British · b. 1960
Ian Rankin is Scotland's bestselling crime novelist and a leading figure of 'Tartan noir,' celebrated for his long-running Inspector Rebus series and the Malcolm Fox novels, set in a dark, vividly realized Edinburgh.
Ian Rankin introduced the hard-drinking, rule-bending Edinburgh detective John Rebus in Knots and Crosses (1987), and over more than twenty novels built one of the most acclaimed series in modern crime fiction, defining the dark, socially conscious strand of Scottish crime writing known as “Tartan noir.”
His Rebus books — including Black and Blue, The Falls, and many others — combine intricate plotting, a powerful sense of Edinburgh’s history and divisions, and a complex, compelling central character. He has also written the Malcolm Fox novels, beginning with The Complaints, featuring a quieter internal-affairs detective, and various standalone works.
Winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger and many other honors, Rankin is recognized as one of the world’s leading crime novelists and the foremost chronicler of his native Edinburgh’s shadows.
by Ian Rankin
Rebus investigates a murder that connects to the unsolved Bible John killings of the 1960s while simultaneously investigating the oil industry in Aberdeen and a copycat killer. The book that won the Gold Dagger and established Rebus as a major series.
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by Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin's twelfth Inspector Rebus novel. When a wealthy Edinburgh student vanishes, John Rebus follows two strange clues — a tiny carved coffin found in a village called Falls, and an online role-playing game run by an enigmatic 'Quizmaster' — into a dark, intricate investigation.
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by Ian Rankin
Edinburgh detective John Rebus investigates a series of murders of young girls while receiving taunting messages from a person who seems to know his past. The first Inspector Rebus novel — shorter and darker than the later series, more psychological thriller than police procedural.
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by Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin's gripping introduction to Malcolm Fox. Fox works for Edinburgh's Complaints department — the cops who investigate other cops — until an investigation into a colleague drags him into a web of corruption, murder, and conspiracy that turns the hunter into the hunted.
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Where to start with Ian Rankin — whether to begin with Knots and Crosses or Black and Blue. A complete reading guide to the Scottish crime novelist.
guide
All 24 Inspector Rebus novels in order, plus the Malcolm Fox series. Where to start, which books won awards, and why Rankin's Edinburgh crime fiction defines the tartan noir genre.
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