The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories: From the iconic #1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES

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Now Rebus’s life is revealed through this complete collection of stories, from his early days as a young DC in ‘Dead and Buried’ right up to the dramatic, but not quite final, retirement in ‘The Very Last Drop’. A contributor to BBC2's Newsnight Review, he also presented his own TV series, Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts. Further Copyright Information (pages 610-611) gives the year of first publication as shown below and where published.

He has also been shortlisted for the Anthony Award in the USA, won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the Deutscher Krimipreis. This offering contains all of Rebus' short stories, which originally appeared in A Good Hanging and Other Stories and Beggars Banquet. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter.the short story format also meant that there was 0 character development, which i guess is because there are more than 25 full length novels that are meant for the development, but it made it very slow going to read the book anyway. From time to time I wondered how a story might have fared had the name "Rebus" been replaced throughout by another, and the sad response I gave myself was that in most instances it wouldn't have mattered.

This is the ultimate Ian Rankin treasure trove - a must for aficionados as well as a superb introduction to anyone looking to experience DI John Rebus, and the dark and twist-filled crimes he has to investigate, for the very first time. From his beginnings as a young Detective Constable in "Dead and Buried," right up to his dramatic, but not quite final, retirement in "The Very Last Drop," Rebus shines in these stories, confirming his status as one of crime fiction's most compelling, brilliant, and unforgettable characters.The best entries, such as "A Good Hanging," which involves a murder disguised as a suicide during the Edinburgh fringe festival, feel like short novels. They are spread throughout his career, with the first story being the most recently written – a prequel more or less to his latest novel Saints of the Shadow Bible, when Rebus was a new detective learning the ropes – right through to his retirement (which we now know didn't last long). I found this a completely satisfying collection, and one that I'm sure to dip in and out of many times again.

Most of these really are "short" stories, generally between 10 and 20 pages, and as with any such compilation the quality is variable. One thing though, when you have a collection like this the reader notices certain themes that wouldn't have been so obvious if the stories had been read at different times and places, and Mr Rankin seems to have an odd fixation with the idea of criminals disguised as Santa Claus!THE BEAT GOES ON confirms once again that DI John Rebus is "one of the great modern cops" ( Washington Post). The most mundane crime scene and he could smell it like a police dog from a mile away; as if the crime was just playing in front of him. Now Rebus's life is revealed through this complete collection of stories, from his early days as a young DC in 'Dead and Buried' right up to the dramatic, but not quite final, retirement in 'The Very Last Drop'.