Ian Rankin Books in Order: Complete Book & Series List

By T.L. BransonMystery

Looking for Ian Rankin books in order? This guide covers the Inspector Rebus mysteries, two Malcolm Fox novels, three thrillers written as Jack Harvey, standalones, short fiction, plays, graphic works, and nonfiction. His stories are closely tied to Edinburgh, but they range from police procedurals to espionage, art theft, political thrillers, and psychological crime.

The series lists below use publication order. The Rebus novels work as individual mysteries, but the characters and long-running relationships develop across the books, so I recommend starting with the first title in whichever series you choose.

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Ian Rankin Standalone Novels

Rankin’s standalone novels can be read in any order. They range from the family drama of The Flood to espionage in Watchman and Westwind, an Edinburgh art heist in Doors Open, and a London high-rise murder in The Heights.

  1. The Flood (1986)
  2. Watchman (1988)
  3. Westwind (1990)
  4. Doors Open (2008)
  5. The Heights (2026)

Inspector Rebus Series

Read the 25 Inspector Rebus novels in publication order. For expanded reading notes and more detail on the series, see my Inspector Rebus books in order guide.

  1. Knots and Crosses (1987)
  2. Hide and Seek (1991)
  3. Tooth and Nail (1992) (Originally published as Wolfman)
  4. Strip Jack (1992)
  5. The Black Book (1993)
  6. Mortal Causes (1994)
  7. Let It Bleed (1995)
  8. Black and Blue (1997)
  9. The Hanging Garden (1998)
  10. Dead Souls (1999)
  11. Set in Darkness (2000)
  12. The Falls (2001)
  13. Resurrection Men (2002)
  14. A Question of Blood (2003)
  15. Fleshmarket Close (published in the U.S. as Fleshmarket Alley) (2004)
  16. The Naming of the Dead (2006)
  17. Exit Music (2007)
  18. Standing in Another Man’s Grave (2012)
  19. Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013)
  20. Even Dogs in the Wild (2015)
  21. Rather Be the Devil (2016)
  22. In a House of Lies (2018)
  23. A Song for the Dark Times (2020)
  24. A Heart Full of Headstones (2022)
  25. Midnight and Blue (2024)

Malcolm Fox Books

Malcolm Fox works in the Complaints and Conduct department, investigating other police officers. His two dedicated novels come first. He then crosses into the Rebus series beginning with Standing in Another Man’s Grave and continues to appear in later Rebus books.

  1. The Complaints (2009)
  2. The Impossible Dead (2011)

Jack Harvey Books

Rankin published these three thrillers under the name Jack Harvey. They are separate stories, so publication order is optional.

  1. Witch Hunt (1993)
  2. Bleeding Hearts (1994)
  3. Blood Hunt (1995)

Ian Rankin Short Fiction, Collections, and Plays

Short Fiction and Novellas

This list focuses on novellas and short works that received their own commercial editions. Many of Rankin’s other stories are available in the collections listed below.

  1. A Deep Hole (1994)
  2. Death Is Not the End (1998) (Rebus novella later expanded into Dead Souls)
  3. A Cool Head (2009)
  4. In the Nick of Time with Peter James (2014)
  5. Meet & Greet (2015; standalone edition published in 2016)
  6. The Travelling Companion (2015; wider edition published in 2016)
  7. The Rise (2023) (Later expanded into The Heights)

Short Story Collections

The Complete Short Stories combines the earlier collections and adds “Atonement.” The Beat Goes On gathers the Rebus stories and the novella Death Is Not the End.

  1. A Good Hanging and Other Stories (1992)
  2. Herbert in Motion and Other Stories (1997) (Limited edition)
  3. Beggars Banquet (2002)
  4. The Complete Short Stories (2005) (Omnibus)
  5. The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2014)

Plays

  1. Dark Road with Mark Thomson (premiered in 2013; script published in 2014)
  2. Rebus: Long Shadows with Rona Munro (2018)
  3. A Game Called Malice with Simon Reade (2023)

Ian Rankin Graphic Novels and Illustrated Works

Dark Entries is an original John Constantine graphic novel illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera. The Lie Factory is an illustrated novella included in the Rory Gallagher multimedia collection Kickback City, with art by Timothy Truman.

  1. Dark Entries (2009)
  2. Kickback City: Featuring The Lie Factory (2013)

Ian Rankin Nonfiction and Companion Books

Rebus’s Scotland is Rankin’s personal journey through the places connected to Rebus and Edinburgh. John Rebus: A Mysterious Profile is a short companion piece about the creation of the character.

  1. Rebus’s Scotland: A Personal Journey (2005)
  2. John Rebus: A Mysterious Profile (2022) (Character profile and author commentary)

Ian Rankin Anthologies and Collaborations

These books include work Rankin edited, multi-author Edinburgh collections, and a novel he completed from William McIlvanney’s unfinished manuscript and notes.

  1. Ian Rankin Presents Criminal Minded (2000) (Edited with an introduction by Ian Rankin)
  2. One City with Alexander McCall Smith and Irvine Welsh (2006)
  3. The Dark Remains with William McIlvanney (2021)
  4. The People’s City with multiple authors (2022)

Ian Rankin Book-to-Screen Adaptations

Ian Rankin’s work has been adapted through two versions of Rebus and a television film based on Doors Open. The original series adapts individual mysteries, while the later version creates a new story from Rankin’s characters and world.

Rebus aired intermittently from 2000 to 2007 and produced 14 television films, with John Hannah starring in the first four and Ken Stott in the remaining ten. Twelve episodes adapt recognizable Rebus novels, including Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden, Dead Souls, The Falls, and Resurrection Men. The episode called Knots and Crosses tells a largely original story, while The First Stone draws from Rankin’s short story “Atonement.” The series keeps the central crimes, characters, and Edinburgh setting, but it condenses subplots and supporting characters, especially in the shorter Ken Stott episodes.

Doors Open adapts Rankin’s 2008 standalone novel about a group planning an art theft. The film keeps the main characters and heist premise, but moves the targeted paintings from National Gallery storage to a national bank and trims some character development to fit the television format. It’s a fairly faithful adaptation of the book’s central story.

Rebus reimagines John Rebus as a younger detective sergeant in present-day Edinburgh. It uses familiar characters such as Siobhan Clarke, Big Ger Cafferty, Michael Rebus, and Sammy Rebus, but it doesn’t adapt one specific novel. The plot was created for television, so it’s faithful to Rebus’s personality and the mood of the books rather than their chronology or individual mysteries.

Who is Ian Rankin?

Ian Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife, Scotland, in 1960. He studied literature at the University of Edinburgh and began doctoral work on Muriel Spark before leaving the program.

Before writing full time, he worked as a grape picker, swineherd, taxman, alcohol researcher, journalist, and college secretary. Music has remained a major influence on his work, from book titles to the records and bands that shape Rebus’s world.

Rankin published The Flood in 1986 and introduced John Rebus in Knots and Crosses the following year. He was appointed OBE for services to literature in 2002 and knighted in 2022 for services to literature and charity.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Thriller Books in Order index.

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