Ian Rankin brings new Rebus novel to Ottawa International Writers Festival

He's a rock star in the world of crime fiction and thebest-selling, affable author of the internationally beloved Inspector John Rebus mysteries, which are set in his home town of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Ian Rankin: The Music of Rebus

9 years ago

Duration 0:53

Ian Rankin talks about John Rebus' record collection

Ian Rankin is in town for an event on Thursday evening at the Ottawa International Writers Festival.

He will read and talk about his latest novel Even Dogs in the Wild, a dark thrillerthat finds Rebus and Rankin's other protagonist Malcolm Fox joining forces to solve a string of revengemurders.

'Like many crime writers I would rather be a rock star'

The title Even Dogs in the Wild, is taken from a song by The Associates, a Scottish new-wave band that bemoans the neglect of children by their parents, alluding to a theme in the novel.

Music plays a large role inRankin'sbooksas John Rebus, the grizzled, lone-wolf detective who breaks all the rules, finds solace in his personal record collection when he's mired in an investigation.

"Like many crime writers I would rather be a rock star, and I gave it a go you know, I was in punk band for about six, nine months when I was 17, but we never were any good, never going to go anywhere, so I live vicariously as a rock star," said Rankin in an interview at the Delta Hotel.

"I put lots of music in my books, the result of which a lot of musicians have become fans of the books."

In fact the many references to music have prompted fan mail from real rock starssuch as The Who's Pete Townsend and Robert Smith of the Cure. But the most important use of Rebus's record collectionis to help reveal more of the inner workings of the detective himself.

Here is Ian Rankin talking about Rebus's taste in music.

Ian Rankin talks about the mystery of mystery writing

9 years ago

Duration 0:42

Bestselling crime fiction author Ian Rankin says he discovers who is guilty as he writes the book

'The book tells me what's going to happen'

Chapter One of all John Rebus mysteries begins with a crime, a murder or some other nefarious event,a crime that must be solved,but these mysteriesare a mystery to the author himself.

Rankin begins his whodunitsnot knowing who did it, or how the plot is going to unfold. Rankin decribed his writing as organic by saying,"The book tells me what's going to happen, this is the way its going to be,the books tell me."

Here is Rankin talking about his unique writing process.

Some crime writers eventually feel trapped by the popular crime solver they have createdonly to have to bring the sleuth back from the dead to satisfy the outcry from fans (ArthurConanDoyle famously killedSherlockHolmes).

Rankin says, however,after 24 outingsthere is still more to be said about his anti-hero and more to learn.

"I enjoy writing about him and still haven't got to the heart of what makes him tick. Who is he? What is his psychological makeup? And to find out more about him, to get a more complete understanding of him, I've got to write another book," he said.

That's good news indeedfor Rebus fans.

Ian Rankin ison stage speaking about Even Dogs in the Wild Thursdayat 7 p.m. at Centretown United Church, located at 507 Bank St.