features, Head of CID
, Detective Chief Superintendent
Bob Skinner and his assistant Detective Inspector
Andrew Martin.
It begins when they are called to a close in the Royal Mile
where an advocate by the name of Michael Mortimer has been savagely murdered and mutilated.
It isn't long before another murder takes place in a similar location and the police think that it is likely to be the work of a psychopathic serial killer
. However, the case takes a dramatic twist when Mortimer's fiancee is also found dead and it appears to Bob Skinner that there is a definite connection despite three seemingly random murders in between, leading to what could be a deep-rooted international conspiracy.
The book also introduces us to Skinner's future wife, Dr Sarah Grace, an American physician who works with the police force.
Quintin Jardine
Quintin Jardine is a Scottish author of two series of crime novels, featuring the characters Bob Skinner and Oz Blackstone.-Biography:...
. It is the first of the Bob Skinner novels.
Plot
The novel, like all in the Skinner series, is set in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It features, Head of CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
, Detective Chief Superintendent
Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief...
Bob Skinner and his assistant Detective Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Andrew Martin.
It begins when they are called to a close in the Royal Mile
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...
where an advocate by the name of Michael Mortimer has been savagely murdered and mutilated.
It isn't long before another murder takes place in a similar location and the police think that it is likely to be the work of a psychopathic serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. However, the case takes a dramatic twist when Mortimer's fiancee is also found dead and it appears to Bob Skinner that there is a definite connection despite three seemingly random murders in between, leading to what could be a deep-rooted international conspiracy.
The book also introduces us to Skinner's future wife, Dr Sarah Grace, an American physician who works with the police force.
List of Characters
- DCS/ACC Robert "Bob" Skinner
- DI/DCI Andrew "Andy" Martin
- Dr Sarah Grace
- Chief Constable James Proud
- DS/DI Brian Mackie
- DS Maggie Rose
- WPC Aileen Stimson
- DC Mario McGuire
- DC Neil McIlhenny