title: Ian Rankin and Inspector Rebus: The Official Story of the Bestselling Author and His Ruthless Detective
author:  Craig Cabell 
description: Edinburgh Insp. John Rebus is far and away the greatest creation of best-selling author Ian Rankin, but neither the brooding, dogged detective nor his creator is well-served by this amateurish book. Cabell begins with an interesting premise: "I'm simply interested in the man and his creation here and the parallels between them." There are parallels, and Cabell strives mightily to unearth how Rankin developed his popular character (Rebus was "retired" in the 2007 novel Exit Music) through a combination of close reading of the books and interviews. But the results are rarely satisfactory. The writing is sloppy, and the insight isn't insightful enough to really "explain" the riddle that is John Rebus. Some of the best observations come from Rankin himself ("I think Rebus joined the Police Force because it allowed him to be a voyeur-it allowed him to look into other people's lives rather than look into his own."). Cabell is better when he explores Rankin's other main character, Scotland, and, in particular, Edinburgh and the stark contrast between its public, tourist-friendly face and its background of crime and corruption. (He also provides some literary insight, pointing out the connections between Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Rankin novels Knots and Crosses and Hide and Seek.) The volume includes nice photos of Rankin and Rebus's Edinburgh haunts as well as summaries of Rankin TV shows and a Rankin bibliography. END
zlib_text: Ian Rankin  
  The Iconic Number One Bestseller
  
  ‘Whatever he writes, it will be worth reading … Rankin has redefined the
  genre’  
   _ **Guardian**_
  
  ‘Rankin is a phenomenon’  
   _ **Spectator**_
  
  ‘Britain’s No.1 crime writer’  
  _**Mirror**_
  
  ‘One of Britain’s leading novelists in any genre’  
   _ **New Statesman**_
  
  ‘Worthy of Agatha Christie at her best’  
   _ **Scotsman**_
  
  ‘Quite simply, crime writing of the highest order’  
   _ **Express**_
  
  ‘Unmatched in the field of British crime fiction’  
   _ **The Times**_
  
  ‘Delightful, impossible-to-fault crime writing from a virtuoso of the craft’  
  _**Daily Mail**_
  
  For my sisters,  
  Maureen and Linda
  
  ![](Images/image00170.jpeg)
  
  Contents
  
  Ian Rankin The Iconic Number One Bestseller
  
  Dedication
  
  Title Page
  
  Epigraph
  
  Introduction
  
  Part I
  
  > 1
  
  > 2
  
  > 3
  
  > 4
  
  > 5
  
  > 6
  
  > 7
  
  > 8
  
  > 9
  
  > 10
  
  Part II
  
  > 11
  
  > 12
  
  > 13
  
  > 14
  
  > 15
  
  > 16
  
  > 17
  
  Part III
  
  > 18
  
  > 19
  
  > 20
  
  > 21
  
  > 22
  
  > 23
  
  > 24
  
  Part IV
  
  > 25
  
  > 26
  
  > 27
  
  > 28
  
  > 29
  
  > 30
  
  > 31
  
  > 32
  
  