5/5 One of the best of the British Mysteries - not to be missed
  by Terry Weiss (Corvallis, OR U.S.A.)
I admit to being a die hard fan of Ian Rankin's series starring Rebus. I am delighted with this DVD series - it's wonderfully written - and I don't really care that it doesn't follow the book plots, the writing is spectacular - and the acting is superb. Ken Stott plays Rebus the way Rebus should be played. He isn't an easy man, or even likable come to that, but he is Rebus and Rebus is compelling. It's very much in the Raymond Chandler mode - a good man for the world he lives in - or any world, for that matter. It's satisfying, gritty noir - with a hero who lives by principle and nerves and can't stop doing what he sees as the right thing, no matter how he, or others, suffer for it. I suppose I'm not doing this justice - but I will just say that if you have a yen for a hero that is older than 23, not pretty, but smart and ready to fight and die for what's right - then you'd enjoy Rebus.

5/5 Rebus Rides Again, Drinking, Smoking, Cursing and Solving Mysteries
  by Stephanie DePue (Carolina Beach, NC USA)
"Rebus Set 2," as recently seen here on BBC America, was released in July 2007. It's based upon the best-selling novels of Edgar-winning Britisher Ian Rankin, whom fellow American crime novelist James Ellroy recently called "the progenitor and king of tartan noir." The stories are filmed in modern-day Edinburgh, where they are set; but generally take place a considerable distance from the lovely tourist magnet sites of Scotland's capital city, and show us its darker, more chaotic side. Considerable effort and expense seem to have been expended on this series. The on site color photography is excellent; casts are topnotch, and the extras appear to have been laid on with a generous hand: every shot, of police station or street, is full of people taking care of business, whatever that business might be. To add to the pleasures of this production, the actors appear to have been encouraged to speak in local dialect, really giving the viewers the sense of being there - somewhere else -- thanks to their distinctly different use of the language, their idioms and accents, their chat of "I cannae, didnae,""Your coat's hung on a shoogily peg,"and so forth. And thanks so much, Acorn, for the unadvertised subtitles that make all this accessible.

This series includes four Rebus novels, and a making-of documentary featuring interviews with Rankin and the series' stars. Ken Stott, praised as a very good television actor, continues his run as Detective Inspector Rebus; Claire Price continues hers as Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke. Rebus drinks, smokes, and stokes his anger more than is good for him; doesn't always follow police procedures or the wishes of his superiors - but he gets results.

"The Black Book," first of the series, is also one of the best. A young woman, part-time student and part-time prostitute turns up dead, in a spot known to the locals as the five sisters. Rebus is immediately reminded of a similar killing ten years ago, that he was never able to solve, thanks partly to the local prominence of the chief suspect. He anonymously receives a mysterious black book, illustrated and written in code; whether to help or hinder his investigations, he doesn't know. But he's off. The episode has a complex, intelligent, emotionally involving plot, with several family arcs.

"A Question of Blood" is equally strong. There's a shooting at a local college, as they call it, we'd call it a prep school. Two boys, and an instructor, an ex-Army Special Forces man - as is Rebus - are dead; one boy seriously injured. It all appears cut and dried, except that the former SAS man, a highly trained commando, died with tears in his eyes. One of the dead boys is the son of a cousin of Rebus's; we learn that Rebus's extreme focus on the job impacts on his family, as well as the women that pass through his life.

So's "Strip Jack." Vice are tipped onto a local brothel, underage prostitutes. There are none, but the net does capture a celebrated local millionaire philanthropist. His wife soon turns up dead. Is it the work of a local serial killer, or a one-off made to look that way? Once again, very strong, various family vectors.

"Let It Bleed -" can't remember the novel on which it's based, though I've read it, don't know where to lay the blame, has more of a hand-me-down plot. Tricked out, however, in some interesting new Scottish clothes, lots of twists and turns, that black Scottish humor,with some interesting casting coups. Rebus's witness/new love interest is played by Anna Chancellor, ("Henrietta --"otherwise known as "Duckface" in "Four Weddings and a Funeral.")And Roy Marsden, longtime Adam Dalgleish in the television treatments of the work of P.D. James.

If you love British mysteries, as I do, you just might find this stuff irresistible.



5/5 Highly recommend
  by Paul Dsouza (Seattle, WA)
First of all, let me get this out of the way... I just love this series as well as the character of Rebus. Ken Stott is just the ideal candidate to fit the role of Ian Ranklin's DI John Rebus. Rough, unrefined, unpolished, Rebus is mostly detested but you as the viewer can't help admiring him. The plots are scary and twisted. Some of the Edinburgh scenes are downright spooky. The self-destructive traits of Rebus, including his drinking, seem to inspire feelings of affection from women and this makes the stories more interesting because of the little personal twist. If you have a problem with Scottish accents, this series can be a bit of a problem- it's thick!

5/5 Great Stuff
  by Maggie McDade (Oregon)
Ian Rankin is amazing, and Rebus is my favorite detective, and Stott fits the part very well. Love the filming locations and camera angles. Good stuff.