Strip Jack
1-85797-016-0
Strip Jack is a 1992 crime novel by Ian Rankin.[1] It is the fourth of the Inspector Rebus novels.
The title refers to the popular card game "Strip Jack Naked".
Plot summary
A police raid on an Edinburgh brothel captures (seemingly by accident) popular young local MP Gregor Jack. When Jack's fiery wife Elizabeth disappears, and two bodies are found, suspicion falls on a famous local actor Rab Kinnoul. Detective Inspector John Rebus is sympathetic to the MP's problems, and interviews a member of the Jacks' social circle, Andrew MacMillan, who is locked up in a psychiatric hospital after murdering his wife many years before. It becomes increasingly evident that somebody has 'set up' Jack, with the intention of stripping him of his good name, political standing and maybe even his life.
Connections to other Rankin books
- Recurring characters Patience Atkin and police administrator Frank Lauderdale make their debut; Lauderdale is presented as someone who's been around for a while 'off-screen', and Patience is already in a faltering relationship with Rebus when the book starts.
- Rebus' old romance with DI Gill Templer in Knots and Crosses is a partial reason for his problems connecting with Patience Atkin.
Writing Strip Jack
In the foreword to Rebus: The St Leonard Years, Rankin says that with this book, he decided to move Rebus out of a "fictional" Edinburgh and more into the real one. The book has a background subplot of the (fictional) Greater London Road police station about to be closed down and staff moved to (real) stations like St Leonards.
References
- ^ Binyon, TJ (1 October 1992). "Crime Round up". Evening Standard. p. 46. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
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- Knots and Crosses
- Hide and Seek
- Tooth and Nail
- Strip Jack
- The Black Book
- Mortal Causes
- Let it Bleed
- Black & Blue
- The Hanging Garden
- Dead Souls
- Set in Darkness
- The Falls
- Resurrection Men
- A Question of Blood
- Fleshmarket Close
- The Naming of the Dead
- Exit Music
- Standing in Another Man's Grave
- Saints of the Shadow Bible
- Even Dogs in the Wild
- Rather Be the Devil
- In a House of Lies
- A Song for the Dark Times
- A Heart Full of Headstones
- A Good Hanging and Other Stories
- The Beat Goes On
- Rebus (2000–07)
- "A Question of Blood"
- "Strip Jack"
- "Let It Bleed"
- "Resurrection Men"
- "The First Stone"
- "The Naming of the Dead"
- "Knots and Crosses"
- Rebus (2024–present)
- Long Shadows
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