![]() And in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Honours list Ian was awarded an OBE for services to literature. He has also received two Honorary Doctorates from the University of Abertay Dundee and St. He won the Chandler Fulbright Award in 1991-1992 and has won umpteen awards from the Crime Writers’ Association, including two CWA Daggers for Short Stories, the CWA Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction and the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. Ian has won many awards for his writing and his contribution to literature. In 1988 Ian Rankin became a Hawthornden Fellow and was a guest of Hawthornden Castle Writer’s Retreat along with four other published writers, in Lasswade just outside Edinburgh. In London he started working at the National Folktale Centre before moving on to the ‘HI-FI Review’ as firstly, assistant editor and then editor. It was while Rankin was supposed to be reading for his PhD in English Literature that he started writing novels, the third of which would become the first in his Rebus series, Knots and Crosses.Īfter running out of funding for his post-graduate study, Ian found himself in London and married to Miranda Harvey, whom he had met at university. He never gave up on his writing, but did undertake a varied range of jobs while at university, including chicken factory worker, alcohol researcher (lucky man), grape picker and tax collector. Ian was always a prolific writer, having won prize for poetry before reaching university and more awards at university. It quickly becomes clear that all is not as it seems in this gilded young man’s life as Rebus wades through brothels, asylums and constant lies to uncover the truth following the disappearance of the MP’s wife.Ian Rankin grew up in Cardenden in Fife, where he was locally educated before going on to study at Edinburgh University. Strip Jack: This early Rebus novel is my favourite as it draws the character into the murky world of politics, where his hard hitting, tough talking ways are somewhat out of place as he investigates the framing of a young MP. A thrilling opener this novel makes for a great introduction to this exceptional character.ġ. He is soon thrust into a high stakes race against time as the killer decides to make things personal, and the detective is forced to confront his past in order to overcome his demons and retrieve the missing girls, one of whom is his own daughter. Knots and Crosses: The beginning is always a good place to start, and the Rebus series starts with a bang as we meet Detective Inspector John Rebus, who is hunting a child abductor and murderer. Through Rankin’s novels I am always incredibly surprised that Rebus is not simply fired from the force for his behaviour, but then I suppose that would make this an incredibly short series.Ģ. Rebus is on top form as he commits many derelictions of duty and blatantly flouts the rules in his quest for justice. ![]() The Black Book: Possibly one of the most twisted, confusing novels I have ever read, The Black Book skilfully guides the reader through a series of interlinked crimes without becoming convoluted or preposterous. ![]() Showcasing multiple settings, the novel seamlessly blends between them as Rebus races to uncover the, as ever, unsavoury truth.ģ. Black & Blue: On trial in more ways than one, and hunting what he suspects is a renowned serial killer, this novel shows us Rebus at his best backed in a corner with a murderer to catch. ![]() As ever, Rebus has to contend with a number of obstacles in his pursuit of justice as he battles to uncover the perpetrators a number of potentially related crimes.Ĥ. Fleshmarket Close: Touching on contemporary issues such as immigration and gang violence, Fleshmarket Close is an exciting novel with a strong, exhilarating plot. Check out my top five picks which are guaranteed to get you hooked.ĥ. Much like my all-time favourite fictional detective, Mankell’s Kurt Wallander, the reader is able to see the good and the bad of Rebus and really understand his actions. Although John Rebus is an alcoholic, womanising former solider with authority issues and a grumpy ex-wife (thereby encompassing just about every stereotype going), Rankin portrays his character with great skill, and the reader is able to get inside Rebus’s head and really understand his thought process. What really makes this novels stand out to me is their multi-dimensional protagonist. Whilst I’ll admit that haven’t kept up with the adventures of Ian Rankin’s dour Scottish detective over recent years, I have always enjoyed his escapades as he seeks to bring justice to the lawless Edinburgh streets. When I was younger, following on the heels of my obsession with Henning Mankell, I moved on to Ian Rankin and his brilliant Rebus novels.
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