The New York Timesbestselling author tells the story behind Inspector Rebus, the hard-edged Edinburgh cop and ';superbly drawn character' (The Times, London). In this short work, Edgar and Diamond Dagger Award winner Ian Rankin delves into DI John Rebus's origins as a character, as well as his own origins as a writer. While author and character share a love of literature and a deep affection for Scotland's capital city, they differ in other ways, as Rankin entertainingly testifies, while revealing how this ';compelling figure' has developed over the course of his long-running series of gritty crime novels (Kirkus Reviews). ';[A] hard-drinking, chain-smoking, terminally melancholic hero... trapped in a world where mavericks are an endangered species.' Booklist ';Rebus is without doubt one of the funniest among the classical fictional detectives.' The Guardian ';With his stubborn insistence on tying up the frayed ends of every knotty clue, and iconoclastic refusal to be a team player... Rebus is a bane to his superiors but a blessing to readers.' Publishers Weekly
