The Naming of the Dead
Encyclopedia
The Naming of the Dead is a crime novel by Ian Rankin
. It is the sixteenth of the Inspector Rebus
novels. It is set in Edinburgh
in July 2005, in the week of the G8
summit
in Gleneagles
.
attending the funeral of his brother Michael, who has died suddenly from a stroke
. The parents of Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke arrive in Edinburgh as part of the protests, demonstrations, and scuffles that surrounded the G8 summit
at Gleneagles
, keeping the police are busy. Clarke defied her parents by becoming a police officer; she now wants to feel like a daughter.
Rebus is nearing retirement ("nobody would blame you for coasting"), and becomes sidelined until the apparent suicide
of MP Ben Webster occurs at a high-level meeting in Edinburgh Castle
. It emerges that Webster was campaigning against the arms trade
, and Richard Pennen of Pennen Industries, a dealer in weapons technology, comes under suspicion.
At the same time, a serial killer
seems to be killing former offenders, helped by a website set up by the family of a victim. Clues have been deliberately left at Clootie Well
(duplicated from the Black Isle
to Auchterarder
for the purposes of the plot), a place where items of clothing are traditionally left for luck.
Siobhan Clarke is placed in charge of the investigation, although she is outranked by Rebus, and finds herself having to compromise with Edinburgh gangster Morris Cafferty (for whom one of the victims was working as a bouncer) in hunting down the identity of the riot policeman who apparently assaulted her mother at a demonstration. Cafferty is also getting older, though his insecurity is balanced somewhat by his having had a biography ghost-written by local journalist Mairie Henderson. She is enlisted by Rebus and Clarke to help solve the crimes.
The new Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police
, James Corbyn, is keen to put any potential controversy from the investigation of these sordid crimes on hold until the focus of the world's media has moved on. He puts Rebus and Clarke under suspension when they disobey him and they need to rely on Ellen Wylie for help.
David Steelforth, the London
-based Special Branch (SO12)
Commander who is overseeing the policing of the G8 summit, seems to be holding back Rebus' work at every turn. Rebus and Clarke blow the cover of one of his agents who is photographing demonstrators. Former preacher
Councillor Gareth Tench seems to Rebus to be involved due to his apparent closeness to one of the suspects, Niddrie
thug Keith Carberry.
The book is set in real time; within it, some real events occur, such as the 7/7 London bombings
, the 2012 Olympic bid
and George W. Bush
falling off his bicycle whilst waving at police officers: " 'Did we just do that?' Siobhan asked quietly."
The title refers to: the ceremony Clarke's ageing left-wing parents attend, where the names of a sampling of the dead from the Iraq War are read out; the list of victims created by Rebus and Clarke as they try to unravel the crime; and also to John Rebus' evocation of grief in naming the many of his own friends and family who have died in the course of his life.
By the end of the book, Clarke realises that she has grown closer than ever to understanding Rebus:
She increasingly fears that she is becoming more like him:
's fictional detective Philip Marlowe
and the book described as "dark, murky and less immediate than his other novels, but still zinging with wit and his inimitable gift for plot. His richest and most complex work to date".
There are also references in the book to the TV series Columbo, of which Rankin is a fan.
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
. It is the sixteenth of the Inspector Rebus
Inspector Rebus
The Inspector Rebus books are a series of detective novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin. The novels, centred on the title character Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh.-Content and style:...
novels. It is set in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
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...
in July 2005, in the week of the G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
summit
31st G8 summit
The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
in Gleneagles
Gleneagles
Gleneagles may refer to the following:*Gleneagles, Scotland**The July 2005 G8 Summit held at Gleneagles, Scotland*Gleneagles Agreement*Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder*Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay, the inspiration for Fawlty Towers....
.
Plot summary
An underlying thread throughout the book is that of familial relationships; the book opens with Detective Inspector John RebusDetective Inspector John Rebus
Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as Rebus...
attending the funeral of his brother Michael, who has died suddenly from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. The parents of Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke arrive in Edinburgh as part of the protests, demonstrations, and scuffles that surrounded the G8 summit
31st G8 summit
The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
at Gleneagles
Gleneagles, Scotland
Gleneagles is a glen which connects with Glen Devon to form a pass through the Ochil Hills of Perth and Kinross in Scotland...
, keeping the police are busy. Clarke defied her parents by becoming a police officer; she now wants to feel like a daughter.
Rebus is nearing retirement ("nobody would blame you for coasting"), and becomes sidelined until the apparent suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
of MP Ben Webster occurs at a high-level meeting in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
. It emerges that Webster was campaigning against the arms trade
Arms industry
The arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. It comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities...
, and Richard Pennen of Pennen Industries, a dealer in weapons technology, comes under suspicion.
At the same time, a 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...
seems to be killing former offenders, helped by a website set up by the family of a victim. Clues have been deliberately left at Clootie Well
Clootie well
Clootie wells are places of pilgrimage in Celtic areas. They are wells or springs, almost always with a tree growing beside them, where strips of cloth or rags have been left, usually tied to the branches of the tree as part of a healing ritual...
(duplicated from the Black Isle
Black Isle
The Black Isle is an eastern area of the Highland local government council area of Scotland, within the county of Ross and Cromarty. The name nearly always includes the article "the"....
to Auchterarder
Auchterarder
Auchterarder is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the famous Gleneagles Hotel. The 1.5 mile long High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Lang Toon"....
for the purposes of the plot), a place where items of clothing are traditionally left for luck.
Siobhan Clarke is placed in charge of the investigation, although she is outranked by Rebus, and finds herself having to compromise with Edinburgh gangster Morris Cafferty (for whom one of the victims was working as a bouncer) in hunting down the identity of the riot policeman who apparently assaulted her mother at a demonstration. Cafferty is also getting older, though his insecurity is balanced somewhat by his having had a biography ghost-written by local journalist Mairie Henderson. She is enlisted by Rebus and Clarke to help solve the crimes.
The new Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police is the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian...
, James Corbyn, is keen to put any potential controversy from the investigation of these sordid crimes on hold until the focus of the world's media has moved on. He puts Rebus and Clarke under suspension when they disobey him and they need to rely on Ellen Wylie for help.
David Steelforth, the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Special Branch (SO12)
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
Commander who is overseeing the policing of the G8 summit, seems to be holding back Rebus' work at every turn. Rebus and Clarke blow the cover of one of his agents who is photographing demonstrators. Former preacher
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
Councillor Gareth Tench seems to Rebus to be involved due to his apparent closeness to one of the suspects, Niddrie
Niddrie, Edinburgh
This article is about Niddrie, a suburb of Edinburgh. See also: Longniddry, Niddry Castle.Niddrie is a suburb of south east Edinburgh, Scotland, UK...
thug Keith Carberry.
The book is set in real time; within it, some real events occur, such as the 7/7 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, the 2012 Olympic bid
London 2012 Olympic bid
London 2012 was the successful bid for the 2012 Summer Games, to be held in London with most events taking place in Stratford, Newham. The British Olympic Association had been working on the bid since 1997...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
falling off his bicycle whilst waving at police officers: " 'Did we just do that?' Siobhan asked quietly."
The title refers to: the ceremony Clarke's ageing left-wing parents attend, where the names of a sampling of the dead from the Iraq War are read out; the list of victims created by Rebus and Clarke as they try to unravel the crime; and also to John Rebus' evocation of grief in naming the many of his own friends and family who have died in the course of his life.
By the end of the book, Clarke realises that she has grown closer than ever to understanding Rebus:
"It's not enough, is it?" she repeated. "Just...symbolic...because there's nothing else you can do."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, with a smile.
"The naming of the dead," she told him, resting her head against his shoulder. (p410)
She increasingly fears that she is becoming more like him:
"obsessed and sidelined, thrawn and distrusted. Rebus had lost family and friends. When he went out drinking, he did so on his own, standing quietly at the bar, facing the row of optics."
Literary significance and criticism
The book, which shows how crime permeates society, has been called "Ian Rankin's finest novel... more than a crime novel". Rebus was compared with Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's fictional detective Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
and the book described as "dark, murky and less immediate than his other novels, but still zinging with wit and his inimitable gift for plot. His richest and most complex work to date".
There are also references in the book to the TV series Columbo, of which Rankin is a fan.