The Falls (64 page)

David Costello comments that the Scots can be overly reductive – such as Old Town versus New, Catholic versus Protestant, east coast versus west – is this true in Ian Rankin’s interpretation, or is it, as Rebus responds, ‘an attraction of opposites’?

How does Ian Rankin make Donald Devlin, formerly Professor of Forensic Medicine, seem so creepy?

Curator Jean Burchill suggests, ‘
Aren’t we all curious about the things we fear?
’ Would Rebus agree?

Rebus claims that his enjoyment of police work is essentially voyeuristic and cowardly: ‘
He concentrated on the minutiae of other people’s lives, other people’s problems, to stop him examining his own frailties and failings
.’ How true is this?

‘
He didn’t think he’d go quietly. They’d have to pull him screaming and kicking
…’ Why isn’t Rebus looking forward to retirement?

‘
“Such a beautiful city,” she
[Jean]
said. Rebus tried to agree. He hardly saw it any more. To him, Edinburgh had become a state of mind, a juggling of criminal thoughts and baser instincts … It was a crime scene waiting to happen
.’ Is Rebus unable now ever to see the beauty of the city?

Might Rebus regard Father Conor Leary’s death as symbolic in some ways of his own looming retirement?

Why does Siobhan reject the Press Liaison job?

‘
She had a gut feeling, but it was dangerous to depend on those: she’d seen Rebus screw up more than once on the strength of a gut feeling for someone’s guilt or innocence
.’ Would Siobhan agree, though, that perhaps ‘gut feelings’ are integral to Rebus’s manner of policing?

When Siobhan says, ‘
Let’s play it by ear, see which one of us Marr prefers
,’ what is Rebus’s response?

What does the reader feel about Rebus’s treatment of the tourists he and Siobhan encounter at Falls?

Does the constantly missed doctor’s appointment become something of a running joke?

Discuss whether Siobhan is correct in believing that Gill Templer is ‘running scared’ since her new promotion?