Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
News March 1998
1997 was Rebus's 'breakthrough year', or so everyone tells me. BLACK & BLUE was published in
January '97 and sold well, garnering some marvellous reviews. It was published in the US
in October, and did well there, too. I was in the US and Canada myself in October - as
participant in the Vancouver International Writers' Festival, followed by the Bouchercon
in Monterey. Came back to Edinburgh to find that BLACK & BLUE had
been shortlisted for the Gold Dagger. I tried not to let this interfere with my writing -
I was trying to plot/research yet another book - but it did. Then, in early December, it
was down to London for the CWA/Macallan banquet. I was stunned when it was announced that BLACK
& BLUE had won. Proceedings thereafter are somewhat hazy in my memory.…
I'd spent the summer/autumn on a hefty rewrite of THE HANGING GARDEN, which,
incredibly, is only the 
second Rebus novel actually to
have been written in Edinburgh. That book came out in January 1998, and looks like being
even more successful (saleswise) than BLACK & BLUE, penetrating
(albeit briefly) the UK top 10 bestseller lists. January was a busy month, for BLACK
& BLUE had been published in paperback, and sold well, too. Plus Orion Books
were busy putting out reprints/rejacketed editions of earlier Rebuses. This means there
are only two of the old titles left in the hard-to-find category - WOLFMAN
and A GOOD HANGING & OTHER STORIES. Both will be published in June
(along with the trade paperback edition of HANGING GARDEN). WOLFMAN
will be retitled TOOTH & NAIL (the US title, which I prefer to my
own...).
This will mean that all my Rebus titles will be in print, in a uniform edition, for the
first time ever. (They look great on the shelf, too.)
Not that you should wait for the paperback of HANGING GARDEN. Judging by
the prices collectors/dealers are paying, if I were you I'd snap up anything you can find.
One dealer in the US is asking $600 for my first novel THE FLOOD, but
even the hardback of BLACK & BLUE is fetching $150 signed.
Meantime, I toured in January/February, even slinking out of Scotland to do gigs in London
and Manchester. And Orion promise me another tour in June for the next batch of releases.
Oh goody. It all seems to be paying off though. I set a record recently, when six Rebus
titles were included in the Scottish top 10 bestseller list (a seventh was at number 11).
This beats previous records set by Irvine Welsh (four) and Iain Banks (five), and shows
how healthy the market is up here for crime fiction.
I was expecting a bit of a backlash on HANGING GARDEN actually. Having
won the Gold Dagger, I thought critics would be gunning for me. But the book's had some
tremendous reviews from the likes of The Times (Marcel Berlins), Mail
(Frances Fyfield), Telegraph (Mike Ripley), Manchester Evening
News (Val McDermid - see REVIEW),
etc, etc. Some people even suggest the book's better than BLACK & BLUE.
My US agent and publisher certainly think so.…
None of which is helping make the new one any easier to write. I had a December 97
deadline; missed it. Now have an extension till the end of April. I'm determined not to
miss that, but the book's proving difficult. Nothing to do with subject or research or
plot: it's all down to me worrying about people's expectations, and asking myself how I
can live up to them.…
Anyway, the working title is DEAD SOULS (book by Gogol, but more
pertinently a song by Joy Division). I won't say what it's about; I'm not absolutely sure
myself yet.
Other news: I'm working on a radio documentary
series for BBC Radio 4. It'll look at the police detective in fiction (as opposed to
amateur sleuths/PIs). Probably for broadcast sometime in the summer, when Radio 4 will
also be broadcasting a week of new short stories by me (if I ever get them written). And
for those of you lucky enough to live north of the border, June will see HANGING
GARDEN adapted for a reading on BBC Radio Scotland. I'm not abridging it myself
(no time) and don't know who'll be reading it, so can offer no other info.
The TV saga drags on. There was a flurry of activity in February, with the media
speculating over who'd be playing Rebus. Then last week one newspaper seemed to think the
whole project had fallen through. As far as I know at time of writing, Scottish Television
still have not presented the project to network centre. But they've got a 90-minute pilot
(based, I believe, on THE BLACK BOOK), and have been costing and casting.
That's as much as I know. Meantime, film companies have been showing an interest, too.
I'll keep you posted.
I'm going to be in New York at the end of April, to attend the Mystery Writers of
America awards banquet, BLACK & BLUE having been shortlisted
for best novel. Very strong shortlist (including James Lee Burke). I'll enjoy my time in
New York, but won't be taking an acceptance speech with me.…
As for the rest of the year. Well, I'll continue to visit libraries and writers' groups
(as long as they keep asking me) and will be in Manchester for the Waterstone's crime
convention (23 - 25 October). I've also been asked to lecture at Grenoble Summer School in
July: nice, as they might say on The Fast Show.…
Translations of the Rebus books continue to appear: Japanese, Latvian and Swedish are on
the way. Also, Orion are keen to do abridged audiotape versions. And speaking of Orion,
I'm signing a new 3-book deal with them, which means I'll be accompanying John Rebus into
the millenium.…
Footnote: if anyone's planning a trip to Edinburgh,
my favoured watering holes are the Oxford Bar (Young Street) and Swanny's (Causewayside).
Best fish and chips: Bratissani's on Clerk Street. I took a trip to Arden Street recently
for the first time in years. Someone's living in Rebus's flat, and they've got purple
ruche curtains and window-boxes. Dearie me...
News:April 1997
I moved back to Edinburgh (from France) in
September 1996, and immediately began work on a new Inspector Rebus novel, which is called
The Hanging Garden. I finished it mid-April ('97) and
am now waiting to hear what my agent and publisher think - always a nerve-wracking time.
Don't want to say too much about it, except that it deals with war crimes, a gang war, and
personal tragedy for Rebus. In other words. I'm putting him through it as usual, It'll
probably be published in January 1998. It was strange, writing Hanging
Garden in Edinburgh. Though my books are mainly set in the city, this was only
the second one actually to have been written here (the other being the first, Knots & Crosses).
Black & Blue, which was published in the UK
in January '97 (and will be released in the US in the Fall) has been my biggest success to
date. with rave reviews and excellent sales. The hardcover sold out within a week (and
reached The Sunday Times bestseller list), while the C-format paperback is now in
its third printing. The hardcover has also now been reprinted, albeit in very limited
supply. Things got off to a great start with Marcel Berlins, crime reviewer of The
Times, writing (on 4 January) that he doubted he would read a better crime novel all
year. The book is still - three and a half months on - featuring in the Scottish
bestseller list, where I'm about the only writer mentioned who isn't Iain Banks or Irvine
Welsh....
Having finished Hanging Garden, I then got busy on a
new radio play for BBC Radio
4. I've just finished it (though haven't yet found a title). It's a dark comedy/mystery
set in 1790s Edinburgh, and will be transmitted on the afternoon of Saturday 25 October. I
also recently spent a couple of days being followed around Edinburgh by a CBS news crew,
making a documentary on the Rebus novels for broadcast some Sunday morning in the Fall. We
had a great time.. filming a ceilidh band and dominoes tournament in the Oxford Bar;
touring the buried streets of the city (as featured in Mortal Causes); and getting a behind-the-scenes
look at life in a typical police station (St Leonard's - which is where Rebus works).
More news: having won the Crime
Writers' Association ‘Dagger’ (for best short story) two years out of three,
I've been put on the judging panel so they can keep me out of the frame this year.
Meantime, the early (unavailable) Rebus novels have now been bought up by my current UK
publishers, Orion, who will begin releasing paperback editions in August. They're also
doing new jackets for Mortal Causes and The Black Book, so the books will have a uniform look on the
bookshelves and will all be in print for the first time ever.
A TV company still has the option on 'Rebus'. 'Development Hell', I believe this is
called. Film companies have also expressed an interest, and Polygram will be bringing out
an abridged audiobook version of Black & Blue
- and they want me to do the reading. In late-August, I'm on a couple of panels at the
Edinburgh Book Festival and then in late-October I'll be on a panel at the Monterey
Bouchercon.
Finally, irony of ironies - having lived in France for six years without a sniff of being
translated there, as soon as I'd moved back to Scotland, an offer came in on two books.