History Literature / Rebus

Some of the books have been adapted for television, originally starring John Hannah, before Ken Stott took over the role, and others have been turned into radio plays for [[Creator/TheBBC Radio Four]]. There has also been a stage play (''Rebus: Long Shadows'') which premiered in 2018 and a 2020 video short called ''John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues'' -- the latter of which featured Creator/BrianCox as Rebus.

* ''Fleshmarket Close'' (2004) - American title ''Fleshmarket Alley''

The Rebus novels are a series of crime books written by Scottish writer Ian Rankin. They centre on Detective Inspector John Rebus, a cynical veteran policeman and former soldier who is divorced. The stories are mostly set in an Edinburgh several steps removed from what the tourists see -- although the third book, ''Tooth and Nail''', is set in London and other novels sometimes take Rebus to other parts of UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}.

* ''Black and Blue'' (1997)

* ''Resurrection Men'' (2002)

* ''Exit Music'' (2007)

* ''Even Dogs in the Wild'' (2015)

* AlwaysMurder: Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. Rebus deals with murders exclusively (well, a few cases start off as missing persons...) but as a senior detective, that is pretty much what his workload would be. However the short stories have him dealing with more mundane crimes, mainly theft.

* CelebrityParadox: The Oxford Bar in real life has a fair bit of Rebus memoribilia on the walls.

* CreatorCameo: Sort of. One of the many bands mentioned in the books is the Dancing Pigs, a student band that Rankin was a member of. In-universe, they make it to the big time to the point where Rebus owns one of their [=LPs=].

SpiritualSuccessor: Rebus could be said to be this to [[Series/{{Taggart}} Jim Taggart]].

The Rebus novels are a series of crime books written by Scottish writer Ian Rankin. They are mostly set in Edinburgh (although the third book, "Tooth and Nail"[[note]]aka "Wolfman"[[/note]], is set in London) and centre on Detective Inspector John Rebus, a cynical policeman, who served in the British Army before the novels start.

* TheAllegedCar: Rebus' decrepit car in ''Standing in Another Man's Grave,'' which parallels Rebus' own aging body.

** About half of the books are this, dealing with Scottish political and social issues ranging from illegal immigration to the effects of UsefulNotes/TheTroubles on Scotland. These keep in time with real-life events such as devolution. Rebus has only ever voted three times in his life (once each for Labour, the Conservatives and the SNP).

As of 2020, there are 23 novels in the series, and several volumes of short stories in addition to a few other novels by Rankin which, although they don't feature Rebus as a character, exist in the same universe.

** About half of the books are this, dealing with Scottish political and social issues from illegal immigration to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.

* HeroAntagonist: In ''Standing in Another Man's Grave'', Malcolm Fox, the protagonist of Rankin's novels about a [[WhoWatchesTheWatchmen police internal affairs unit]] (and thus widely disliked by other police officers), comes after Rebus because he suspects him of being a DirtyCop due to his ongoing association with Cafferty.

* DirtyCop: PlayedWith.
** Rebus is sometimes seen as one due to his closer-than-really-acceptable relationship with gangster Gerald "Big Ger" Cafferty, but he's really on the straight and narrow (mostly) and his relationship with Cafferty is more like FriendlyEnemy at best.

* HeroAntagonist: In ''Standing in Another Man's Grave,'' Malcolm Fox, the protagonist of Rankin's novels about Internal Affairs, comes after Rebus because of his ongoing association with Cafferty (see DirtyCop).

** The novel also features a literal example of this trope. Everyone wants to pet the friendly stray terrier who appears outside of Cafferty's house. [[spoiler: Eventually, Rebus gives in and adopts him.]]

** About half of the books are this, dealing with Scottish politcial and social issues from illegal immigration to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rebus and Siobhan Clarke with Malcolm Fox in ''Saints of the Shadow Bible.''

Some of the books have been adapted for television, originally starring John Hannah, before Ken Stott took over the role, and others have been turned into radio plays for [[Creator/TheBBC Radio Four]].

* CreatorCameo: Sort of. One of the many bands mentioned in the books is the Dancing Pigs, a student band that Rankin was a member of. In-universe, they make it to the big time to the point where Rebus owns one of their LPs.

There are 19 novels in the series, and several short stories.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Rankin has said that Rebus' interests in the early books (jazz music, in particular) were [[AuthorAppeal there because Rankin was into those things]], and as the novels progressed, Rebus developed more of his own personality. He also said he wrote the novel to make it deliberately ambiguous to the reader if the killer was actually out there (which he was) or if the killer was actually [[TomatoInTheMirror Rebus himself]], although of course the mere existence of the rest of the series means this is lost on most new readers.

* MyLocal: Rebus particularly enjoys spending his off hours in The Oxford Bar, a real pub in Edinburgh.
* OldCopYoungCop: Rebus and Siobhan.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: ''Exit Music'' is set around the G8 conference in Gleneagles and the anti-poverty protests it prompted in Edinburgh.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Rebus retires at the end of ''Exit Music'', and is working for the civilian Cold Cases unit in ''Standing in Another Man's Grave''. ''Saints of the Shadow Bible'' has Rebus back on the job again.

* TenMinuteRetirement: ''Saints of the Shadow Bible'' has Rebus back on the job again.

* DirtyCop: PlayedWith. Rebus is sometimes seen as one due to his closer-than-really-acceptable relationship with gangster Gerald "Big Ger" Cafferty, but he's really on the straight and narrow (mostly) and his relationship with Cafferty is more like FriendlyEnemy at best.

* AlwaysMurder: Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. Rebus deals with murders exclusively (well, a few cases start off as missing persons...) but as a senior detective, that is pretty much what his workload would be.

Some of the books have been adapted for television, originally starring John Hanna, before Ken Stott took over the role, and others have been turned into radio plays for [[Creator/TheBBC Radio Four]].

* DirtyCop: Rebus is sometimes seen as one due to his closer-than-really-acceptable relationship with gangster Gerald "Big Ger" Cafferty.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Rankin has said that Rebus' interests in the early books (jazz music, in particular) were [[AuthorAppeal there because Rankin was into those things]], and as the novels progressed, Rebus developed more of his own personality.

** ''Hide and Seek'' is about Rebus hunting a killer and the last thing the victim said was "Hide!" The title also reflects the fact Rankin wrote the novel as a SettingUpdate of ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: In ''The Naming of the Dead'', John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke have an interesting encounter with an [[GeorgeWBush unnamed U.S. president]].

* DisownedAdaptation: Rankin didn't like the first attempt at a Rebus series, as he felt that John Hannah was wrong for the part.

** About half of the books are this, dealing with Scottish politcial and social issues from illegal immigration to TheTroubles.

The Rebus novels are a series of crime books written by Scottish writer Ian Rankin. They are mostly set in Edinburgh (although the third book, "Tooth and Nail"[[note]]aka "Wolfman"[[/note]], is set in London) and centre on Detective Inspector John Rebus, a cynical policeman, who served in the Royal Army before the novels start.

There are 18 novels in the series, and several short stories. A 19th book was announced for November 2013.

* OldCopYoungCop: Rebus and Siobhan

* TenMinuteRetirement: ''Saints of the Shadow Bible,'' which is to be released at the end of 2013, has Rebus back on the job again.

There are 18 novels in the series, and several short stories. An 19th book was announced for November 2013.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: In ''The Naming of the Dead'', Rebus and Siobhan Clarke have an interesting encounter with an [[GeorgeWBush unnamed President]].
* CowboyCop: Rebus is less inclined to use physical violence than your average CowboyCop (although he's not entirely above it), but certainly has little place for rules and procedures when they stop him getting his man.