Author | Ian Rankin |
---|---|
Country | Scotland |
Language | English |
Series | Inspector Rebus |
Genre | Detective fiction |
Publisher | Orion Books |
Publication date | 1995 |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 278 pp |
ISBN | 1-85797-634-7 |
OCLC | 43181191 |
Preceded by | Mortal Causes |
Followed by | Black & Blue |
Let it Bleed is a 1995 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the seventh of the Inspector Rebus novels. The US edition has a final chapter not present in the UK version; Rankin has explained that his North American publisher objected to the open, ambiguous conclusion of the original text.
Detective Inspector John Rebus and Frank Lauderdale start the book with a car chase across Edinburgh to apprehend kidnappers, culminating with the two youths they are chasing throwing themselves off the Forth Road Bridge and in Rebus being injured in a car crash. [1] Rebus's upset over this allows Rankin to show the character in a new light, revealing his isolation and potentially suicidal despair.
After the unconnected suicide of a terminally ill con, Rebus pursues an investigation that implicates respected people at the highest levels of government, and due to the politically sensitive nature of what he is doing, faces losing his job, or worse. He is supported by his daughter Sammy, allowing their distant relationship to be built upon. [2]
The title refers to the Rolling Stones album Let it Bleed . [1]
In one scene in the novel, Rankin describes Rebus putting his foot onto the bar rail in the Oxford Bar when a band is playing. This, Rankin states, caused many people to contact him to say that there wasn't a bar rail in the Oxford at that time. Rankin mused that this mistake (he claims he mis-remembered) has led to more complaints than anything else including historical inaccuracies or police procedure. [3]
The American version of the book includes a final chapter not seen in the original UK publication. The American publishers were unhappy with the open-ending in the book and so commissioned Rankin to complete the story for the American market. [4]
An episode of the Rebus television series adapted the plot the book, with some differences. Ken Stott starred as Inspector Rebus. [5]
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. The novels are mostly set in and around Edinburgh. Rebus has been portrayed by John Hannah and Ken Stott for Television, with Ron Donachie playing the character for the BBC Radio dramatisations.
Sir Ian James Rankin is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.
The Inspector Rebus books are a series of detective novels by the Scottish author Sir Ian Rankin. The novels, centred on Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh. They are considered an important contribution to 'Tartan Noir'.
Knots and Crosses is a 1987 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the first of the Inspector Rebus novels. It was written while Rankin was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh. In the introduction to this novel, Rankin states that Rebus lives directly opposite the window in Marchmont that he looked out of while writing the book.
Hide and Seek is a 1991 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the second of the Inspector Rebus novels. This novel is not to be confused with James Patterson's 1996 novel Hide and Seek.
Black & Blue is a 1997 crime novel by Ian Rankin. The eighth of the Inspector Rebus novels, it was the first to be adapted in the Rebus television series starring John Hannah, airing in 2000.
The Hanging Garden is a 1998 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the ninth of the Inspector Rebus novels. It was the second episode in the Rebus television series starring John Hannah, airing in 2001.
Set in Darkness is a 2000 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the eleventh of the Inspector Rebus novels. It won the 2005 Grand Prix du Roman Policier (France) under the title Du fond des ténèbres.
Resurrection Men is a 2002 novel by Ian Rankin. It is the thirteenth of the Inspector Rebus novels. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2004.
The Naming of the Dead is a crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the sixteenth of the Inspector Rebus novels. It is set in Edinburgh in July 2005, in the week of the G8 summit in Gleneagles.
Blood Hunt is a 1995 crime novel by Ian Rankin, under the pseudonym "Jack Harvey". It is the third novel he wrote under this name.
Exit Music is the seventeenth crime novel in the internationally bestselling Inspector Rebus series, written by Ian Rankin. It was published on 6 September 2007. The book is named after the Radiohead song "Exit Music ".
The Oxford Bar is a public house situated on Young Street, in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The pub is chiefly notable for having been featured in Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series of novels. The Oxford Bar, or The Ox, is John Rebus's favourite pub in Edinburgh.
Let It Bleed is an album by the Rolling Stones.
The Complaints is a novel by Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin. It was published in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2009.
The Impossible Dead is a 2011 novel written by the Scottish author Ian Rankin. It is the second novel in the Malcolm Fox series.
Standing in Another Man's Grave is the eighteenth instalment in the bestselling Inspector Rebus series of crime novels, published in 2012. The title of the book is a mondegreen, Rankin having misheard the Scottish singer songwriter Jackie Leven singing "Standing in Another Man's Rain", which mistake he gives to Rebus. Excerpts from Leven's songs appear with each division of the book.
Saints of the Shadow Bible is the nineteenth instalment in the bestselling Inspector Rebus series of crime novels, published in 2013. Like the preceding Rebus novel, this one draws its title from a Jackie Leven lyric.
In a House of Lies is the 22nd instalment in the Inspector Rebus series written by Ian Rankin. In a House of Lies entered the hardback chart at No. 1 on the first week of its release.