Ian Rankin

{{For|other people named Ian Rankin|Ian Rankin (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox writer

| honorific-prefix =Sir

| name = Ian Rankin

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|DL|FRSE|FRSL|FRIAS}}

| image = Ian Rankin at STABF (cropped).jpg

| caption = Rankin in 2024

| pseudonym = Jack Harvey

| birth_name = Ian James Rankin

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|04|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cardenden, Fife, Scotland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = University of Edinburgh

| occupation = Novelist

| nationality = Scottish

| period = 1984–present

| genre = Crime fiction

| subject =

| notableworks = DI John Rebus novels
Malcolm Fox novels
Dark Entries

| signature =

| website = {{URL|http://www.ianrankin.net}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Miranda Harvey|1986}}

| children = 2

| module = {{Listen |embed= yes |filename= Ian_Rankin_BBC_Radio4_Desert_Island_Discs_6_Nov_2011_b016vh1b.flac |title= Sir Ian Rankin's voice |type= speech |description= from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 6 November 2011.{{Cite episode |title= Ian Rankin |series= Desert Island Discs |series-link= Desert Island Discs |url= http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016vh1b |station= BBC Radio 4 |date= 6 November 2011 |access-date= 18 January 2014 }} }}

}}

Sir Ian James Rankin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|DL|FRSE|FRSL|FRIAS}}{{Cite web |title=Honorary Fellows |url=https://www.rias.org.uk/about/honorary-fellows |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=www.rias.org.uk}} (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.

Early life

Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a school canteen.{{cite news|last1=Sturgis|first1=India|title=If I Could See Me Now... What Your Younger Self Would Make of you Today – Ian Rankin|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|issue = Weekend supplement |date=26 December 2015}} He was educated at Beath High School, Cowdenbeath. Neither of his parents were great readers, but Rankin enjoyed comics like the Beano, the Dandy, Superman and Batman, later progressing to books borrowed from the library.{{Cite web |title=BBC - Norfolk - Extra - Ian Rankin page two |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/your/extra/ian_rankin_interview2.shtml |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.bbc.co.uk}}

Rankin was the first of his family to go to university. His parents were horrified when he chose to study literature, as they had expected him to study for a trade. Encouraged by his English teacher, he persisted and graduated in 1982 from the University of Edinburgh, where he also worked on a doctorate on Muriel Spark but did not complete it. He has taught at the university and retains an involvement with the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.{{cite news |last1=Pauli |first1=Michelle |title=McEwan's Saturday wins UK's oldest literary prize |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/07/jamestaitblackprize.awardsandprizes |access-date=28 February 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=7 June 2006 |language=en}} He lived in Tottenham, London, for four years and then rural France for six while he developed his career as a novelist.Rankin, I. (1998) Tooth & Nail. London: Orion. p. vii. Before becoming a full-time novelist, he worked as a grape picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, hi-fi journalist, college secretary and punk musician in a band called the Dancing Pigs.[http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/ianrankin.html "Profile: Ian Rankin"], January Magazine[http://www.bookslut.com/features/2005_04_005009.php "Ian Rankin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302101046/http://www.bookslut.com/features/2005_04_005009.php |date=2 March 2011 }}, Bookslut, April 2005.

Career

Rankin did not set out to be a crime writer. He thought his first novels, Knots and Crosses and Hide and Seek, were mainstream books, more in keeping with the Scottish traditions of Robert Louis Stevenson and even Muriel Spark. He was disconcerted by their classification as genre fiction. The Scottish novelist Allan Massie, who tutored Rankin while Massie was writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh, reassured him by saying, "Do you think John Buchan ever worried about whether he was writing literature or not?"{{cite news|author=Barnett, Laura|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/11/ian-rankin-portrait|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Ian Rankin, Author—Portrait of the Artist|date=11 December 2012|access-date= 8 January 2013}}

Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels are set mainly in Edinburgh. They are considered major contributions to the tartan noir genre.{{cite news |last1=MacBride |first1=Stuart |title=Tartan Noir: A very strange beast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1khlNTRKjnchr1WqG1K7tNV/tartan-noir-a-very-strange-beast |access-date=16 January 2021 |work=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |date=12 August 2016}} Thirteen of the novels—plus one short story—were adapted as a television series on ITV, starring John Hannah as Rebus in series 1 and 2 (4 episodes) and Ken Stott in that role in series 3–5 (10 episodes). Rankin has stated that the name of John Rebus was chosen partly in homage to fictional detective John Shaft, and because "rebus" is a kind of puzzle.{{Cite web |title=Interview {{!}} Ian Rankin |url=https://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/ianrankin.html |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=www.januarymagazine.com}}

Rankin has spoken in interview of how the death of his mother led to his writing his Rebus novels. He says:{{Cite web |date=2024-09-24 |title=Ian Rankin: How the death of my mum led me to Rebus |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0310wr01ro |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

...you are looking at the human condition, you're trying to answer some very big questions about how the way the world is and the way human beings are so it is possible that my mum dying got me thinking in those terms.

In 2009, Rankin donated the short story "Fieldwork" to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Rankin's story was published in the Earth collection.{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/books/books_oxtales.html |title=Ox-Tales |publisher=Oxfam.org.uk |access-date=4 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520182004/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/books/books_oxtales.html |archive-date=20 May 2009 }}

File:Ian Rankin signing Dark Entries in Forbidden Planet Edinburgh 06.jpg International store in December 2009]]

In 2009 Rankin stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that he would start work on a five- or six-issue run on the comic book Hellblazer, although he may turn the story into a stand-alone graphic novel instead. The Vertigo Comics panel at WonderCon 2009 confirmed that the story would be published as a graphic novel, Dark Entries, the second release from the company's Vertigo Crime imprint.{{cite web |title = WC: Vertigo - Innovative and Provocative |date=1 March 2009 |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20252 |publisher=Comic Book Resources |access-date=2 March 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/030925-Vertigo-Rankin.html |title=Starting Vertigo's Crime Line: Ian Rankin on Dark Entries |publisher=Newsarama |date=25 March 2009}}{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Duin |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2009/04/ian_rankin_vs_brian_azzarello.html |title=Ian Rankin vs. Brian Azzarello |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=13 April 2009 |archive-date=11 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411105013/http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2009/04/ian_rankin_vs_brian_azzarello.html |url-status=dead }}

In 2013, Rankin co-wrote the play Dark Road with Mark Thomson, the artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre.{{cite web | url=http://www.list.co.uk/article/54887-edinburgh-lyceums-mark-thomson-discusses-dark-road-the-first-play-by-ian-rankin/ | title=Mark Thomson Discusses Dark Road, the First Play by Ian Rankin | publisher=The List | work=list.co.uk | date=17 September 2013 | access-date=19 October 2013}}{{cite web | url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/liam-rudden-lyceum-aims-for-top-rankin-with-dark-road-1-2915455 | title=Lyceum Aims for Top Rankin with Dark Road | publisher=The Scotsman | work=scotsman.com | date=1 May 2013 | access-date=19 October 2013}} The play, which marked Rankin's play-writing debut,{{cite web | url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/ian-rankin-turns-his-pen-from-rebus-to-stage-play.20959653 | title=Ian Rankin Turns His Pen from Rebus to Stage Play | publisher=The Herald | work=heraldscotland.com | date=1 May 2013 | access-date=19 October 2013}} premiered at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in September 2013.{{cite web | url=http://news.stv.tv/east-central/223477-rebus-author-ian-rankin-debuts-first-play-as-part-of-lyceum-new-season/ | title=The Lyceum to Host Ian Rankin's Debut Play as Part of New Season | publisher=STV | work=news.stv.tv | date=30 April 2013 | access-date=19 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233201/http://news.stv.tv/east-central/223477-rebus-author-ian-rankin-debuts-first-play-as-part-of-lyceum-new-season/ | archive-date=3 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}

In 2005, Rankin became the tenth best-selling writer in Britain, accounting for 10% of all crime fiction sold.{{cite news |last1=Wroe |first1=Nicholas |title=Profile: Ian Rankin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/may/28/crime.ianrankin |access-date=3 March 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=27 May 2005 |language=en}} His Rebus books have sold over 35 million copies.

He also wrote three non-Rebus crime novels in 1993-95 under the pseudonym Jack Harvey.{{cite web |title=BBC Two - Writing Scotland - Ian Rankin |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/50K0MJNnc2wpqh68Vp4TllY/ian-rankin |website=BBC |access-date=3 March 2021 |date=5 December 2018 }}

In 2021, Rankin helped finish a draft by William McIlvanney, a prequel telling the story of an early case of McIlvanney's fictional detective Jack Laidlaw. McIlvanney, whom Rankin admires, had died in 2015 leaving the manuscript unfinished. It was published under the name The Dark Remains.{{cite news |first=Alison |last=Flood |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/05/ian-rankin-to-complete-william-mcilvanney-final-unfinished-novel-the-dark-remains |title=Ian Rankin to complete William McIlvanney's final novel The Dark Remains|newspaper=The Guardian |date=5 Dec 2020}}

In 2022, Rankin signed a deal with publisher Orion to write two new John Rebus novels.{{Cite web|title=Crime writer Ian Rankin signs deal to write two more John Rebus novels|url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/ian-rankin-signs-deal-to-write-two-more-john-rebus-novels-3518769|access-date=2022-01-08|website=www.scotsman.com|date=7 January 2022 |language=en}} Later that same year, he received a Knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature and charity as part of her Birthday Honours List.

Documentaries

Rankin is a regular contributor to the BBC Two arts programme Newsnight Review.{{cite news |last1=Lawson |first1=Mark |title=Why mixing art and news adds drama |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/newsnight25/4212087.stm |access-date=28 February 2021 |work=BBC |agency=BBC |date=28 January 2005}} His three-part documentary series on the subject of evil was broadcast on Channel 4 in December 2002. In 2005 he presented a 30-minute documentary on BBC Four called Rankin on the Staircase, in which he investigated the relationship between real-life cases and crime fiction. It was loosely based on the Michael Peterson murder case, as covered in Jean-Xavier Lestrade's documentary series Death on the Staircase. The same year, Rankin collaborated with folk musician Jackie Leven on the album Jackie Leven Said.{{cite news |last1=Bourke |first1=Kevin |title=Ian Rankin: accidental crime |url=https://www.bigissuenorth.com/features/2020/10/ian-rankin-accidental-crime/ |access-date=28 February 2021 |work=Big Issue North |date=16 October 2020}}

In 2007, Rankin appeared in programmes for BBC Four exploring the origins of his alter-ego character, John Rebus. In these, titled "Ian Rankin's Hidden Edinburgh" and "Ian Rankin Investigates Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde," Rankin looks at the origins of the character and the events that led to his creation.

In the TV show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, he takes a trip through Edinburgh with writer/cook Anthony Bourdain.

He appeared in The Amber Light, a 2019 documentary film about Scotch whisky.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10394178/fullcredits/ |title=The Amber Light (2019) - IMDb |access-date=2024-10-29 |via=www.imdb.com}}

Music

Rankin has a deep interest in music, and has used references to songs and album titles in many of his novels and chapter headings.{{Cite web |date=2024-06-06 |title=Why music is the key to Rebus as the new TV reboot hits the right note |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/every-crime-writer-i-know-is-a-frustrated-rock-star-ian-rankin-on-why-music-is-key-to-rebus-4655673 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=The Scotsman |language=en}}

He is the singer in the six-piece band Best Picture, formed by journalists Kenny Farquharson (The Times) and Euan McColl (The Scotsman) in 2017, and featuring Bobby Bluebell on guitar.{{cite news |last1=Farquharson |first1=Kenny |title=The six dads about to rock salute you |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/the-six-dads-about-to-rock-salute-you-t3x52wf5j |access-date=28 July 2018 |newspaper=The Times |date=24 October 2017}} They released the single "Isabelle" on Oriel Records in October 2017.{{cite news |last1=Ross |first1=Peter |title=Rebus and roll: Ian Rankin's new gig as a 'dad rock' singer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2017/oct/15/rebus-and-roll-ian-rankin-new-gig-as-a-dad-rock-singer |access-date=28 July 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 October 2017}} They made their live debut at the Kendal Calling music festival on 28 July 2018.{{cite web |title=Best Picture - Kendal Calling |url=https://www.kendalcalling.co.uk/artists/best-picture |website=Kendal Calling |access-date=28 July 2018 |archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028085340/https://www.kendalcalling.co.uk/artists/best-picture |url-status=dead }} In an interview with The Guardian, Rankin says: "I am, of course, a frustrated rock star – I'd much rather be a rock star than a writer. Or own a record shop."{{Cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Euan |date=2012-11-18 |title=Ian Rankin: 'I am, of course, a frustrated rock star' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/18/ian-rankin-interview-edinburgh-rebus |access-date=2025-04-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Personal life

He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, Miranda (née Harvey), whom he met at university and married in 1986, and their two sons: John Morgan "Jack" Harvey-Rankin (born 1992) and Christopher Connor "Kit" Harvey-Rankin (born 1994). He has acknowledged the assistance they get from Forward Vision in Edinburgh in looking after Kit and other young adults with special needs. They lived for a number of years in the Merchiston area,{{cite news |last1=Williams-Akoto |first1=Tessa |title=My Home: Ian Rankin, crime writer |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/property/my-home-ian-rankin-crime-writer-317152.html |access-date=29 November 2019 |work=The Independent |date=5 October 2005}} near the authors J. K. Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith and Kate Atkinson,{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Hilary |title=Welcome to the 'Writer's Block' - spotlight on exclusive Edinburgh area after Ian Rankin sells house |url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/welcome-writers-block-spotlight-exclusive-16257774 |access-date=29 November 2019 |work=Edinburgh Live |date=10 May 2019}} before moving to a penthouse flat in the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary building in Quartermile in Lauriston in 2019.{{cite news |last1=MacDonald |first1=Stuart |title=Author Ian Rankin cashes in on Edinburgh mansion after £2.1 million sale |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/lifestyle/author-ian-rankin-cashes-edinburgh-mansion-after-ps21-million-sale-546995 |access-date=29 November 2019 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |date=10 May 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web |last=Wintle |first=Angela |date=2021-11-12 |title=Ian Rankin: 'I hate to say it, but lockdown was great' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/ian-rankin-i-hate-to-say-it-but-lockdown-was-great-p9r6xrkqn |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}} The couple also own a house in Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands.{{cite news |last1=Reece |first1=Alex |title=My Coast: Ian Rankin |url=https://www.coastmagazine.co.uk/content/my-coast-ian-rankin |access-date=19 November 2019 |work=Coast Magazine}} Rankin appears as a character in McCall Smith's 2004 novel, 44 Scotland Street.

In 2011, a group of ten book sculptures were deposited around Edinburgh as gifts to cultural institutions and the people of the city. Many of the sculptures made reference to the work of Rankin, and an eleventh sculpture was a personal gift to him.{{cite news|title=Mysterious paper sculptures |url=http://thisiscentralstation.com/featured/mysterious-paper-sculptures/|work=Central Stn|first=Chris|last=Scott|access-date=16 December 2012}}

In 2019, Rankin donated his personal archives to the National Library of Scotland after moving to his flat in the Quartermile. The Library planned an exhibition for 2021 of highlights from the archive, which includes research notes, newspaper clippings and manuscripts.{{cite journal |last1=Ferguson |first1=Brian |title=National Library lifts lid on vast archive donated by Ian Rankin |journal=Edinburgh Evening News |date=10 May 2020 |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/national-library-lifts-lid-vast-archive-donated-ian-rankin-2848101 |access-date=12 May 2020}}

Rankin has donated a considerable portion of his earnings to charity. In 2007, he and his wife set up a trust to support charities in the fields of health, art and education. In 2020, it was reported that he had donated around £1 million to the trust in the previous five years, with £200,000 being donated in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Wilkie |first1=Stephen |title=Edinburgh author Ian Rankin donates £200,000 in Inspector Rebus crime novel royalties to charity |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/edinburgh-author-ian-rankin-donates-ps200000-inspector-rebus-crime-novel-royalties-charity-1353025 |access-date=5 June 2022 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |date=1 January 2020 |language=en}} In 2022, he donated rare first editions of three of his early works, valued at a total of £1,850, to a book sale in aid of Christian Aid.{{cite news |last1=Swanson |first1=Ian |title=Ian Rankin makes generous gift of rare editions to Edinburgh's Christian Aid book sale |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/ian-rankin-makes-generous-donation-of-rare-books-to-edinburghs-christian-aid-book-sale-3690140 |access-date=6 June 2022 |work=Edinburgh Evening News |date=12 May 2022 |language=en}}

Honours and awards

Rankin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2002 for services to literature and knighted in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to literature and charity.{{London Gazette|issue=63714|supp=y|page=B2|date=1 June 2022}}

1988 Elected Hawthornden Fellow{{cite news|url=http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Authors/Ian-Rankin|publisher=BooksfromScotland.com |title=Ian Rankin |access-date= 7 January 2013}}
1991 Chandler-Fulbright Award
1994 CWA Short Story Dagger for A Deep Hole{{cite news |url=http://literature.britishcouncil.org/ian-rankin |publisher=The British Council |title=Ian Rankin |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605221310/http://literature.britishcouncil.org/ian-rankin |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}
1996 CWA Short Story Dagger for Herbert in Motion in Perfectly Criminal{{cite news|url=http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/short.html|publisher=Crime Writers Association|title=The CWA Short Story Dagger|date=5 July 2012|access-date=7 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119201149/http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/short.html|archive-date=19 January 2013|df=dmy-all}}
1997 CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction for Black and Blue{{cite news|url=http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/gold.html|publisher=Crime Writers Association|title=The CWA Gold Dagger|date=5 July 2012|access-date=8 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114091850/http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/gold.html|archive-date=14 January 2012|df=dmy-all}}
1997 Edgar Award for best novel, shortlist, Black and Blue{{Cite web |title=Black and Blue (Inspector Rebus, book 8) by Ian Rankin |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/ian-rankin/black-and-blue.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}
1998 Inducted into the prestigious Detection Club{{Cite web |title=The Detection Club |url=https://davidhigham.co.uk/authors-dh/the-detection-club/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=David Higham Associates |language=en-US}}
1999 University of Abertay Dundee honorary doctorate {{cite web|author=THES Editorial|work=The Times Higher Education Supplement|date=26 November 1999|title=Glittering Prizes|access-date=7 January 2013|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=148995§ioncode=26}}
2000 University of St Andrews honorary doctorate{{cite news|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2000/title,42233,en.php|publisher=University of St Andrews|title=University honour for award-winning author|date=3 February 2000|access-date=7 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923131232/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2000/title,42233,en.php|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
2000 Palle Rosencrantz Prize (Denmark)
2003 University of Edinburgh honorary doctorate{{cite news|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/people/honorary-degrees/2002-3|publisher=University of Edinburgh|title=University of Edinburgh Honorary Degrees 2002/03|date=28 August 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901213216/http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/people/honorary-degrees/2002-3|archive-date=1 September 2012|df=dmy-all}}
2003 Whodunnit Prize (Finland)
2003 Grand Prix du Roman Noir (France)
2004 Edgar Award for Resurrection Men {{Cite web |title=All Winners {{!}} Edgar® Awards Info & Database |url=https://edgarawards.com/all-winners/?listpage=4&instance=1 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=edgarawards.com}}
2005 CWA Lifetime Achievement Award (Cartier Diamond Dagger){{cite news|url=http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/cartier.html|publisher=Crime Writers Association|title=The Cartier Diamond Dagger|date=5 July 2012|access-date=7 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203195758/http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/cartier.html|archive-date=3 December 2012|df=dmy-all}}
2005 Open University honorary doctorate {{cite news

|url = http://www.open.ac.uk/students/ceremonies/files/ceremonies/file/Doctor%20of%20the%20University%201973-2011.pdf

|publisher = The Open University

|title = Doctor of the University 1973-2011

|access-date = 9 January 2013

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131213042428/http://www.open.ac.uk/students/ceremonies/files/ceremonies/file/Doctor%20of%20the%20University%201973-2011.pdf

|archive-date = 13 December 2013

|df = dmy-all

}}

2005 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France) for Set in Darkness{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.rayonpolar.com/Guides/Prix/Prix_pdf.php Guide des Prix littéraires], online ed. Le Rayon du Polar. Synopsis of French prizes rewarding French and international crime literature, with lists of laureates for each Prize. Grand Prix de littérature policière: pp. 18-36.
2005 Deutsche Krimi Prize (Germany), for Resurrection Men
2006 University of Hull honorary doctorate{{cite news|url=http://www2.hull.ac.uk/old_news_pages/news_archive/2006_news_archive/january/honorary_degrees.aspx?theme=textonly|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419171459/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/old_news_pages/news_archive/2006_news_archive/january/honorary_degrees.aspx?theme=textonly|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 April 2013|publisher=University of Hull|title=The University of Hull awards Honorary Degrees for Inspirational Achievements|date=27 January 2006|access-date=8 January 2013}}
2007 The Edinburgh Award{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12456608.Rankin_gives_hand_to_Edinburgh_Award/|title=Rankin gives hand to Edinburgh Award|date=2008-02-19|website=The Herald|language=en|access-date=2017-08-05}}
2008 ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Author of the Year, for Exit Music.{{cite web|author=Allen, Katie |title=Rankin and P D James pick up ITV3 awards |url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/68347-rankin-and-p-d-james-pick-up-itv3-awards.html |work=theBookseller.com |date=6 October 2008 |access-date=6 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409070859/http://www.thebookseller.com/news/68347-rankin-and-p-d-james-pick-up-itv3-awards.html |archive-date=9 April 2009 }}
2009 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, shortlisted Exit Music{{cite web |url=http://www.digyorkshire.com/HighlightDetails.aspx?Article=202 |title=Shortlist for Theakston's Crime Novel of the year Award 2009 |publisher=digyorkshire.com |date=2 June 2009 |access-date=17 June 2009 |archive-date=15 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815160519/http://www.digyorkshire.com/HighlightDetails.aspx?Article=202 |url-status=usurped }}
2012 Specsavers National Book Award, Outstanding Achievement{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/05/el-james-national-books-award |title=EL James comes out on top at National Book awards |work=The Guardian |author=Alison Flood |date=5 December 2012 |access-date=5 December 2012}}
2015 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh{{cite web|title=New Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|url=http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/press/2015/PR030315.pdf|website=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|access-date=17 March 2015|archive-date=21 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321052538/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/press/2015/PR030315.pdf|url-status=dead}}
2016 UNESCO City of Literature Visiting Professor at University of East Anglia{{Cite web|url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/ian-rankin-marks-rebus-anniversary-with-uea-visiting-professorship|title=Ian Rankin to be UEA visiting professor|website=University of East Anglia|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220221655/https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/ian-rankin-marks-rebus-anniversary-with-uea-visiting-professorship|url-status=dead}}
2016 RBA Prize for Crime Writing for Even Dogs in the Wild, the world's most lucrative crime fiction prize, at €125,000
2016 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature{{cite web|title=Current RSL Fellows|url=http://rsliterature.org/fellows/current-fellows/|website=Royal Society of Literature|access-date=8 January 2017|archive-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729090322/https://rsliterature.org/fellows/current-fellows/|url-status=dead}}Natasha Onwuemezi, [http://www.thebookseller.com/news/syal-and-mcdermid-named-new-rsl-fellows-564396 "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows"], The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.

Works

{{as of|2024}}, Rankin has published 25 novels, two short-story collections, one original graphic novel, one novella, and a non-fiction book. He has also written a Quick Reads title.

Year	Novel	Rebus	Fox	Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
1986	The Flood			Rankin's 1st novel
1987	Knots and Crosses	1		First Inspector Rebus novel
1988	Watchman
1990	Westwind
1990	Hide and Seek	2
rowspan="3" \| 1992	Tooth and Nail	3
Strip Jack	4
A Good Hanging and Other Stories			Short stories
rowspan="2" \| 1993	Witch Hunt			Writing as Jack Harvey
The Black Book	5
rowspan="2" \| 1994	Bleeding Hearts			Writing as Jack Harvey
Mortal Causes	6
rowspan="2" \| 1995	Blood Hunt			Writing as Jack Harvey
Let it Bleed	7
rowspan="2" \| 1997	Black and Blue	8		Won Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction
Herbert in Motion & Other Stories			Limited edition chapbook with 4 stories, 2 original to this collection
1998	The Hanging Garden	9
1999	Dead Souls	10
2000	Set in Darkness	11
2001	The Falls	12
rowspan="2" \| 2002	Resurrection Men	13		Won The Edgar Award
Beggars Banquet			Short stories
2003	A Question of Blood	14
2004	Fleshmarket Close	15
rowspan="2" \| 2005	Rebus's Scotland: A Personal Journey			Non-fiction — Awarded CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger
The Complete Short Stories			Short stories; omnibus including the contents of A Good Hanging & Other Stories and Beggar's Banquet plus one new story, "Atonement"
2006	The Naming of the Dead	16
2007	Exit Music	17		Won ITV3 Crime Thriller Award
2008	Doors Open
rowspan="3" \| 2009	A Cool Head			Quick Reads 2009
The Complaints		1	First Malcolm Fox novel
Dark Entries			Vertigo Crime featuring John Constantine
2011	The Impossible Dead{{cite web \|url=http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/news/index.asp?NewsID=53 \|title=Ian Rankin latest news, Exit Music, Ian Rankin Rebus novels, Doors Open novel, Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year, Galaxy British Book Awards \|publisher=Ianrankin.net \|access-date=8 November 2012 \|archive-date=16 March 2015 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316023533/http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/news/index.asp?NewsID=53 \|url-status=dead }}		2
2012	Standing in Another Man's Grave{{cite news \| url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/2012/06/05/rebus-is-back-ian-rankin-reveals-his-famous-detective-will-return-in-new-novel-86908-23886972/ \| title=Rebus is back! Ian Rankin reveals his famous detective will return in new novel \| newspaper=Daily Record (Scotland) \| date=5 June 2012 \| access-date=10 June 2012}}	18	3	First novel with both Inspector Rebus and Malcolm Fox
2013	Saints of the Shadow Bible	19	4
rowspan="2" \| 2014	Dark Road			Stage play, with Mark Thomson
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories			Short stories
2015	Even Dogs in the Wild	20	5
rowspan="2" \| 2016	The Travelling Companion			Limited edition bibliomystery; No 26 in a series of short stories by crime writers, Death Sentences[https://web.archive.org/web/20180724160946/https://www.bookgrail.com/store/death-sentences/ Death Sentences]
Rather Be the Devil	21	6
rowspan="2" \| 2018	Rebus: Long Shadows			Stage play, with Rona Munro (part of the Inspector Rebus series)
In a House of Lies	22	7
2020	A Song for the Dark Times	23	8
2022	A Heart Full of Headstones	24
2024	Midnight and Blue	25

Other publications

Edited anthology

Criminal Minded (2000) (edited and with an introduction by Rankin)

Recordings

Jackie Leven Said (Cooking vinyl, 2005), with Jackie Leven
The Sixth Stone (CD, 2007), with Aidan Moffat, on Ballads of the Book
This Has Been the Death of Us (7th Realm Of Teenage Heaven, 2009), with Saint Jude's Infirmary
The Third Gentleman (BBC Broadcast, 25 October 1997. 87mins). Black comedy set in 1790s Edinburgh.
The Deathwatch Journal (Audiobook / BBC Broadcast, 2017. 75mins). Read by Jimmy Chisholm.{{cite book|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1115082/the-deathwatch-journal/9781785299186.html|title=The Deathwatch Journal|publisher=Penguin|date=7 December 2017|access-date=23 June 2020}}

Graphic novels

Dark Entries (September 2009) with art by Werther Dell'Edera. Published by Vertigo Crime and starring John Constantine of Hellblazer.{{cite web |url=http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=97 |title=Ian Rankin Newsletter |publisher=Ianrankin.net |access-date=4 November 2010 |archive-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503000819/http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=97 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080815-VertigoCrime.html |title=Karen Berger On The Vertigo Crime Line |publisher=Newsarama.com |access-date=4 November 2010}}

Graphic novella

The Lie Factory, illustrated by Tim Truman. Published as part of a CD package, Kickback City, featuring Rory Gallagher songs fictionalized in the novella and with narration by Aidan Quinn.

Opera

Gesualdo, with Craig Armstrong (2008)

Short stories

"Summer Rites" (1984) (published in Cencrastus, No. 18 - actually a section of Rankin's first novel)
[http://www.theshortstory.org.uk/stories/index.php4?storyid=9 "An Afternoon"] (1984) (published in New Writing Scotland No. 2) (slightly revised version published in OxCrimes, 2014)
"Voyeurism" (1985) (published in New Writing Scotland No. 3)
"Colony" (1986) (published in New Writing Scotland No. 4)
"Scarab" (1986) (published in Scottish Short Stories 1986)
"Territory" (1987) (published in Scottish Short Stories 1987)
"Remembrance" (1988) (published in Cencrastus, Spring)
"Playback" (1990) (Rebus; published in Winter's Crime 22; reprinted in A Good Hanging & Other Stories, 1992)
"Talk Show" (1991) (Rebus; published in Winter's Crimes 23)
"The Dean Curse" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Being Frank" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Concrete Evidence" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Seeing Things" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"A Good Hanging" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Tit for Tat" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Not Provan" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Sunday" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Auld Lang Syne" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"The Gentlemen's Club" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"Monstrous Trumpet" (1992) (Rebus; published in A Good Hanging & Other Stories)
"In the Frame" (1992) (Rebus; published in Winter's Crimes 24)
"Trip Trap" (1992) (Rebus; published in 1st Culprit)
"Marked for Death" (1992) (published in Constable New Crimes 1)
"Well Shot" (1993) (Rebus; published in 2nd Culprit; not included in the UK and US editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"Video, Nasty" (1993) (published in Constable New Crimes 2)
"Castle Dangerous" (1993) (Rebus; published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, EQMM, October)
"Someone Got to Eddie" (1994) (published in 3rd Culprit)
"Facing the Music" (1994) (Rebus; published in Midwinter Mysteries 4)
"A Deep Hole" (1994) (published in London Noir)
"The Serpent's Back" (1995) (published in Midwinter Mysteries 5)
"Adventures in Babysitting" (1995) (published in No Alibi and in Master's Choice Two)
"Principles of Accounts" (1995) (published in EQMM, August)
"Window of Opportunity" (1995) (Rebus, published in EQMM, December)
"Natural Selection" (1996) (published in Fresh Blood)
"Herbert in Motion" (1996) (published in Perfectly Criminal)
"The Wider Scheme" (1996) (published in EQMM, August)
"My Shopping Day" (1997) (Rebus; published in Herbert in Motion & Other Stories [limited edition chapbook of 200 copies]; not included in the UK edition of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories, but included in the U.S. edition)
"No. 79" (1997) (published in Herbert in Motion & Other Stories)
"Glimmer" (1998) (published in Blue Lightning)
"Unknown Pleasures" (1998) (published in Mean Time)
"Detective Novels: The Pact Between Authors and Readers" (1998) (article; published in The Writer, December)
"Death is Not the End" (1998) (novella later expanded into Dead Souls)
"The Missing" (1999) (published in Crime Wave, March)
"Get Shortie" (1999) (Rebus; published in Crime Wave 2, Deepest Red, June; not included in the UK and US editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"The Acid Test" (1999) (Rebus; published in EQMM, August; not included in the UK and US editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"The Hanged Man" (1999) (published in Something Wicked (UK) and EQMM, September/October)
"The Only True Comedian" (2000) (published in EQMM, February)
"Unlucky in Love, Unlucky at Cards" (2000) (published in EQMM, March)
"The Confession" (2000) (published in EQMM, June)
"The Slab Boys" (2000) (published in Scenes of Crime)
"No Sanity Clause" (2000) (Rebus; originally titled "Father Christmas's Revenge", published in The Daily Telegraph, December)
"Tell Me Who to Kill" (2003) (Rebus; published in Mysterious Pleasures)
"Saint Nicked" (2003/2004) (Rebus; published in The Radio Times, 21 December 2003 & 4 January 2004)
"Soft Spot" (2005) (published in Dangerous Women)
"Showtime" (2005) (published in One City)
"Not Just another Saturday" (August 2005) (Rebus; written for SNIP, a charity organisation; people in attendance of the event were provided with a "typescript" of the story)
"Atonement" (2005) (Rebus; written for the anthology Complete Short Stories, which combined the contents of A Good Hanging & Other Stories and Beggar's Banquet, but was far from "Complete")
"Sinner: justified" (2006) (published in Superhumanatural)
"Graduation Day" (2006) (published in Murder in the Rough)
"Fieldwork" (2009) (published in Ox-Tales)
"Penalty Clause" (2010) (Rebus; published in Mail on Sunday, December)
"The Very Last Drop" (2013) (Rebus; written to read aloud at an Edinburgh charity event to help the work of Royal Blind; published in the US and UK editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"Dead and Buried" (2013) (Rebus; published with Saints of the Shadow Bible)
"In the Nick of Time" (2014) (Rebus; published in Face Off)
"The Passenger" (2014) (Rebus; published in the UK and US editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"A Three-Pint Problem" (2014) (Rebus; published in the UK and US editions of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"Cinders" (2015) (Rebus; published in the US edition of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories)
"The Travelling Companion" (2015) (novella, published by the Mysterious Bookshop, NYC; signed, lettered limited cloth edition of 26 copies and 100 numbered copies; softcover edition of 1,000 copies; published in the UK in 2016 by Head of Zeus Ltd, London)
"Meet & Greet" (2015) (published in The Strand XLVI)
"The Kill Fee" (2015) (published in The New Statesman 18 December 2015—8 January 2016)
"Cafferty's Day" (2016) (Rebus; published with Rather be the Devil)
"Charades" (2017) (Rebus; published in Country Life December 13/20)
"The Rise" (2023) (published by Amazon Original Stories)

Other

"Oxford Bar" (2007) (Essay published in the anthology How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors){{cite web|publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database|title=Publication Listing for How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors|website=isfdb.org|access-date=12 January 2013|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?312245}}
"John Rebus" (2007) (Mysterious Profile #8, a chapbook published by The Mysterious Bookshop in NYC in a signed limited hardcover edition of 100 copies and 1,000 softcover copies; reprinted in the UK edition of The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories as "Rankin on Rebus")
Ian Rankin interviews Arthur Conan Doyle (2013), published in Dead Interviews{{cite book |editor-first= Dan |editor-last=Crowe |title= Dead Interviews: Living Writers Meet Dead Icons |year= 2013 |publisher= Granta, London |pages= [https://archive.org/details/deadinterviewsli0000unse/page/143 143–153] |url= https://archive.org/details/deadinterviewsli0000unse/page/143 |isbn= 978-1-84708-827-7 }}
William McIlvanney's final novel, The Dark Remains, based on a manuscript McIlvanney left when he died in 2015, was completed by Ian Rankin and released in September 2021.{{cite web|url= https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018809521/ian-rankin-on-finishing-his-literary-hero-s-book |title= Interview with Ian Rankin |publisher= Radio New Zealand |date= August 2021 }}{{cite web|url= https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-the-dark-remains-by-william-mcilvanney-ian-rankin-3364258 |title= Book review: The Dark Remains, by William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin |date= 30 August 2021|first=Stuart|last=Kelly |newspaper= The Scotsman }}

Criticism

Alegre, Sara Martin, "Aging in F(r)iendship: 'Big Ger' Cafferty and John Rebus," in Clues: A Journal of Detection 29.2 (2011): 73–82.
Horsley, Lee, The Noir Thriller (Houndmills & New York: Palgrave, 2001).
Lanchester, John, "Rebusworld", in London Review of Books 22.9 (27 April 2000), pp. 18–20.
Lennard, John, "Ian Rankin", in Jay Parini, ed., British Writers Supplement X (New York & London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004), pp. 243–60
MacDonald, Erin E., "Ghosts and Skeletons: Metaphors of Guilty History in Ian Rankin's Rebus Series", in Clues: A Journal of Detection 30.2 (2012): 67–75.
MacDonald, Erin E., Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2020).
Mandel, Ernest, Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story (Leichhardt, NSW, & London: Pluto Press, 1984).
Marshall, Rodney, Blurred Boundaries: Rankin's Rebus (Amazon, 2012)
Nicol, Christopher, "Ian Rankin's 'Black & Blue'", Scotnote No.24 (Glasgow: ASLS Publications, 2008)
Ogle, Tina, "Crime on Screen", in The Observer (London), 16 April 2000, Screen p. 8.
Plain, Gill, Ian Rankin’s Black and Blue (London & New York: Continuum, 2002)
Plain, Gillian, "Ian Rankin: A Bibliography", in Crime Time 28 (2002), pp. 16–20.
Robinson, David, "Mystery Man: In Search of the real Ian Rankin", in The Scotsman 10 March 2001, S2Weekend, pp. 1–4.
Rowland, Susan, "Gothic Crimes: A Literature of Terror and Horror", in From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell (Houndmills & New York: Palgrave, 2001), pp. 110–34.

References

External links

{{official website|http://www.ianrankin.net}}
{{IMDb name|0710256}}
[http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/author/0,5917,-163,00.html Guardian Books profile], with links to further articles
[https://www.youtube.com/talesofonecity#p/search/5/2K15Gxy_FvU Ian Rankin at Edinburgh Central Library, Oct 2010] (video interview in several parts)
[http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/02/03/edinburgh.qa/ CNN interview with Ian Rankin]
[http://www.edrants.com/segundo/ian-rankin-bss-390/ 2011 radio interview] at The Bat Segundo Show (1 hour)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080517015653/http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Authors/Ian-Rankin/Interview-Exit-Music Two BooksfromScotland.com interviews with Ian Rankin]
[http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/ntn/ntn-20130226-1008-feature_guest_-_ian_rankin-048.mp3 Radio Interview on RadioNZ's Nine to Noon Show 26 February 2013]