27 Facts About John Rebus

Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Sir Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as Rebus.

In novels published after his retirement at the end of Exit Music, Rebus continues to work with the Edinburgh police, either as a civilian or again as a police officer, but only in a temporary capacity.

John Rebus comes from Fife, where his parents are buried, and where his only sibling Michael still lives.

John Rebus's father made a living as a stage hypnotist and Michael is a success in the same profession.

John Rebus is divorced from Rhona and has a daughter, Samantha, who is nearly twelve.

John Rebus went from school into the army and after a difficult stint in Northern Ireland at the beginning of The Troubles, signed up for the SAS.

John Rebus passed the test but, having had to abandon his companion, had a nervous breakdown himself.

In Fleshmarket Close, which deals with immigrant trafficking, John Rebus recalls that his paternal grandfather was a Polish immigrant.

John Rebus stands in everybody else's way, but he stands in his own way too: difficult, determined, remorseless, honourable, honest, and proud of his lack of charm.

John Rebus loves to make jokes at the expense of others, especially his superiors and his friends.

In Cafferty's mind, John Rebus belongs to him, but in John Rebus's own mind he is always fighting Cafferty and trying to collect evidence of his crimes.

John Rebus is a heavy drinker and smoker, though always aware that this is bad for his health.

John Rebus has an extensive collection of vinyl, augmented when his brother Michael dies and leaves him records from their youth.

John Rebus has occasional one-night stands, but his more durable relationships are with women who have a superior education to him, including his wife Rhona, DI Gill Templar, Dr Patience Aitken, the museum curator Jean Burchill, and Professor Deborah Quant.

John Rebus's most enduring relationship is with Siobhan Clarke, but its romantic expression peaks with a single kiss at the end of A Question of Blood.

John Rebus is sometimes mistaken for his daughter and in A Song for the Dark Times performs the daughterly task of helping him move house.

Around the time of retirement, and during the pandemic lockdown especially, John Rebus's constant companion is a dog named Brillo.

John Rebus strives to build up as complete a picture as possible of the victims and suspects.

John Rebus is an example to others of the old-fashioned style of policeman.

John Rebus is suspended from duties or asked to take a break in at least eight of the novels, usually for extreme insubordination or because he is literally trying to investigate his own past sins.

In Black and Blue, John Rebus is haunted by a case from 1976 in which his first police mentor framed a man for murder and John Rebus lied on the witness stand to support him.

In Saints of the Shadow Bible, John Rebus recalls his time in Summerhall police station in the 1980s, among violent and corrupt police officers who still, in 2013, have much to hide.

John Rebus represents a new generation of policing, able to incorporate some of Rebus's passion into a cooler, more even-handed style.

Malcolm Fox, the protagonist of two of Rankin's novels and, in the later ones, a colleague of Clarke and John Rebus, is yet another style of policeman, intensely self-controlled and aware of the law.

John Rebus can be said to belong to a long tradition of paternal Scottish hard men.

Three of the Inspector John Rebus books are named after Stones albums: Black and Blue, Let It Bleed and Beggars Banquet.

Also, in the television series John Rebus is portrayed as being a supporter of Hibernian.