Ian Rankin

The creator of the bestselling Inspector Rebus novels, Scottish author Ian Rankin has received numerous literary awards including an OBE for services to literature. ...

Born in Fife in 1960, Rankin studied literature at the University of Edinburgh, where he filled his time with penning short stories and poetry as much as studying. After publishing his debut novel The Flood in 1986 – just four years after graduating – he embarked on the first Inspector Rebus story, Knots & Crosses. Inspired in part by the duality of Jekyll and Hyde it sees the cynical, hard-drinking Rebus wrestling with his military past while investigating the strangulation of two young girls and becoming ever more conscious of the differences between himself and his apparently successful brother.

In addition to his strong characterization, Rankin’s decision to set the Inspector Rebus books in real time has been a factor in his popularity – over the course of almost four decades he has used the detective’s work to reflect changing attitudes to social issues including immigration, corruption and cybercrime and to introduce topics such as devolution. The release of Midnight & Blue in 2024 will see Rebus joining Edinburgh’s most deadly criminals and will bring the series to 25 books.

Rankin has also penned short stories featuring Rebus; seven standalone thrillers (three of which were published under the name Jack Harvey); two novels focusing on Malcolm Fox, who works in the police complaints department and whose path later crosses with that of Rebus; and The Dark Remains, a prequel to the Jack Laidlaw series that was left incomplete when William McIlvanney died in 2015.

With a string of awards and honorary doctorates already to his name, Rankin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and received a knighthood in 2022.