10 Great Rebus Novels (John Rebus)
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Introduction to DI John Rebus
The first novels to feature Rebus, a flawed but resolutely humane detective, were not an overnight sensation, and success took time to arrive. But the wait became a period that allowed Ian Rankin to come of age as a writer, and to develop Rebus into a thoroughly believable, flesh-and-blood character straddling both industrial and post-industrial Scotland; a gritty yet perceptive man coping with his own demons. As Rebus struggled to keep his relationship with daughter Sammy alive following his divorce, and to cope with the imprisonment of brother Michael, while all the time trying to strike a blow for morality against a fearsome array of sinners (some justified and some not), readers began to respond in their droves. Fans admired Ian Rankin’s re-creation of a picture-postcard Edinburgh with a vicious tooth-and-claw underbelly just a heartbeat away, his believable but at the same time complex plots and, best of all, Rebus as a conflicted man trying always to solve the unsolvable, and to do the right thing.
As the series progressed, Ian Rankin refused to shy away from contentious issues such as corruption in high places, paedophilia and illegal immigration, combining his unique seal of tight plotting with a bleak realism, leavened with brooding humour.
In Rebus the reader is presented with a rich and constantly evolving portrait of a complex and troubled man, irrevocably tinged with the sense of being an outsider and, potentially, unable to escape being a ‘justified sinner’ himself. Rebus’s life is intricately related to his Scottish environs too, enriched by Ian Rankin’s attentive depiction of locations, and careful regard to Rebus’s favourite music, watering holes and books, as well as his often fraught relationships with colleagues and family. And so, alongside Rebus, the reader is taken on an often painful, sometimes hellish journey to the depths of human nature, always rooted in the minutiae of a very recognisable Scottish life.
The Oxford Bar – Rebus and many of the characters who appear in the novels are regulars of the Ox – as is Ian Rankin himself. The pub is now synonymous with the Rebus novels to the extent that one of the regular medical examiners called in to assist with investigations is named after the pub’s owner, John Gates.
Edinburgh plays an important role throughout the Rebus novels; a character itself, as brooding and as volatile as Rebus. The Edinburgh depicted in the novels is far short of the beautiful city that tourists in their thousands flood to visit. Hidden behind the historic buildings and elegant façades is the world that Rebus inhabits.
For general discussion regarding the Rebus series
How does Ian Rankin reveal himself as an author interested in using fiction to ‘tell the truths the real world can’t’?
There are similarities between the lives of the author and his protagonist – for instance, both Ian Rankin and Rebus were born in Fife, lost their mothers at an early age, have children with physical problems – so is it useful therefore to think of John Rebus and Ian Rankin as each other’s alter egos?
Could it be said that Rebus is trying to make sense in a general way of the world around him, or is he seeking answers to the ‘big questions’? And is it relevant therefore that he is a believer in God and comes from a Scottish Presbyterian background? Would Rebus see confession in both the religious and the criminal sense as similar in any way?
How does Ian Rankin explore notions of Edinburgh as a character in its own right? In what way does he contrast the glossy public and seedy private faces of the city with the public and private faces of those Rebus meets?
How does Ian Rankin use musical sources – the Elvis references in The Black Book, for instance, or the Rolling Stones allusions in Let It Bleed – as a means of character development through the series? What does Rebus’s own taste in music and books say about him as a person?
What do you think about Rebus as a character? If you have read several or more novels from the series, discuss how his character is developed.
If Rebus has a problem with notions of ‘pecking order’ and the idea of authority generally, what does it say about him that he chose careers in hierarchical institutions such as the Army and then the police?
How does Rebus relate to women: as lovers, flirtations, family members and colleagues?
Do the flashes of gallows humour as often shown by the pathologists but sometimes also in Rebus’s own comments increase or dissipate narrative tension? Does Rebus use black comedy for the same reasons the pathologists do?
Do Rebus’s personal vulnerabilities make him understanding of the frailties of others?
How does the characterisation of Rebus compare to other long-standing popular detectives from British authors such as Holmes, Poirot, Morse or Dalgleish? And are there more similarities or differences between them?
Ian Rankin is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers on several continents. Ian is the recipient of four CWA Dagger Awards and in 2004 won America’s celebrated Edgar Award. He is also the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews, Hull and Edinburgh, and received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh, where he lives with his partner and two sons.
By Ian Rankin
The Inspector Rebus series
Knots and Crosses
Hide and Seek
Tooth and Nail
Strip Jack
The Black Book
Mortal Causes
Let It Bleed
Black and Blue
The Hanging Garden
Death Is Not The End (novella)
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
The Inspector Fox series
The Complaints
The Impossible Dead
Other novels
The Flood
Watchman
Westwind
Doors Open
Writing as Jack Harvey
Witch Hunt
Bleeding Hearts
Blood Hunt
Short stories
A Good Hanging and Other Stories
Beggars Banquet
Non-fiction
Rebus’s Scotland
Omnibus editions
Rebus: The Early Years (Knots and Crosses, Hide and Seek, Tooth and Nail)
Rebus: The St Leonard’s Years (Strip Jack, The Black Book, Mortal Causes)
Rebus: The Lost Years (Let It Bleed, Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden)
Rebus: Capital Crimes (Dead Souls, Set in Darkenss, The Falls)
All Ian Rankin’s titles are available on audio.
Also available: Jackie Leven Said by Ian Rankin and Jackie Leven.
Copyright
An Orion ebook
Knots & Crosses first published in Great Britain in 1987 by The Bodley Head
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1987
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Hide & Seek first published in Great Britain in 1990 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1990
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Tooth & Nail first published in Great Britain in 1992 by Century under the title Wolfman.
First published in Ebook in 2009 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1992
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Strip Jack first published in Great Britain in 1992 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1992
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
The Black Book first published in Great Britain in 1993 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1993
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Mortal Causes first published in Great Britain in 1994 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2009 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1994
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Let it Bleed first published in Great Britain in 1995 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1995
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Black and Blue first published in Great Britain in 1997 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1997
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
The Hanging Garden first published in Great Britain in 1998 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2008 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1998
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
Dead Souls first published in Great Britain in 1999 by Orion Books
First published in Ebook in 2009 by Orion Books © John Rebus Limited 1999
Introduction © John Rebus Limited 2005
This ebook collection published in 2013 by Orion Books
The moral right of Ian Rankin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All the characters in these books are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 5080 0
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