Inspector Rebus is a character and series of detective fiction novels by Scottish author Ian Rankin. The police procedural series is considered to fall into the Scottish Tartan Noir subgenre. The Detective Inspector John Rebus character is based in Edinburgh. Unlike other series, the character does age with time, as the character turned 60 years old with Exit Music. The series was adapted to the British TV series Rebus.

Ian Rankin started the Inspector Rebus series with Knots and Crosses in 1987. The series is incredibly popular in the United Kingdom, making up 10% of crime fiction sales there. Below is a list of all of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rankin books in order of when they were originally published:

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Publication Order of Inspector Rebus Books

Knots and Crosses(1987)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Hide and Seek(1991)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Tooth and Nail / Wolfman(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Strip Jack(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Black Book(1993)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Mortal Causes(1994)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Let It Bleed(1995)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Black and Blue(1997)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Hanging Garden(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Dead Souls(1999)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Set in Darkness(2000)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Falls(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Resurrection Men(2002)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Question of Blood(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Fleshmarket Alley / Fleshmarket Close(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Naming of the Dead(2006)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Exit Music(2007)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Standing in Another Man's Grave(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Saints of the Shadow Bible(2013)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Even Dogs in the Wild(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Rather Be the Devil(2016)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
In a House of Lies(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Song for the Dark Times(2020)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Heart Full of Headstones(2022)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Inspector Rebus Short Stories/Novellas

A Good Hanging(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Death is Not the End(1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Good Hanging and Other Stories(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
In the Nick of Time(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Beat Goes On(2014)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Long Shadows (Play)(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Notes: Tooth and Nail was originally titled Wolfman. Fleshmarket Close was titled Fleshmarket Alley in the USA.

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Order of Books » Characters » Order of Inspector Rebus Books

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