hiː ɹˈoʊt nˈɑːts wɪððɪ aɪdˈiə ʌv ʌpdˈeɪɾɪŋ ɹˈɑːbɚt lˈuːi stˈiːvɛnsənz dˈɑːktɚ. dʒˈɛkɪl ænd mˈɪstɚ. hˈaɪd ˌɪntʊ ðˈɛnmˈɑːdɚn ˈɛdɪnbʌɹə, wɪð ɹᵻbjˈuːz æz ðə dʒˈɛkɪl fˈɪɡjɚ ðə bˈʊk ɪmplˈaɪz fɚɹə wˈaɪl ðæt ɹᵻbjˈuːz hɪmsˈɛlf ɪz ʌnwˈɪɾɪŋli ðə kˈɪlɚ ænd hiː pˌʊt ɹᵻbjˈuːz ɪnðə sˈeɪm ɹˈoʊd, ˈɑːɹdən stɹˈiːt, ðæt hiː hɪmsˈɛlf wʌz lˈɪvɪŋ ˈɪn.
He wrote Knots with the idea of updating Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde into then-modern Edinburgh, with Rebus as the Jekyll figure (the book implies for a while that Rebus himself is unwittingly the killer) and he put Rebus in the same road, Arden Street, that he himself was living in.