Ian Rankin at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 04/09/2007

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Ian Rankin - Page 1

Exit Music

06 Sep 07

The Naming of the Dead

pbk 25 Jul 07

Rebus's Scotland

The Complete Short Stories

Fleshmarket Close

Audio Titles

On The Set Of 'Inspector Rebus'

Latest News: December 1999

News February 1999

News March 1998

Inspector Rebus & I

Starless and Bible Black: The Serial Killer Who Refuses to Die

WebPage: http://www.ianrankin.net

About the Author (Photo (c) Susan Greenhill)

Bibliography

First British Edition Orion (2007)

Exit Music
It’s late autumn in Edinburgh and late autumn in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. As he tries to tie up some loose ends before retirement, a murder case intrudes. A dissident Russian poet has been found dead in what looks like a mugging gone wrong. By apparent coincidence a high-level delegation of Russian businessmen is in town, keen to bring business to Scotland. The politicians and bankers who run Edinburgh are determined that the case should be closed quickly and clinically.
But the further they dig, the more Rebus and his colleague DS Siobhan Clarke become convinced that they are dealing with something more than a random attack - especially after a particularly nasty second killing. Meantime, a brutal and premeditated assault on a local gangster sees Rebus in the frame.
Has the Inspector taken a step too far in tying up those loose ends? Only a few days shy of the end to his long, inglorious career, will Rebus even make it that far?
Both powerful and moving, Exit Music not only marks the bittersweet conclusion to DI John Rebus’s time in the force but a searing commentary on money, power and murder - in a country up for sale to the highest bidder.
'Unmatched in the field of Britich crime fiction' The Times
‘One of Britain’s leading novelists in any genre’ New Statesman
‘He writes with a natural rhythm which exerts an almost hypnotic effect’ Independent
‘Seamlessly plotted, effortlessly compelling read. Rankin is in total command of his idiom. Rebus himself may be showing signs of burn-out and disaffection with conventional police procedure, but there is no indication that the series is running out of steam’ Mail on Sunday
‘Rankin has clearly been grooming the enigmatic DS Siobhan Clarke to take over as hero, but the cynical old soak Rebus won’t leave, which is good news for the reader… With author and characters on such good form, there is no need for Rebus to go quite yet’ The Times
‘The plot is another Rankin corker, complex yet convincing, and played out on this occasion over only nine days against the backdrop of the G8 summit at Gleneagles, with its retinue of concerts and marches against poverty… The best crime novel you’ll read this year’ Sunday Telegraph.
‘The Naming of the Dead is Ian Rankin’s Exile on Main Street: His richest and most complex work to date’ Scotland on Sunday

First British Edition Orion (2006)

The Naming of the Dead
July 2005, and the entire globe is watching Scotland.
The assorted leaders of the G8 countries have gathered in the capital and with daily marches, demonstrations and scuffles on the streets, the police are stretched to the limit. But one detective is still deemed surplus to requirements, DI John Rebus has been sidelined for fear of embarrassing his superiors at this most crucial time. However, all that changes when the night-time plunge of a young politician from the walls of Edinburgh Castle drags Rebus back onto centre stage. Suicide must be proved, and quickly, to avoid distraction from the main event.
But that case is swiftly superseded by another - more deadly - threat. A series of mysterious clues left in the woods near an ancient ‘clootie well’ outside Edinburgh start to point to a serial killer on the loose - a murderer who specializes in taking out newly-released rapists. The most alarming aspect for Rebus’s bosses, though, is that the well is a stone’s throw from Gleneagles itself.
The authorities are keen to hush up both issues, for fear of overshadowing a meeting of global importance. But Robes has never been one to stick to the rules, and when his colleague Siobhan Clarke finds herself hunting down the identity of the riot cop who assaulted her mother, it looks as though Rebus and Clarke may be pitted on both sides of the conflict and before the end of this monumental week, they each have to make decisions that will affect them forever …
The Naming of the Dead is both the stunning new novel from Number 1 bestseller Ian Rankin, and a potent mix of action and politics set against a backdrop of the most devastating week in recent British history.

`I got the idea for The Naming of the Dead in June 2005. I had started reading lots of media scare stories about the forthcoming G8 meeting of world leaders in Scotland, and thought the whole G8 week might make an intriguing backdrop to a novel. It also amused me that amidst rumours of police reinforcements, limitless overtime for cops, etc, Rebus would be the one detective left out of proceedings - there was no way his bosses would want such a troublemaker anywhere near the G8. I stayed in Edinburgh during the whole of G8 week, taking notes, and then headed off on holiday to an area of Scotland north of Inverness called the Black Isle. Had a whale of a time, and also came across a creepy spot called the Clootie Well. It’s a glade with a small spring emerging from the ground, and local people down the years have left pieces of clothing there for luck - the trees were draped with decaying t-shirts and pants and socks; all very strange. I thought: what a great place for a body! But Black Isle was too remote to make it accessible to Rebus, so I decided to ‘move’ the Clootie Well to Auchterarder, home of Gleneagles (which just happened to be where the G8 leaders had met). Suddenly, Rebus had a reason for visiting the G8... the story was up and running.‘ Ian Rankin

Paperback - Orion (2006)

First British Edition Orion (2005)

Rebus's Scotland
A Personal Journey
Photographed by Tricia Malley and Ross Gillespie
On 4 July 1985, Ian Rankin finished the first draft of a novel called Knots & Crosses. It would be the first in a series set in contemporary Scotland and featuring Detective Inspector John Rebus. In his diary at the time. Rankin, then a twenty-five-year-old university student, described the completed work as ‘a hundred and sixty pages of drivel’. Now, twenty years on, Rebus has taken on iconic status, and Rankin has achieved national and international renown, selling over six million copies of his books in the UK alone.
In Rebus’s Scotland, Ian Rankin offers exclusive insights into the world of his books. It’s a look at the world Rebus inhabits, but also the place he came from - the rural Scotland of Rankin’s childhood. In writing his own autobiography, the author unlocks the secrets of what makes John Rebus tick. Everything from rock music to religious bigotry is explored in this. Rankin’s first work of book-length non-fiction. In-jokes are explained, the genesis of characters such as Big Ger Cafferty and Siobhan Clarke revealed, and the complex machine of present-day Scotland, warts and all comes under scrutiny by a writer famed for his scalpel-like uncovering of hidden truths.
The book is stunningly illustrated throughout with photographs that reflect the places that Rebus inhabits. Tricia Malley and Ross Gillespie have worked with lan Rankin on his covers for many years now. and have a unique insight into the places that have inspired him.
'This is partly my autobiography, part biography of Rebus and partly a book about modern-day Scotland, where it's going and where it came from' Ian Rankin
Tricia Malley and Ross Gillespie, collectively known as broad daylight, have worked together for the last fifteen years. They have produced two major photographic exhibitions, some of the work being held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery, London. They have won numerous photographic awards and since 1999 provided the photos for the covers of Ian Rankin’s novels. They live in Edinburgh.

First British Edition Orion (2005)

The Complete Short Stories
Over the years, Ian Rankin has amassed an incredible portfolio of short stories. Published in crime magazines, composed for events, broadcast on radio, they all share the best qualities of his phenomenally popular novels. Now Ian Rankin’s two critically acclaimed short story collections - A Good Hanging and Beggars Banquet - come together in one volume for the first time, along with Atonement, a blistering new Rebus story written especially for this collection.
A Good Hanging
Twelve Inspector Rebus mysteries, including the hanging of a student during the Edinburgh Festival, a gruesome arson attack and the apparent witnessing of a miracle. Step off the tourist trail and into the macabre heart of Rebus’s Edinburgh.
Beggars Banquet
Ranging from the suburban murders of loved ones to the sinister workings of a serial killer’s mind, and from a bent cop with a terminal approach to his work, to a hitman who gets more than he bargained for in a crowded fairground; here are twenty-one tales that all bear the hallmark of great crime writing. The collection includes seven Inspector Rebus mysteries, and the Dagger award-winning story Herbert in Motion.
'Rankin continues to be unsurpassed among living British crime writers' The Times
‘Rankin forays into snort stories to exhilarating effect’ Sunday Times
‘Rankin is the master of his craft’ Independent on Sunday
`There is not a dud in the pack, with each story perfectly judged and bearing all the hallmarks of a writer at the peak of his powers’ Time Out

Paperback - Orion (2005)

Fleshmarket Close
An illegal immigrant is found murdered in an Edinburgh housing scheme: a racist attack, or something else entirely? Rebus is drawn into the case, but has other problems: his old police station has closed for business, and his masters would rather he retire than stick around. But Rebus is that most stubborn of creatures. As he investigates, he must visit an asylum-seekers’ detention centre, deal with the sleazy Edinburgh underworld, and maybe even fall in love ...
Siobhan, meanwhile, has problems of her own. A teenager has disappeared from home and Siobhan is drawn into helping the family, which will mean travelling closer than is healthy towards the web of a convicted rapist. Then there’s the small matter of the two skeletons - a woman and an infant - found buried beneath a concrete cellar floor in Fleshmarket Close. The scene begins to look like an elaborate stunt - but whose, and for what purpose? And how does it tie into a murder on the unforgiving housing scheme known as Knoxland?
I Fleshmarket Close explores what it means to a society when shared heritage is lost beneath uglier aspects of our nature: greed, mistrust, violence and exploitation. It is a true state of the nation novel, and one of Rebus’s most personal cases yet.
‘No one writes more gripping stories than Rankin; his imagination peoples Edinburgh the way Balzac’s fantasy did Paris’ TLS
'One of Britain's leading novelists in any genre' New Statesman

About The Author
In His Own Words…
Born in Cardenden, Fife, Scotland In 1960. Attended local comprehensive school, then went on to University of Edinburgh. MA in English Literature (specialising in US Literature). Then started studying towards a PhD in the Modern Scottish Novel, but wrote my own stuff instead. Early "successes" were with poetry and the short story. One story raged out of control and became, my first novel, The Flood.
Married in 1986 and moved to London. Worked as a secretary at the National Folktale Centre, then as a journalist (rising to acting editor) on monthly music magazine hi-fi Review. Dropped out in 1990 and moved to the French countryside. This pastoral idyll failed to stop me writing dark, dark fictions.
Was elected a Hawthornden Fellow in 1988. Won Chandler-Fullbright Award in 1992. Won CWA Short Story Dagger in 1994 (or was it '95?); same story shortlisted for 1995 Anthony award. Won the Short Story 'Dagger' again in 1996, and celebrated by moving back to Scotland.
Two sons, Jack and Kit. Er.....that's it.

Ian Rankin is the recipient of honorary degrees from the universities of Abertay, St Andrews and Edinburgh.
A contributor to BBC2’s ‘Newsnight Review’, he also presented his own TV series ‘Ian Rankin’s Evil Thoughts’, on Channel 4 in 2002. His most recent novel, Resurrection Men, was a Sunday Times Number One bestseller in both hardback and paperback. He recently received the OBE for services to literature, opting to receive the prize in his home city of Edinburgh.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

Exit Music (Orion, 2007) Sep 07 (John Rebus)

The Naming of the Dead (Orion, 2006) Orion Pbk Jul 07 (John Rebus)

Rebus's Scotland (Orion, 2005) Orion Pbk Jun 06 (John Rebus)

The Complete Short Stories (Orion, 2005)

Fleshmarket Close (Orion, 2004) Orion Pbk Apr 05

A Question of Blood (Orion, 2003) Orion Pbk Apr 04

Beggars Banquet (Orion, 2002)

Resurrection Men (Orion, 2002) (John Rebus)

The Falls (Orion, 2001) Orion Pbk Nov 01 (John Rebus)

Rebus: The St Leonard's Years (Orion, 2001) Orion Pbk Dec 01 (John Rebus)

Set in Darkness (Orion, 2000) (John Rebus)

Rebus: The Early Years (Orion, 1999)

Dead Souls (Orion, 1999) Orion Pbk Oct 99

Death Is Not The End (Orion, 1998)

The Hanging Garden (Orion, 1998) Orion Pbk 1998 (John Rebus)

Black and Blue (Orion, 1997) Orion Pbk 1998 (John Rebus)

Herbert In Motion and other stories Short Stories (Revolver Pbk, 1997)

Let it Bleed (Orion, 1996) Simon & Schuster 96 (This edition may have a different ending to the UK edition.) Orion 1996 (John Rebus)

Bloodhunt (Headline, 1995) as Jack Harvey

Mortal Causes (Orion, 1994) Pbk Simon & Schuster US Orion 1994 Orion Pbk 1997 (John Rebus)

Bleeding Hearts (Headline, 1994) as Jack Harvey

Witch Hunt (Headline, 1993) as Jack Harvey

The Black Book (Orion, 1993) Pbk Otto Penzler US Orion Pbk 1997 (John Rebus)

Tooth & Nail (Century, 1992) Orion Pbk 1998 (John Rebus)

A Good Hanging and Other Stories Short Stories (Century, 1992) short stories Orion Pbk 1998 (John Rebus)

Strip Jack (Orion, 1992) Pbk St Martin's US (John Rebus)

Wolfman (Century, 1992) St Martin's Pbk US As "Tooth & Nail" (John Rebus)

Hide and Seek (Barrie & Jenkins, 1991) Otto Penzler US (John Rebus)

Watchman (Bodley Head, 1988) Doubleday US Westwind - Barrie & Jenkins 1990 Orion Dec 03

Knots and Crosses (Bodley Head, 1987) New York Orion Mar 07 (John Rebus)

The Flood (Polygon, 1986) Orion Sep 05