Order of Ian Rankin Books
Ian Rankin is a Scottish author of crime fiction. Rankin’s goal in life was not always to write crime fiction. He originally thought he would be compared to the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson rather than to be considered part of the Tartan Noir genre. He is best known for his Inspector Rebus novels, which are set in Edinburgh. Many of the books have been adapted to a television series on the British channel ITV, starring John Hannah and later Ken Stott as Inspector Rebus.
Ian Rankin became a published author in 1986 when The Flood was released. His next novel, Knots and Crosses was the beginning of the Inspector Rebus character. Since then, most of his work has been in the Rebus series, although he has also written some standalone books and a new series featuring Malcolm Fox. Below is a list of all of Ian Rankin’s novels in publication order and in chronological order (when necessary):
Publication Order of Inspector Rebus Books
| Knots and Crosses | (1987) |    |
| Hide and Seek | (1991) | |
| Tooth and Nail / Wolfman | (1992) | |
| Strip Jack | (1992) | |
| The Black Book | (1993) | |
| Mortal Causes | (1994) | |
| Let It Bleed | (1995) | |
| Black and Blue | (1997) | |
| The Hanging Garden | (1998) | |
| Dead Souls | (1999) | |
| Set in Darkness | (2000) | |
| The Falls | (2001) | |
| Resurrection Men | (2002) | |
| A Question of Blood | (2003) | |
| Fleshmarket Alley / Fleshmarket Close | (2004) | |
| The Naming of the Dead | (2006) | |
| Exit Music | (2007) | |
| Standing in Another Man's Grave | (2012) | |
| Saints of the Shadow Bible | (2013) | |
| Even Dogs in the Wild | (2015) | |
| Rather Be the Devil | (2016) | |
| In a House of Lies | (2018) | |
| A Song for the Dark Times | (2020) | |
| A Heart Full of Headstones | (2022) | |
Publication Order of Inspector Rebus Short Stories/Novellas
(with Peter James)
| A Good Hanging | (1992) | |
| Death is Not the End | (1998) | |
| A Good Hanging and Other Stories | (2003) | |
| In the Nick of Time | (2014) | |
| The Beat Goes On | (2014) | |
| Long Shadows (Play) | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Jack Harvey Books
| Witch Hunt | (1993) | |
| Blood Hunt | (1995) | |
| Bleeding Hearts | (2001) | |
Publication Order of Malcolm Fox Books
| The Complaints | (2009) | |
| The Impossible Dead | (2011) | |
Publication Order of Jack Laidlaw Books
(with William McIlvanney)
| Laidlaw | (1977) | |
| The Papers of Tony Veitch | (1983) | |
| Strange Loyalties | (1991) | |
| The Dark Remains | (2021) | |
| The Dark Remains is a prequel. | ||
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| The Flood | (1986) | |
| Watchman | (1988) | |
| Westwind | (1991) | |
| Doors Open | (2008) | |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| A Deep Hole | (1994) | |
| A Cool Head | (2009) | |
| Meet and Greet | (2016) | |
Publication Order of Plays
| Dark Road | (2014) | |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Beggars Banquet | (2002) | |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Rebus's Scotland | (2005) | |
Publication Order of Bibliomysteries Books
| The Book of Virtue | (2012) | |
| Pronghorns of the Third Reich | (2012) | |
| The Book Thing | (2012) | |
| The Book Case | (2012) | |
| An Acceptable Sacrifice | (2012) | |
| Death Leaves a Bookmark | (2012) | |
| The Final Testament | (2013) | |
| Rides a Stranger | (2013) | |
| The Long Sonata of the Dead | (2013) | |
| The Book of Ghosts | (2013) | |
| The Compendium of Srem | (2014) | |
| What's in a Name? | (2014) | |
| Remaindered | (2014) | |
| The Sequel | (2014) | |
| The Gospel of Sheba | (2014) | |
| The Nature of My Inheritance | (2014) | |
| It's in the Book | (2014) | |
| The Scroll | (2014) | |
| The Book of the Lion | (2015) | |
| The Little Men | (2015) | |
| Condor in the Stacks | (2015) | |
| Mystery, Inc. | (2015) | |
| Every Seven Years | (2015) | |
| From the Queen | (2015) | |
| The Travelling Companion | (2016) | |
| Citadel | (2016) | |
| Reconciliation Day | (2016) | |
| Dead Dames Don't Sing | (2016) | |
| The Haze | (2016) | |
| Hoodoo Harry | (2017) | |
| The Pretty Little Box | (2018) | |
| Seven Years | (2018) | |
| The Hemingway Valise | (2018) | |
| The Last Honest Horse Thief | (2018) | |
| The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository | (2018) | |
| The Dark Door | (2022) | |
Chronological Order of Bibliomysteries Books
| The Book of Virtue | (2012) | |
| The Scroll | (2014) | |
| Pronghorns of the Third Reich | (2012) | |
| An Acceptable Sacrifice | (2012) | |
| Death Leaves a Bookmark | (2012) | |
| Seven Years | (2018) | |
| The Book Thing | (2012) | |
| The Book of Ghosts | (2013) | |
| The Long Sonata of the Dead | (2013) | |
| The Final Testament | (2013) | |
| Rides a Stranger | (2013) | |
| What's in a Name? | (2014) | |
| It's in the Book | (2014) | |
| The Nature of My Inheritance | (2014) | |
| Remaindered | (2014) | |
| The Compendium of Srem | (2014) | |
| The Gospel of Sheba | (2014) | |
| The Sequel | (2014) | |
| The Book of the Lion | (2015) | |
| The Little Men | (2015) | |
| From the Queen | (2015) | |
| Every Seven Years | (2015) | |
| Citadel | (2016) | |
| Condor in the Stacks | (2015) | |
| Mystery, Inc. | (2015) | |
| The Travelling Companion | (2016) | |
| The Haze | (2016) | |
| Dead Dames Don't Sing | (2016) | |
| Reconciliation Day | (2016) | |
| Hoodoo Harry | (2017) | |
| The Pretty Little Box | (2018) | |
| The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository | (2018) | |
| The Hemingway Valise | (2018) | |
| The Last Honest Horse Thief | (2018) | |
| The Book Case | (2012) | |
| The Dark Door | (2022) | |
Publication Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Books
| Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2016) | |
| Murder on Christmas Eve | (2017) | |
| A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2018) | |
| Anthology series. | ||
Publication Order of Mysterious Profiles Books
| Elvis Cole and Joe Pike | (2022) | |
| Jack Taylor | (2022) | |
| Jack Reacher | (2022) | |
| Charlie Parker | (2022) | |
| Hieronymus Bosch | (2022) | |
| Lincoln Rhyme | (2022) | |
| Alex Delaware | (2022) | |
| Tess Monaghan | (2022) | |
| Charlie Resnick | (2022) | |
| Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus | (2022) | |
| Inspector Morse | (2022) | |
| Dismas Hardy | (2022) | |
| Bob Lee Swagger | (2022) | |
| Aloysius X. L. Pendergast | (2022) | |
| Lou Boldt | (2022) | |
| Spenser | (2022) | |
| Charlotte and Thomas Pitt | (2022) | |
| John Rebus | (2022) | |
| Mallory | (2022) | |
| Jane Whitefield | (2022) | |
| Ian Rutledge: A Mysterious Profile | (2022) | |
| Amos Walker | (2022) | |
| Precious Ramotswe | (2022) | |
| Maisie Dobbs | (2022) | |
| The Lincoln Lawyer | (2022) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| The Oxford Book of Detective Stories | (2000) | |
| Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them | (2000) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 | (2000) | |
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 | (2000) | |
| The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction | (2004) | |
| One City | (2005) | |
| Dangerous Women | (2005) | |
| The Penguin Book of Crime Stories | (2007) | |
| Ox-Tales: Earth | (2009) | |
| Crimespotting | (2009) | |
| The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 | (2011) | |
| The Best of Barcelona INK | (2012) | |
| The Killer Cookbook | (2012) | |
| OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crimewriters | (2014) | |
| FaceOff | (2014) | |
| Jawbreakers | (2014) | |
| Ten Year Stretch | (2018) | |
| Daggers Drawn | (2021) | |
Notes: Witch Hunt, Bleeding Hearts and Blood Hunt were written under the pseudonym of Jack Harvey.
One City also contains contributions by Alexander McCall Smith and Irvine Welsh. Ox-Tales: Earth also contains contributions by Kate Atkinson, Jonathan Buckley, Jonathan Coe, Hanif Kureishi, Marti Leimbach, Marina Lewycka, Vikram Seth, Nicholas Shakespeare and Rose Tremain. Dark Entries is co-authored with Werther Dell’Edera. Dark Road is co-authored by Mark Thomson.