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Author Profiles: Ian Rankin - Crime & Thrillers

Author Name: Ian Rankin

Brief Biography:

Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960, graduated from the University of Edinburgh, and then spent the next three years writing novels under the guise of working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. At least he was producing it if not studying it! His first Rebus novel, ‘Knots & Crosses’ was published in 1987, and since then the Rebus books have become so popular that they have been translated into 22 languages and are bestsellers across the globe. There are 17 novels starring Inspector John Rebus, and such is his popularity that there was a furore when he reach retirement age! You can do Rebus tours around his home city of Edinburgh, and visit the Oxford Bar in Young Street to experience Rebus’ local first hand. Such is the impact of this fictional character that he has almost crossed the fence from fiction into reality. In fact, he has been brought to life very effectively by the likes of John Hannah and Ken Stott on television, both excellent casting choices.

Ian Rankin - Author.
After the sad retirement of Inspector Rebus what next? Well, in September 2008 “Doors Open” will be published in hardback and on CD, Ian Rankin’s first stand-alone thriller for over a decade. Still set in Edinburgh but a very different Edinburgh than that inhabited by Rebus, where Mike Mackenzie is a self-made man looking for stimulation in the form of planning and executing the crime that never happened.

Ian Rankin has won numerous awards and honorary degrees, and in 2002 was awarded the OBE for services to literature. He is a contributor to BBC2’s ‘Newsnight Review’ and has also presented his own TV series, ‘Ian Rankin’s Evil Thoughts’. Ian Rankin lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two sons.

Interesting snippets:

Since graduating from the University of Edinburgh Ian Rankin was employed as a grape-picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist and punk musician, before achieving success in writing novels.

Bibliography:

Rebus Novels in paperback:

Book 17: ‘Exit Music’
Book 16: ‘The Naming of the Dead’
Book 15: ‘Fleshmarket Close’
Book 14: ‘A Question of Blood’
Book 13: ‘Resurrection Men’
Book 12: ‘The Falls’
Book 11: ‘Set in Darkness’
Book 10: ‘Dead Souls’
Book 9: ‘The Hanging Garden’
Book 8: ‘Black and Blue’
Book 7: ‘Let it Bleed’
Book 6: ‘Mortal Causes’
Book 5: ‘The Black Book’
Book 4: ‘Strip Jack’
Book 3: ‘Tooth and Nail’
Book 2: ‘Hide and Seek’
Book 1: ‘Knots and Crosses’

The Jack Harvey novels:

Book 3: ‘Cold Blood’
Book 2: ‘Bleeding Hearts’
Book 1: ‘Witch Hunt’

Other Novels:

Beggars Banquet
Watchman
The Flood
Westwind
Jackie Leven Said
The Complaints, 2009

Prizes and Awards:

1997, Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction, for Black and Blue
2002, The Edgar Award, for Resurrection Men
2005, CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger, for Rebus’ Scotland: A Personal Journey
2007, ITV3 Crime Thriller Award, for Exit Music

 
 
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