So far, ten of the rebus novels have been made into television movies. Why the inspector rebus novels will endure books the. I heard an interview with ian rankin on npr about the retirement of rebus and the creation of a new character. Ian rankin inspector rebus series free pdf ebooks downloads. Having recently enjoyed to the first two inspector rebus detective novels through audible i purchased the third book without listening to the audio sample. Possibly one of the most twisted, confusing novels i have ever read, the black book skilfully guides the reader through a series of interlinked crimes without becoming convoluted or preposterous.
The detective inspector john rebus character is based in edinburgh. Detective inspector siobhan clarke had been at home with a good book and the remains of a ready meal when the call came, the caller a friend called tess who worked in. Rebus once served in britains elite sas and later became an edinburgh cop. The book standing in another mans grave features a return of rebus as he goes about solving cold cases. Why the inspector rebus novels will endure as well as portraying a fascinating character who wont grow old, each book offers a finely rendered snapshot of a moment in the social history of. He is also the author of the complaints and doors open. Knots and crosses, hide and seek, the black book unabridged by ian rankin.
Five years ago, a mysterious fire burned edinburghs seedy central hotel to ashes. The second novel featuring inspector john rebus, available for the first time as an ebook and with an exclusive introduction by author ian rankin. Each of the novels is linked by returning characters, such as siobhan clarke and big ger cafferty, but you can start reading the rebus books at any point in the series, you dont need to have read the earlier books to enjoy the later ones. The black book features rebus centre stage and without the complications of a. Below is a list of all of ian rankins inspector rankin books in order of when they were originally published. In a question of blood, the most recent rebus book, he is called upon to solve a school shooting that has left three dead and one wounded. Rankin was dismayed when the critics treated it as detective fiction.
Ian james rankin obe dl frse frsl born 28 april 1960 is a scottish crime writer, best known for his inspector rebus novels. The series is incredibly popular in the united kingdom, making up 10% of crime fiction sales there. The second inspector rebus novel from britains shelve hide and seek. On the eve of the first scottish parliament in three hundred years, edinburgh is a city rife with political passions and expectations. Synopsis when a close colleague is brutally attacked, inspector john rebus is drawn into a case involving a hotel fire. They were old men now, similar builds, similar backgrounds. Black and blue after years of silence in the unsolved bible john serial kille.
Ian rankin has been elected a hawthornden fellow, and is also a past winner of the chandlerfulbright award. The best books in ian rankins inspector rebus series novel. The first two are parceled out to underlings and lively, welldrawn characters they are but rebus gets young roddy grieve, killed on the parliament grounds. The inspector rebus mystery series is best started from ian rankins first book and as you progress you see the evolution of the character. The plots were good with plenty of twists and i did not work out the endings for most of them until the end. Ian rankin and inspector rebus pdf download full download. John hannah played the inspector in the first series, but was replaced by ken stott in the remaining series. The top five best john rebus novels the dorset book detective. See the complete inspector rebus series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles. He often connects situations with an apt song from the 1960s. It features a mysterious attack on rebuss colleague, leading him to reinvestigate a five year old mysterious fire and murder. Mar 28, 2020 following the character of detective inspector john rebus, they chart his many cases, solving crimes and mysteries, as theyre told in a hardboiled style.
John rebus first appeared in knots and crosses in 1987. When the central hotel, a place of decidedly unsavory reputation, burned to the ground in a mysterious fire, the edinburgh police. Rebus has been portrayed by john hannah and ken stott for television, with ron donachie playing the character for the bbc radio dramatisations. After serving in northern ireland he applied to undergo selection for the sas, but after a horrendous ordeal in training, left the army and joined the lothian and borders police he is initially introduced as a detective sergeant. Detective inspector john rebus is not a man easily intimidated, so when political heavyweights start to lean on the dour, moralistic edinburgh detective to stop an investigation, rebus doggedly digs in and follows the case as it moves from embezzlement to murder and. Originally published in 1987, knots and crosses was ian rankins second novel and the first to feature his enduringly popular creation john rebus sergeant rebus here, later inspector rebus. Presumably, hes no longer disappointed, having won dozens of literary awards and sold millions of copies of his books. Queensbury house, the home of scotlands new rulers, falls in the middle of john rebus turf, keeping him busy with ceremonial tasks. Inspector john rebus knows that his superiors would prefer he leave things alone. Drafted down to the big smoke thanks to a shelve tooth and nail. For more than 20 years these critically acclaimed novels have delighted readers and set a benchmark in contemporary crime fiction. His first rebus novel was published in 1987, and the rebus books are now translated into twentytwo languages and are bestsellers on several continents. The main characters of this mystery, fiction story are detective john rebus.
Mar 22, 2011 the fifth novel featuring inspector john rebus, available for the first time as an ebook and with an exclusive introduction by author ian rankin. On the eve of the first scottish parliament in more. As of this date, ten of these books have been adapted for television. The inspector rebus series of detective novels written by scottish writer ian rankin features the main character known as detective inspector john rebus. Significantly, it is at this juncture in the series that ian rankin first began to visualise his rebus novels as a series, transition locationwise from a fictional edinburgh to the city authentic and introduced the perfect foil for rebus in dc siobhan clarke. Rebus retirement novel is called exit music but as a character he is still very much active. Young girls are being murdered in edinburgh, and a certain sergeant rebus is drafted from his usual work onto the murder enquiry team. Hands in his pockets, rebus turned to face cafferty. Rebus is on top form as he commits many derelictions of duty and blatantly flouts the rules in his quest for justice. In his latest effort, the accomplished ian rankin takes on a host of contemporary issues.
When the central hotel, a place of decidedly unsavory reputation, burned to the ground in a mysterious fire, the edinburgh police were unable to disguise their delight. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and videos from thousands of public libraries worldwide. Rebus has been portrayed by john hannah and ken stott for television, with ron donachie playing the character. In the early 1980s, ian rankin was a jack of all trades. But 2012 sees his return in standing in another mans grave. This was my first exposure to scottish inspector john rebus. Following the character of detective inspector john rebus, they chart his many cases, solving crimes and mysteries, as theyre told in a hardboiled style. Inspector rebus, book 18 its 25 years since john rebus appeared on the scene, and 5 years since he retired. Detective john rebus first appeared in ian rankins 1987 bestseller knots and crosses and has since gone on to appear in 17 books and numerous short stories. Detective inspector siobhan clarke had been at home with a good book and the remains of a ready meal when the call came, the caller a friend called tess who worked in the control room at bilston glen. The stories were very real and the situations very descriptive.
He has won an edgar award, a gold dagger for fiction, a diamond dagger for career excellence. Its not the low life rebus normally gyrates around. The third book in the inspector rebus series sees the wonderfully sardonic, truculent and, at times, antagonistic di john rebus uprooted from his home turf and mixing it amongst the big boys of scotland yard. Rebus is, in fact, presented as such a flawed character here that it is difficult to imagine a more unlikely main character for a series that is now some twentytwo books long and counting. Although im sure it was well written, i was unable to enjoy the book due to the terrible narration. His next novel, knots and crosses was the beginning of the inspector rebus character. The inspector rebus books are a series of detective novels by the scottish author ian rankin. Free download or read online resurrection men pdf epub inspector rebus series book. It introduces inspector rebus as he is assigned to a team investigating the abduction and murder of two young girls in edinburgh. Listen to the complete inspector rebus book series. And do it while facing the glare of an internal inquiry led by a man he has just accused of taking backhanders from glasgows mr big, and with tv cameras at his back investigating a miscarriage of justice.
The black book is the fifth in the inspector rebus series, published first in 1993. At the same time he becomes the prime suspect in the grizzly death of a lowlife criminal named martin fairstone, who was harassing his partner, siobhan clark. Inspector rebus abridged audiobooks listen to the full. The early years is a compendium of ian rankins first three rebus detective stories. The first edition of the novel was published in 2001, and was written by ian rankin. I bought it on holiday in australia and could not put it down until i had finished it. A selection of international bestselling author ian rankins critically acclaimed inspector rebus series is available together here for the first time in this thrilling nine book ebundle. A collection of inspector rebus novels ian rankin macmillan. John hannah played inspector rebus in the first series, before being replaced by ken stott for the next three. Jim stevens, a journalist, plants some intrigue about his relationship with gill templer who, in this first book, is rebuss love interest. The first book in the inspector rebus series was published in 1987, and it was titled knots and crosses. Since then, most of his work has been in the rebus series, although he has also written some standalone books and a new series featuring malcolm fox. A collection of inspector rebus novels on apple books.
Knots and crosses, hide and seek, the black book unabridged by ian rankin omnibus 1, 2, 5 rebus. Thirteen of the novels were dramatised for television between 2000 and 2007 in four series of rebus. The books now routinely sell half a million copies within the first. He continued with inspector rebus from there on out, publishing tooth and nail and strip jack in 1992, the third and fourth book in the series.
Ian rankin started the inspector rebus series with knots and crosses in 1987. Longforgotten and unsolved, the case reappears when a charred body with a bullet in its head is found among the ruins. Not only is rebus as stubborn and anarchic as ever, but he finds himself in trouble with rankins latest creation, malcolm fox of edinburghs internal affairs unit. Now he is one of the most widely known crime novelist in the united kingdom. He initially considered his first novel a standalone, however, eventually he continued the series fleshing out inspector rebus to the fullest. John rebus is one of the most enduring characters in crime fiction, first. He has won an edgar award, a gold dagger for fiction, a diamond dagger for career excellence, and the chandlerfulbright award. Rebus and quant were smiling as they returned to their table, where two decaffeinated coffees sat waiting.
Detective inspector john rebus is the protagonist in the inspector rebus series of detective novels by the scottish writer ian rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as rebus. Black and blue special edition special edition of the awardwinning rebus novel includes exclusive extra material. Unlike other series, the character does age with time, as the character turned 60 years old with exit music. He has won an edgar award, a gold dagger for fiction, a diamond dagger for career excellence, and the.
The book dead souls was my first inspector rebus book and i thought it was excellent. Knots and crosses, was the first of ian rankins inspector rebus novels, published in 1988. Knots and crosses is the first book in ian rankins inspector rebus series, and it most certainly introduces john rebus with a bang. The fifth novel featuring inspector john rebus, available for the first time as an ebook and with an exclusive introduction by author ian rankin. Hes gruff and disheveled, but his messy exterior and bad habits hide a keen mind and mostly benevolent nature. Four years after the publication of rankins first book in the inspector rebus series, the second book in the series, hide and seek, was published in 1991.
In fact its so well written it maybe from real life. The setting for the majority of these novels is mostly in and around edinburgh. The author has also revealed that inspector rebus is involved in working on cold cases as a civilian. It introduces some of the more regular characters in the series.
The fifth novel featuring inspector john rebus, available for the first time as an e book and with an exclusive introduction by author ian rankin. Ian rankin became a published author in 1986 when the flood was released. The whole story of ian rankin, the bestselling author, and inspector rebus, his most famous creation. The inspector rebus series is commercially successful in the united kingdom, accounting for an estimated 10% of all crime book sales in the uk as of 2015. All the inspector rebus novels in the order in which they were written. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 528 pages and is available in paperback format.
A good hanging inspector john rebus series by ian rankin. Rebus was 40 in the first book knots and crosses 1987 and should, therefore, be 70 in 2017. If you intend to read these books and have yet to buy them, the compendium is often available second hand, very inexpensively, on amazon and will save on individual volumes. Black and blue after years of silence in the unsolved bible john serial killer case, inspector rebus falls smack into the middle of modern copycat. In mortal causes, you see rebus begin to become a fully developed character. Creator of multiple novels and winner of countless literary awards, rankins most lauded work is the inspector rebus series. He was born in 1947 in fife and left school at the age of fifteen to join the army. Inspector john rebus must disinter all four cases to nail just one killer who might just lead back to the infamous bible john. Readers would first be introduced to the series in 1987 with knots and crosses, and there have been twentythree titles so far and counting. A far worse form of crockery, the politicians and financiers. The series was adapted to the british tv series rebus. Rather be the devil inspector rebus 21 ian rankin p. Detective inspector john rebus is the protagonist in the inspector rebus series. Inspector rebus audiobooks listen to the full series.