Crime Fiction Blog: Doors Open by Ian Rankin

In the novel Doors Open by Ian Rankin, Mike Mackenzie is one of the main characters and also one of the criminals. Mike Mackenzie was a thirty-seven year old, hard working, highly successful entrepreneur in computer software. He sold his business because he was bored and rumor had it, burned out, and wanted a change. Mike’s friend Gerry Pearson (who helped start the business from the beginning) had left as well for Australia to enjoy the nightlife, city life and surfing.

Mike also loved art. When one of his friends, Professor Robert Gissing talked to him about an amazing crime where they would stage a heist and a selected group of paintings would be stolen from the Granton storage on “Doors Open Day” he wanted in. After the crime Mike had such a thrill. He quickly becomes tangled into the criminal underworld.

I think two of the biggest clues in the book Doors Open by Ian Rankin is when detective inspector Ransome noticed that Chib Calloway, one of Edinburgh’s most renowned gangsters started showing a lot of interest in paintings. Ransome had seen him at the National Gallery of Scotland’s cafe drinking a cup of tea and he also saw Calloway at an art auction. Both times when Calloway was spotted he was spotted with Mike Mackenzie. This was a big lead in inspector Ransome catching them.

The first quote is, “‘Ever handled a gun before, Mike?’ ‘Not since I was a kid. They tended to be made of plastic and fired caps…’”, (Pg. 93). I thought this quote was pretty funny because the way Mike said it so sarcastically and it relates to me because when I was little I always used to play around with toy cap guns. The second quote that relates to me is, “In his dreams, he was chasing the gangster on foot through the streets of a sprawling city.” (Pg. 113) because every now and then a kid my age has a dream about chasing a gangster around a city. The last quote is, “Mike had visualized their walk as something like the start of Reservoir Dogs – calm, collected, going to work.” (Pg. 123) This quote relates to me because the movie Reservoir Dogs is one of my favorite films and I my self can imagine them walking in because I’ve seen the movie many times.

By: Logan Semple