PhilPaine.com

I’ve been read­ing some of Ian Rank­in’s fine hard­boiled detec­tive nov­els, and this BBC tele­vi­sion adap­ta­tion is a fair ren­der­ing of them. The inno­v­a­tive cam­era work turns the alleys and hous­ing projects of Edin­burgh into an expres­sion­ist nether-world. The main char­ac­ter, inspec­tor Rebus (ably played by John Han­nah), is rep­re­sent­ed a bit younger, and the musi­cal ref­er­ences that fill the books are only giv­en an occa­sion­al nod. But watch­ing the drama­ti­za­tions will not spoil the books for you. They are not “who-done-its” near­ly as much as “why-done-its”.