Ian Rankin Books

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Ian James Rankin is a Scottish writer of crime novels, best known for authoring the Inspector Rebus series novels.

Ian Rankin OBE is a Scottish author who rose to prominence due to his Rebus series of novels. Rankin deals primarily in the realm of crime fiction, and most of his books are based in his home country of Scotland, with Rankin setting his Rebus series of novels primarily in the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh, where he studies in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and where he later returned. As well as resounding commercial success, Rankin has also achieved great critical success, picking up several awards and nominations, as well as several honorary doctorates along the way.

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Book Notification

Order of Inspector Rebus Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Knots and Crosses 1987 Description / Buy
2 Hide and Seek 1991 Description / Buy
3 Tooth and Nail / Wolfman 1992 Description / Buy
4 Strip Jack 1992 Description / Buy
5 The Black Book 1993 Description / Buy
6 Mortal Causes 1994 Description / Buy
7 Let It Bleed 1995 Description / Buy
8 Black and Blue 1997 Description / Buy
9 The Hanging Garden 1998 Description / Buy
10 Dead Souls 1999 Description / Buy
11 Set in Darkness 2000 Description / Buy
12 The Falls 2001 Description / Buy
13 Resurrection Men 2002 Description / Buy
14 A Question of Blood 2003 Description / Buy
15 Fleshmarket Alley / Fleshmarket Close 2004 Description / Buy
16 The Naming of the Dead 2006 Description / Buy
17 Exit Music 2007 Description / Buy
18 Standing in Another Man's Grave 2012 Description / Buy
19 Saints of the Shadow Bible 2013 Description / Buy
20 Even Dogs in the Wild 2015 Description / Buy
21 Rather Be the Devil 2016 Description / Buy
22 In a House of Lies 2018 Description / Buy
23 A Song for the Dark Times 2020 Description / Buy
24 A Heart Full of Headstones 2022 Description / Buy
25 Midnight and Blue 2024 Description / Buy

Order of Inspector Rebus Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 A Good Hanging 1992 Description / Buy
2 Death is Not the End (Short Story) 1998 Description / Buy
3 A Good Hanging and Other Stories 2003 Description / Buy
4 In the Nick of Time (Short Story) ( With: Peter James) 2014 Description / Buy
5 The Beat Goes On 2014 Description / Buy
6 Long Shadows (Play) 2019 Description / Buy

Order of Jack Harvey Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Witch Hunt 1993 Description / Buy
2 Blood Hunt 1995 Description / Buy
3 Bleeding Hearts 2001 Description / Buy

Order of Malcolm Fox Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Complaints 2009 Description / Buy
2 The Impossible Dead 2011 Description / Buy

Order of Jack Laidlaw Series with William McIlvanney

# Read Title Published Details
1 Laidlaw ( By: William McIlvanney) 1977 Description / Buy
2 The Papers of Tony Veitch ( By: William McIlvanney) 1983 Description / Buy
3 Strange Loyalties ( By: William McIlvanney) 1991 Description / Buy
4 The Dark Remains ( With: William McIlvanney) 2021 Description / Buy
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Order of Ian Rankin Standalone Novels

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Flood 1986 Description / Buy
2 Watchman 1988 Description / Buy
3 Westwind 1991 Description / Buy
4 Doors Open 2008 Description / Buy

Order of Ian Rankin Short Stories/Novellas

# Read Title Published Details
1 A Deep Hole (Short Story) 1994 Description / Buy
2 A Cool Head (Short Story) 2009 Description / Buy
3 Meet and Greet (Short Story) 2016 Description / Buy
4 The Rise 2023 Description / Buy

Order of Ian Rankin Plays

# Read Title Published Details
1 Dark Road 2014 Description / Buy

Order of Ian Rankin Short Story Collections

# Read Title Published Details
1 Beggars Banquet 2002 Description / Buy

Order of Ian Rankin Non-Fiction Books

# Read Title Published Details
1 Rebus's Scotland 2005 Description / Buy

Order of Hellblazer Graphic Novels

# Read Title Published Details
1 Dangerous Habits ( By: Jamie Delano) 1991 Description / Buy
2 Bloodlines ( By: Garth Ennis, William Simpson) 1991 Description / Buy
3 Fear and Loathing ( By: Garth Ennis) 1993 Description / Buy
4 Damnation's Flame ( By: Garth Ennis) 1993 Description / Buy
5 The Fear Machine ( By: Jamie Delano) 1998 Description / Buy
6 Hard Time (Short Story) ( By: Brian Azzarello) 2000 Description / Buy
7 Freezes Over ( By: Brian Azzarello) 2001 Description / Buy
8 Good Intentions (Short Story) ( By: Brian Azzarello) 2002 Description / Buy
9 Son of Man (Short Story) ( By: Garth Ennis) 2003 Description / Buy
10 Haunted ( By: Warren Ellis) 2003 Description / Buy
11 Setting Sun (Short Story) ( By: Warren Ellis) 2004 Description / Buy
12 Highwater ( By: Brian Azzarello) 2004 Description / Buy
13 Rare Cuts ( By: Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano) 2005 Description / Buy
14 All His Engines (Short Story) ( By: Mike Carey) 2005 Description / Buy
15 The Gift ( By: Mike Carey) 2006 Description / Buy
16 Lady Constantine (Short Story) ( By: Andy Diggle) 2006 Description / Buy
17 Papa Midnite (Short Story) ( By: Mat Johnson) 2006 Description / Buy
18 Empathy is the Enemy ( By: Denise Mina) 2006 Description / Buy
19 The Devil You Know ( By: Jamie Delano) 2007 Description / Buy
20 The Red Right Hand (Short Story) ( By: Denise Mina) 2007 Description / Buy
21 The Family Man ( By: Jamie Delano) 2008 Description / Buy
22 Joyride ( By: Andy Diggle) 2008 Description / Buy
23 The Laughing Magician (Short Story) ( By: Andy Diggle) 2008 Description / Buy
24 Dark Entries 2009 Description / Buy
25 The Roots of Coincidence (Short Story) ( By: Andy Diggle) 2009 Description / Buy
26 Scab (Short Story) ( By: Peter Milligan) 2009 Description / Buy
27 Hooked (Short Story) ( By: Peter Milligan) 2010 Description / Buy
28 India (Short Story) ( By: Peter Milligan) 2010 Description / Buy
29 Bloody Carnations ( By: Peter Milligan) 2011 Description / Buy
30 Original Sins ( By: John Ridgway, Jamie Delano) 2011 Description / Buy
31 Phantom Pains ( By: Peter Milligan) 2012 Description / Buy
32 The Devil's Trenchcoat ( By: Peter Milligan) 2012 Description / Buy
33 Death and Cigarettes ( By: Peter Milligan) 2013 Description / Buy
34 Tainted Love ( By: Garth Ennis) 2014 Description / Buy
35 Shoot ( By: Brian Azzarello) 2014 Description / Buy
36 Rake at the Gates of Hell ( By: Garth Ennis) 2014 Description / Buy
37 Critical Mass ( By: Paul Jenkins) 2014 Description / Buy
38 In The Line Of Fire ( By: Paul Jenkins) 2015 Description / Buy
39 Last Man Standing ( By: Paul Jenkins) 2015 Description / Buy
40 How to Play with Fire ( By: Sean Phillips) 2016 Description / Buy
41 The Wild Card ( By: Mike Carey) 2017 Description / Buy
42 Out of Season ( By: Mike Carey) 2017 Description / Buy
43 30th Anniversary Celebration ( By: Neil Gaiman, Paul Jenkins, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis) 2018 Description / Buy
44 Systems of Control ( By: Mike Carey) 2019 Description / Buy
45 Regeneration ( By: Peter Milligan) 2020 Description / Buy
46 No Future ( By: Peter Milligan) 2020 Description / Buy
47 Sectioned ( By: Peter Milligan, Si Spencer) 2021 Description / Buy
48 Another Season ( By: Peter Milligan) 2021 Description / Buy
49 The Curse of the Constantines ( By: Peter Milligan) 2022 Description / Buy
+ Show All Books in this Series

Order of Bibliomysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Book of Virtue ( By: Ken Bruen) 2012 Description / Buy
2 Pronghorns of the Third Reich (Short Story) ( By: C.J. Box) 2012 Description / Buy
3 The Book Thing ( By: Laura Lippman) 2012 Description / Buy
4 The Book Case ( By: Nelson DeMille) 2012 Description / Buy
5 An Acceptable Sacrifice ( By: Jeffery Deaver) 2012 Description / Buy
6 Death Leaves a Bookmark (Short Story) ( By: William Link) 2012 Description / Buy
7 The Final Testament (Short Story) ( By: Peter Blauner) 2013 Description / Buy
8 Rides a Stranger (Short Story) ( By: David Bell) 2013 Description / Buy
9 The Long Sonata of the Dead (Short Story) ( By: Andrew Taylor) 2013 Description / Buy
10 The Book of Ghosts (Short Story) ( By: Reed Farrel Coleman) 2013 Description / Buy
11 The Compendium of Srem (Short Story) ( By: F. Paul Wilson) 2014 Description / Buy
12 What's in a Name? (Short Story) ( By: Thomas H. Cook) 2014 Description / Buy
13 Remaindered (Short Story) ( By: Peter Lovesey) 2014 Description / Buy
14 The Sequel (Short Story) ( By: R.L. Stine) 2014 Description / Buy
15 The Gospel of Sheba (Short Story) ( By: Lyndsay Faye) 2014 Description / Buy
16 Book Club (Short Story) ( By: Loren D. Estleman) 2014 Description / Buy
17 The Nature of My Inheritance (Short Story) ( By: Bradford Morrow) 2014 Description / Buy
18 It's in the Book (Short Story) ( By: Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane) 2014 Description / Buy
19 The Scroll (Short Story) ( By: Anne Perry) 2014 Description / Buy
20 The Book of the Lion (Short Story) ( By: Thomas Perry) 2015 Description / Buy
21 The Little Men (Short Story) ( By: Megan Abbott) 2015 Description / Buy
22 Condor in the Stacks (Short Story) ( By: James Grady) 2015 Description / Buy
23 Mystery, Inc. (Short Story) ( By: Joyce Carol Oates) 2015 Description / Buy
24 Every Seven Years (Short Story) ( By: Denise Mina) 2015 Description / Buy
25 From the Queen (Short Story) ( By: Carolyn Hart) 2015 Description / Buy
26 From the Queen (Short Story) ( By: Carolyn Hart) 2015 Description / Buy
27 The Travelling Companion 2016 Description / Buy
28 Citadel (Short Story) ( By: Stephen Hunter) 2016 Description / Buy
29 Reconciliation Day (Short Story) ( By: Christopher Fowler) 2016 Description / Buy
30 Dead Dames Don't Sing (Short Story) ( By: John Harvey) 2016 Description / Buy
31 The Haze (Short Story) ( By: James W. Hall) 2016 Description / Buy
32 Hoodoo Harry (Short Story) ( By: Joe R. Lansdale) 2017 Description / Buy
33 The Pretty Little Box (Short Story) ( By: Charles Todd) 2018 Description / Buy
34 Seven Years (Short Story) ( By: Peter Robinson) 2018 Description / Buy
35 The Hemingway Valise ( By: Robert Olen Butler) 2018 Description / Buy
36 The Last Honest Horse Thief ( By: Michael Koryta) 2018 Description / Buy
37 The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository ( By: John Connolly) 2018 Description / Buy
38 The Girl Who Did Say No (Short Story) ( By: David Handler) 2020 Description / Buy
39 The Traitor (Short Story) ( By: Martin Edwards) 2022 Description / Buy
40 The Dark Door ( By: Lisa Unger) 2022 Description / Buy
41 The Honeymoon Trap (Short Story) ( By: Peter Swanson) 2022 Description / Buy

Chronological Order of Bibliomysteries Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Book of Virtue ( By: Ken Bruen) 2012 Description / Buy
2 The Scroll (Short Story) ( By: Anne Perry) 2014 Description / Buy
3 Pronghorns of the Third Reich (Short Story) ( By: C.J. Box) 2012 Description / Buy
4 An Acceptable Sacrifice ( By: Jeffery Deaver) 2012 Description / Buy
5 Death Leaves a Bookmark (Short Story) ( By: William Link) 2012 Description / Buy
6 Seven Years (Short Story) ( By: Peter Robinson) 2018 Description / Buy
7 The Book Thing ( By: Laura Lippman) 2012 Description / Buy
8 The Book of Ghosts (Short Story) ( By: Reed Farrel Coleman) 2013 Description / Buy
9 Book Club (Short Story) ( By: Loren D. Estleman) 2014 Description / Buy
10 The Long Sonata of the Dead (Short Story) ( By: Andrew Taylor) 2013 Description / Buy
11 The Final Testament (Short Story) ( By: Peter Blauner) 2013 Description / Buy
12 Rides a Stranger (Short Story) ( By: David Bell) 2013 Description / Buy
13 What's in a Name? (Short Story) ( By: Thomas H. Cook) 2014 Description / Buy
14 It's in the Book (Short Story) ( By: Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane) 2014 Description / Buy
15 The Nature of My Inheritance (Short Story) ( By: Bradford Morrow) 2014 Description / Buy
16 Remaindered (Short Story) ( By: Peter Lovesey) 2014 Description / Buy
17 The Compendium of Srem (Short Story) ( By: F. Paul Wilson) 2014 Description / Buy
18 The Gospel of Sheba (Short Story) ( By: Lyndsay Faye) 2014 Description / Buy
19 The Sequel (Short Story) ( By: R.L. Stine) 2014 Description / Buy
20 The Book of the Lion (Short Story) ( By: Thomas Perry) 2015 Description / Buy
21 The Little Men (Short Story) ( By: Megan Abbott) 2015 Description / Buy
22 From the Queen (Short Story) ( By: Carolyn Hart) 2015 Description / Buy
23 Every Seven Years (Short Story) ( By: Denise Mina) 2015 Description / Buy
24 Citadel (Short Story) ( By: Stephen Hunter) 2016 Description / Buy
25 Condor in the Stacks (Short Story) ( By: James Grady) 2015 Description / Buy
26 Mystery, Inc. (Short Story) ( By: Joyce Carol Oates) 2015 Description / Buy
27 The Travelling Companion 2016 Description / Buy
28 The Haze (Short Story) ( By: James W. Hall) 2016 Description / Buy
29 Dead Dames Don't Sing (Short Story) ( By: John Harvey) 2016 Description / Buy
30 Reconciliation Day (Short Story) ( By: Christopher Fowler) 2016 Description / Buy
31 Hoodoo Harry (Short Story) ( By: Joe R. Lansdale) 2017 Description / Buy
32 The Pretty Little Box (Short Story) ( By: Charles Todd) 2018 Description / Buy
33 The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository ( By: John Connolly) 2018 Description / Buy
34 The Hemingway Valise ( By: Robert Olen Butler) 2018 Description / Buy
35 The Last Honest Horse Thief ( By: Michael Koryta) 2018 Description / Buy
36 The Book Case ( By: Nelson DeMille) 2012 Description / Buy
37 From the Queen (Short Story) ( By: Carolyn Hart) 2015 Description / Buy
38 The Girl Who Did Say No (Short Story) ( By: David Handler) 2020 Description / Buy
39 The Traitor (Short Story) ( By: Martin Edwards) 2022 Description / Buy
40 The Dark Door ( By: Lisa Unger) 2022 Description / Buy
41 The Honeymoon Trap (Short Story) ( By: Peter Swanson) 2022 Description / Buy
+ Show All Books in this Series

Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season 2016 Description / Buy
2 Murder on Christmas Eve 2017 Description / Buy
3 A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season 2018 Description / Buy
4 Murder at Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season 2019 Description / Buy
5 Murder on a Winter's Night 2021 Description / Buy
6 Murder in the Falling Snow 2022 Description / Buy
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Order of Mysterious Profiles Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Rambo ( By: David Morrell) 2022 Available at mysteriousbookshop.com
2 Elvis Cole and Joe Pike ( By: Robert Crais) 2022 Description / Buy
3 Jack Taylor ( By: Ken Bruen) 2022 Description / Buy
4 Jack Reacher ( By: Lee Child) 2022 Description / Buy
5 Charlie Parker ( By: John Connolly) 2022 Description / Buy
6 Hieronymus Bosch ( By: Michael Connelly) 2022 Description / Buy
7 Lincoln Rhyme ( By: Jeffery Deaver) 2022 Description / Buy
8 Alex Delaware ( By: Jonathan Kellerman) 2022 Description / Buy
9 Tess Monaghan ( By: Laura Lippman) 2022 Description / Buy
10 Charlie Resnick ( By: John Harvey) 2022 Description / Buy
11 Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus ( By: Faye Kellerman) 2022 Description / Buy
12 Inspector Morse ( By: Colin Dexter) 2022 Description / Buy
13 Dismas Hardy ( By: John Lescroart) 2022 Description / Buy
14 Bob Lee Swagger ( By: Stephen Hunter) 2022 Description / Buy
15 Aloysius X. L. Pendergast ( By: Douglas Preston) 2022 Description / Buy
16 Lou Boldt (Short Story) ( By: Ridley Pearson) 2022 Description / Buy
17 Spenser ( By: Robert B. Parker) 2022 Description / Buy
18 Charlotte and Thomas Pitt ( By: Anne Perry) 2022 Description / Buy
19 John Rebus 2022 Description / Buy
20 Mallory ( By: Carol O'Connell) 2022 Description / Buy
21 Jane Whitefield (Short Story) ( By: Thomas Perry) 2022 Description / Buy
22 Ian Rutledge (Short Story) ( By: Charles Todd) 2022 Description / Buy
23 Amos Walker (Short Story) ( By: Loren D. Estleman) 2022 Description / Buy
24 Precious Ramotswe (Short Story) ( By: Alexander McCall Smith) 2022 Description / Buy
25 Maisie Dobbs (Short Story) ( By: Jacqueline Winspear) 2022 Description / Buy
26 The Lincoln Lawyer (Short Story) ( By: Michael Connelly) 2022 Description / Buy
27 Condor (Short Story) ( By: James Grady) 2023 Description / Buy
28 Ben Kincaid (Short Story) ( By: William Bernhardt) 2023 Description / Buy
29 Repairman Jack (Short Story) ( By: F. Paul Wilson) 2023 Description / Buy
30 Joe Pickett (Short Story) ( By: C.J. Box) 2024 Description / Buy
31 Peter Diamond (Short Story) ( By: Peter Lovesey) 2024 Description / Buy
32 Nathan Heller (Short Story) ( By: Max Allan Collins) 2024 Description / Buy
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Ian Rankin Anthologies

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Oxford Book of Detective Stories 2000 Description / Buy
2 Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them 2000 Description / Buy
3 The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 2000 Description / Buy
4 The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 2000 Description / Buy
5 The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction 2004 Description / Buy
6 One City 2005 Description / Buy
7 Dangerous Women 2005 Description / Buy
8 Crime Scenes Revisited: Scottish Popular Fiction 2006 Description / Buy
9 The Penguin Book of Crime Stories 2007 Description / Buy
10 Ox-Tales: Earth 2009 Description / Buy
11 Crimespotting 2009 Description / Buy
12 The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 2011 Description / Buy
13 The Best of Barcelona INK 2012 Description / Buy
14 The Killer Cookbook 2012 Description / Buy
15 OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crimewriters 2014 Description / Buy
16 FaceOff 2014 Description / Buy
17 Jawbreakers 2014 Description / Buy
18 Ten Year Stretch 2018 Description / Buy
19 First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books 2020 Description / Buy
20 Daggers Drawn 2021 Description / Buy
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Born in the town of Cardenden in the kingdom of Fife, Scotland, Ian Rankin is the son of a grocer and a school canteen worker. He began his education at Beat High School in the town of Cowdenbeath, before eventually moving on to Edinburgh University, where he studies literature, apparently to the chagrin of his parents who wanted him to pick up a more practical skill. Rankin graduated from Edinburgh University in 1982, and moved down south to London, and then further south to France for several years, trying to hone his craft while doing various low-skilled jobs and also as a musician in the punk bank the Dancing Pigs.

The first book Ian Rankin had published was not a book in his famous Inspector Rebus books, but, in fact, a novel entitled The Flood, which was released in 1986. It is a world away from Rankin’s later work, and is more a family drama, with the protagonist, Mary Miller, a single mother who has to come to terms with her tragic past, as well as the ongoing strife that is going on with her son who has fallen in love with the most unlikely girl.

One year later, in 1987, the first book in Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series of books was published, Knots and Crosses. However, it took Rankin some time to follow up with the next book in the Inspector Rebus series, as he instead went back to writing standalone novels – Watchman, which was published in 1988, and Westwind, which was published in 1990.

Four years after the publication of Rankin’s first book in the Inspector Rebus series, the second book in the series, Hide and Seek, was published in 1991. 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. The Black Book, the fifth book in the Inspector Rebus series, was published in 1993. However, it wasn’t until the eighth book in the Inspector Rebus series of novels was published, Black and Blue, that Rankin achieved critical recognition. Black and Blue won that year’s Crime Writers Association for Fiction.

Rankin continued almost yearly publication of Rebus books, with The Hanging Garden following on from Black and blue. Dead Souls was the tenth book in the Inspector Rebus series, followed by Set in Darkness and then The Falls, which was published in 2001. In 2002, the 13th book in the Inspector Rebus series, Resurrection Men, was released. It won Rankin the Edgar Award, which he had previously been nominated for in 1997 for Black and Blue had failed to win.

Ian Rankin continued writing the Inspector Rebus series until 2007, when Exit Music, the 17th book in the Inspector Rebus series was published. It won Rankin the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award, and was claimed to be the final chapter in the Inspector Rebus series. However, in 2012, Standing in Another Man’s Grave was released, featuring Inspector Rebus, and followed by Saints of the Shadow Bible and then Even Dogs in the Wild.

The later books in the Inspector Rebus series also feature Malcolm Fox, who Rankin introduced to us in The Complains, the first book in the Malcolm Fox series, which was published in 2008. The Impossible Dead, the second book in the Malcolm Fox series, was published. Rankin has seemingly merged both the Malcolm Fox and Inspector Rebus series as of Standing in Another Man’s Grave.

Rankin has also published a few standalone novels, as well as short story anthologies, which have also brought him great critical acclaim, but it will always be the Inspector Rebus series which Ian Rankin will be most loved for.

As well as writing under his own name, Ian Rankin has also had novels published under the pseudonym Jack Harvey, with three standalone novels published in the mid-’90s, Witch Hunt in 1993, Bleeding Hearts in 1994, and Blood Hunt in 1995.

As well as writing novels, Rankin is also a keen documentary maker, and has done several pieces for the BBC, as well as Channel 4, with them mainly revolving around his genre of crime. Rankin has written graphic novels, as well as the play Dark Road, which premiered in his home city of Edinburgh in 2013.

Born on 28th April 1960, Rankin has pointed out several times that he did NOT start off as a crime writer. But upon releasing “Knots and Crosses” and “Hide and Seek,” all of which were inspired by the Scottish traditions of Robert Stevenson and Muriel Spark, he considered becoming a crime writer after a further prompting from a renowned Scottish novelist by the name Allan Massie.

His Inspector Rebus series features some of his bestselling books, with ten novels from the series being adapted as a TV series that ran on ITV. Series 1 and 2 of the TV series were starred by John Hannah with series 3 to 5 being starred by Ken Scott.

In 2013, he partnered with Mark Thomson, with whom he co-wrote the Dark Road play, which served as his debut play-write. The play was premiered in September 2013 at the Lyceum theatre.

Ian Rankin Awards

Rankin has won so many awards than it can be listed in this article. Starting off in 1988, when he was elected a Hawthornden fellow, then in 1991 when he won the Chandler-Fulbright award, to winning 2012’s Specsavors National book award to name a few.

Up until now, Rankin has written an upward of 20 novels and quite a good number of short stories that make him one of the most prolific writers still alive.

Best Ian Rankin Books

Knots and Crosses: Inspector Rebus series is one of the most read books in the history of book series. It features one of his best-sellers, Knots and Crosses, which happen to be the first book in the series, as well as the first novel to be written by him—written in 1987 while he was still a postgraduate student at Edinburgh University.

In the novel’s Introduction, Rankin mentions that Rebus lived in Marchmont, directly at the opposite window from where he used to sit and write the book.

The story in “Knots and Crosses” revolves around Detective Rebus, whose city is terrorized by an unknown killer suspected to be behind a series of gruesome murders that have left every denizen of Edinburg scared to death.

Turns out Rebus is tied to the maniac by an unseen knot of blood.

In retrospect, Rebus once served as an elite SAS in Britain. Now he’s moved to Edinburgh, in what appears like an attempt to escape his past and may be hide from the memories that have been haunting him since he decided to give his life a fresh start.

Rebus is NOT lucky even at his new job. He keeps missing out on promotions, something that’s led to him ignoring the crank letters he keeps on receiving.

The ghoulish killing continue to mount, eliciting screaming tabloid headlines. This makes it hard for Rebus to continue ignoring the feverish shrieks coming from within, and this is not only because he’s the cop it’s part of his duty is to catch the killer and let the residents of Edinburg take a breather, but because he’s the only man who can crack the puzzle and unravel the truth. Will he manage? And how is he supposed to go on about it in his state?

Overall, Knot and Crosses is ranked atop in the list of the most interesting reads on crime. The book gives you a taste of the author’s knack in developing a story that you’ll want to read all the way to the end without putting the book down once started.

Hide and Seek: Written in 1991, Hide and Seek is the second book in the series. The first chapters of the book reintroduces us detective Rebus, who at the time happens to be examining a body belonging to an overdosed drug addict.

The body is laid out like a cross, on a floor between two almost burnt down candles. Painted on the wall is a five-pointed star.

Some of the Rebus teammates are quick to categorize the killings as a routine death of another junkie. But Rebus has gathered some unusual facts that’s making it hard for him to brush the case aside or take it as lightly as some of his colleagues are trying to.

The bruises on the victims face and body together with the full heroine package found at his place hint of something even graver than what’s being witnessed.

Rebus has to get to the bottom of it and bring everyone involved to justice. In doing so, lots of people must interviewed in the process, including a young woman going by the name of Tracy and who also happens to have known the dead man and heard him shouting “Hide! Hide!” just a few minutes before the time he’s thought to have been killed.

Ian Rankin FAQs

Q: Where was Ian Rankin born?

A: The author Ian Rankin was born in the Scottish town of Cardenden in the kingdom of Fife, just north of the capital city, Edinburgh, where the majority of Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series is set.

Q: What is the name of Ian Rankin’s first book?

A: The first book Ian Rankin had published was The Flood, which was published in 1986.

Q: Has Ian Rankin written under any other name?

A: In the mid-1990s, Ian Ranking wrote three books under the pen name of Jack Harvey.

When Does The Next Ian Rankin book come out?

Ian Rankin doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Midnight and Blue and was released on October, 15th 2024. It is the newest book in the Inspector Rebus Series.

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1 thought on “Ian Rankin”

  1. I am a big fan of Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series, mostly because of the main character John Rebus. He’s got a rakish sense of humor and a dry wit, he tries so hard to be unlikable as he not afraid of doing things his own way. Despite his best efforts, I like him. I like him a lot actually. So much that I am trying to work my way through this whole series.

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