Rebus

 

Rebus

Main character: John Rebus
Country of origin: Scotland
Main location: Edinburgh

Creator: Ian Rankin
Born in: Cardenden, Fife, Scotland
Born on: April, 28, 1960
Nationality: Scottish

Literary series started in: 1987, Knots and Crosses
Original language: English
Publisher: Orion
Number of books (original editions): 22
Latest title published in: 2018, In a House of Lies
Translations: Translated in more than 36 languages

Television series title: Rebus
Television series started in: 2000
Producer: ITV, UK
Number of seasons: 4 (1 with John Hannah and 3 with Ken Stott as Rebus)
Latest season broadcast: 2007
Transnational distribution: Yes

Case stusy rationale:

When Ian Rankin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, he embarked on a PhD in Scottish Literature, specifically the work of Muriel Spark, but spent the time writing poetry and crime fiction. While the PhD was never completed, the fruits of this labour eventually became Knots and Crosses, published in 1987 and thereafter, twenty-two novels featuring John Rebus, erstwhile Detective Inspector until his retirement in Exit Music (2007) and then in various forms of semi-retirement as unofficial police consultant. It wasn’t until the publication of Black and Blue in 1997 (the 8th Rebus novel) that Rankin achieved genuine commercial success and this novel marked the emergence of his mature style: multiple overlapping storylines, strong social and political commentary, acutely observed characters, big themes (e.g. the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, the G7 protests). On the face of it, Rebus is a familiar generic figure: truculent, dogged, a rock music aficionado, a problem with alcohol and authority. What distinguishes the series is the warmth, humour and finely observed details of Rebus’s various relationships: notably with Siobhan Clarke, his protégé and successor, and ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty, an Edinburgh gangster and his long-time nemesis. The novels are also marked by their ambitious, far-reaching portraits of Edinburgh, past and present, where the past is always bearing on the present and where the present is unable to escape from the shadows of the past. One of the key proponents of Tartan Noir – the emergence of a socially engaged, politically relevant form of Scottish crime writing since the 1980s – Rankin’s influences are multiple: the Laidlaw novels of William McIlvanney, Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the US hard-boiled and police procedural novels of Hammett, Chandler, McBain and Macdonald. Rankin has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards for his crime fiction and was awarded an OBE for his services to literature, opting to receive it in his home city, Edinburgh.

Online research resources

 

Watch

Ian Rankin on life at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival:

Ian Rankin on life at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival:

Ian Rankin on how Inspector Rebus became a tour guide for Edinburgh, 2018:

Ian Rankin on how Inspector Rebus became a tour guide for Edinburgh, 2018:

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Ian Rankin’s complete bibliography and other information on the Rebus series

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