Ian Rankin & Inspector Rebus (29 page)
10
Author interview
14 January 2002.
11
Author interview 26 July 2009.
12
See Rankin/Leven’s CD
Jackie Leven Said.
13
For a concert at Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, in August 2004, Rankin read a short (non-Rebus) story about a young man made good, who returns to his home in Fife to attend the funeral of his mother. Although
Jackie Leven Said
is not exactly autobiographical, it has tiny fragments of autobiography mixed
in with the fiction, such as being allowed to sneak into the cinema under age even though the ticker seller was a neighbour and knew he was under age. But there is a more important point: the isolation of the main character amongst his own kin. This seems to mirror Rankin’s own feelings of his formative years [
Jackie Leven Says – Jackie Leven and Ian Rankin
, Cooking Vinyl 2005].
14
Author interview
14 January 2002.
15
Author interview 14 January 2002.
16
Author interview 14 January 2002.
17
Author interview 14 January 2002.
18
Author interview 14 January 2002.
19
Author interview 14 January 2002
20
Author interview 26 July 2009.
21
Rebus’s Scotland – A Personal Journey (Orion, 2005).
22
Author interview 14 January 2002.
23
Author interview 14 January 2002.
24
From ‘The Tracks of
my Years’ by Andrew Preston,
Night & Day
, Association Newspapers, October 24 2004.
25
Author interview 26 July 2009.
26
Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a neuro-genetic disorder that occurs in 1 in 15,000 live births. AS is often misdiagnosed as Cerebral Palsy or Autism. Characteristics of AS include developmental delay, lack of speech, seizures, and walking and balance disorders. Individuals with
Angelman Syndrome will require life-long care.
www.angelman.org
;
www.angelmanuk.org
;
www.scotgen.orguk/documents/angelman.pdf
27
Strangely, when Rankin started a new series of books with
The Complaints
(Orion, 2009), he went back to using fictitious Edinburgh pubs out of loyalty to The Oxford Bar.
28
Author interview 26 July 2009.
29
Interestingly in 2004 Rankin told me – and other reporters
– that he would never consider re-issuing his first published novel
The Flood
, but did so later that year. He also went on to re-release his third published novel
Watchman.
30
All quite serious stuff at the time; if Rankin thought he was the next Frederick Forsyth is uncertain, however, it does go some way to show that he didn’t concentrate solely on Rebus after his initial idea in 1985.
31
It must be appreciated that there is much humour in the Rebus series; it maybe black humour, but it is there. Also, any interview with Rankin is light-hearted and fun, so comedy could be something he could naturally gravitate too, even today.
32
See Introduction to
The Flood
(Orion, 2005).
33
In 2009, Rankin contributed a short story to an anthology (in support of the One City Trust) called
Crimespotting
, published by Polygon.
34
Author interviews conducted 1999 and 2001 respectively.
35
It may explain why the reader didn’t find out more about Rebus’s character so early on; Rankin had already done it and kept it to himself!
36
It is noted that the latest Rebus paperbacks have special introductions nowadays but haven’t been meticulously re-edited for uniformity.
37
Author interview
11 November 2000.
38
Author interview 26 July 2009.
39
Superintendent Watson was nicknamed the Farmer because of his north of Scotland background and his, at times, agricultural methods (see ‘The Dean Curse’,
A Good Hanging and Other Stories
, Century, 1992).
40
Rankin has since stated that the one thing he really disliked about London was commuting.
41
When I spoke to editors and publicity
staff at Headline (and also Rankin and his agent) concerning the print run of the Jack Harvey books, I was told that a ballpark figure between 1,000 and 3,000 copies (probably nearer the latter) was printed for each Jack Harvey novel in hardback.
42
Author interview 26 July 2009.
43
Jacket blurb to first UK edition (Orion, 1993).
44
Author interview 26 July 2009.
45
If readers wish to know
more regarding the East End perception of the killing of Jack McVitie and other murders perpetrated by the Kray Twins, may I refer them to
Getting Away With Murder
, Lenny Hamilton with Craig Cabell (John Blake, 2007).
46
Rebus is also beaten black and blue in the novel!
47
Author interview 26 July 2009.
48
Author interview 26 July 2009.
49
Author interview 26 July 2009.
50
Something Rebus
doesn’t believe in but Rankin does.
51
] Author interview 26 July 2009
52
www.npia.police.uk
53
Author interview 14 January 2002.
54
Author interview 14 January 2002.
55
Author interview 14 January 2002.
56
The Evening News.
57
Author interview 20 August 2009.
58
Author interview March 2001.
59
Author interview March 2001.
60
Rankin has told me (author interview 5 November 2004) that
Frederick Forsyth ‘was an inspiration to me when I was a teenager – reading his thrillers and hoping I might even write my own one day.’ Something Rankin did as Jack Harvey and much earlier with
Watchman.
61
Author interview March 2001.
62
Author interview March 2001.
63
Author interview March 2001.
64
Author interview March 2002.
65
Author interview March 2002.
66
Author Interview March
2002.
67
Author interview 27 August 2003.
68
Author interview 27 August 2003.
69
Author interview 27 August 2003.
70
Author interview 22 September 2004.
71
Author interview 26 July 2009.
72
Author interview March 2001.
73
Author interview March 2002.
74
The cast and crew lists printed in Annex are taken directly from the beginning and end credits of the TV show and some inconsistencies
were noted regarding spelling of surnames. I have attempted to rationalise this to provide a uniform approach throughout.
75
The interviews used for this piece come from the author’s interviews with Rankin on 14 January 2002, 22 September 2004, 11 August 2005, 19 and 20 August 2009.
Ian Rankin, August 2009.
© Rex Features
Craig Cabell and Ian Rankin in conversation at the 2010 London Book Fair.
© Nathan Cabell
These wooden dolls, found at Arthur’s Seat in the 19th Century, provided inspiration for Rankin’s novel
The Falls,
one of the very best Rebus titles.
