Bloody Scotland – Ian Rankin walks into a bar…
Next Friday sees the start of Bloody Scotland 2017 – a torchlight procession will start the whole thing off – there will be a football match of criminally epic proportions and lots of people who kill other people will be standing in the same dark room…..
Sounds good right? What’s extra special is that Rebus and Ian Rankin are celebrating 30 years together – and what a relationship it’s been. It’s 30 years since Ian’s famous Edinburgh copper came to life on the pages of Knots & Crosses. At Bloody Scotland, both men are going to be chatting to Tom Thorne and his creator Mark Billingham, walking the beat from St Leonard’s police station to the Oxford Bar and back again. Imagine being in the pub with these guys?
Ian and Mark (with Chesney from Corrie in the background it would seem?)
Before the Rebus event kicks off, I cornered Ian in the nicest possible way and asked him about how he and Rebus are going to celebrate the big day? A free pint here in the Oxford Bar?
Rebus doesn’t celebrate any big days. Used to be, he’d seek an open pub on Christmas Day and hunker down there. Probably the same for his birthday. So he would ‘celebrate’ 30 years with a roll of the eyes and another pint. I do not get free drinks at the Ox. Except maybe at New Year, or when a fan puts a drink behind the bar for me.
Imagine the kind of advice would Rebus have given to you when you started out with Knots and Crosses!
I’m not sure the young Ian would have heeded any advice; nor would Rebus have offered any. He would think it a doomed project – crime novels about Edinburgh? Who’d be interested?
You are having a pint with Rebus…is he any good at advice?
Siobhan would be the best one for that
Ken Stott as Rebus (c) ITV plc
Could you see yourself playing darts with the guy?
Cafferty would be your man for that (though you’d want to let him win).
Which of your characters would like to be in a Mark Billingham novel? Could Rebus ever work with Thorne one day?
George Flight (the London-based detective from Tooth and Nail) would be good in a novel. Crime writers often talk about crossover books, usually after one drink too many at a festival. Then we realise how difficult the logistics would be. I did co-write a Rebus/Grace short story with Peter James once. That was fun.
What would Rebus liked named after him? (eg Val McDermid has a morgue)
Rebus had a cocktail at the Caledonian Hotel named after him – a Rebus Rob Roy. Though he’s probably not a great one for cocktails. He would smile wryly at the street in Cardenden named after his creator though.
After Bloody Scotland, you having a rest?
After Bloody Scotland I’ve got Cheltenham Literary Festival, Ubud Festival (Bali), Hong Kong Festival. Then I need to decompress, recompress, and start writing. It’s been a while.
Looking forward to the strange questions from the audience you must get?
What is your favourite cheese? Tell us about the rings on your fingers? Will you autograph my bike helmet? Writers get them all…
And finally – location….
Edinburgh is in some ways the most important character in my books. I started writing about Edinburgh to try to make sense of the place, and 30 years on that project is ongoing. I can’t imagine Rebus living, working or exploring anywhere else. Travel advice – stay away from the tourist hotspots; another city lies just beyond. Walk the Water of Leith, climb Arthur’s Seat, go to a traditional pub…
