First look: The Rebus short stories

Readers can’t get enough of Edinburgh’s irascible detective, and on 9 October you’ll be able to get you hands on a new Rebus book. Author Ian Rankin’s latest is not a novel though, instead it’s a collection of 27 short stories that run in chronological order and follow Rebus’ activities in between the 19 novels, the most recent of which was Saints of the Shadow Bible.

We’ve just received an early copy of The Beat Goes On and we just had to share it with you. The vast majority of these stories have appeared elsewhere. However, there are two brand new ones which Ian Rankin has written specifically for this collection – The Passenger and A Three-Pint Problem. Another of the stories, The Very Last Drop, in which Rebus apparently retires, was written for the charity The Royal Blind and can be read online for free here.

The Beat Goes On includes a length preamble by the author about his studies, his writing career, his influences and, of course, how he developed his main character Rebus. He talks about his fascination with The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll an Mr Hyde, for instance. Did you know that he nearly called the second Rebus novel Hyde and Seek?

You can pre-order your copy of The Beat Goes on here or read an interview with Ian Rankin here.