''Strip Jack'' is a 1992

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

by Ian Rankin. It is the fourth of the

Inspector Rebus The ''Inspector Rebus'' books are a series of detective novels by the Scottish author Ian Rankin, Sir Ian Rankin. The novels, centred on Inspector#United Kingdom, Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh. They ...

novels. It also exists as an audiobook, narrated by James MacPherson. The title refers to the popular card game " Strip Jack Naked".

Plot

A police raid on an

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. 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 Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Sir Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as ''Rebus''. The novels are mostly set in and around Edinburgh. ...

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.

Reception

The book was well-received: ''Publishers Weekly'' gave it a starred review, comparing Rebus to

Colin Dexter Norman Colin Dexter (29 September 1930 – 21 March 2017) was an English crime writer known for his ''Inspector Morse'' series of novels, which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as an ITV (TV network), ITV television series, ''Inspec ...

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

, and praising the level of detail and the author's depiction of a "living, breathing world". ''Kirkus Reviews'' praised the novel's "offbeat characters" and the "eccentric but appealing narrative style."

References

1992 British novels Inspector Rebus novels Novels set in Edinburgh Orion Books books {{1990s-crime-novel-stub