Reading the Inspector Rebus books in order is simple: start with Knots and Crosses and continue through Midnight and Blue. There are 25 full-length Inspector Rebus novels. Each mystery can stand alone, but publication order gives you the best view of Rebus, Siobhan Clarke, Big Ger Cafferty, and Malcolm Fox as their relationships change.
Ian Rankin’s series helped define Tartan Noir, with Edinburgh, Scottish politics, and changing police work woven into each case. This guide includes the complete novel sequence, the novella and short stories, the Rebus plays and companion books, and both television adaptations.
For Rankin’s complete bibliography beyond John Rebus, see my Ian Rankin books in order guide.
Jump to:
- Inspector Rebus Books in Order
- Malcolm Fox Books Before Rebus
- Other Inspector Rebus Works
- Is there an Inspector Rebus TV show?
- About the Inspector John Rebus Books
- Looking for more books in order?
Inspector Rebus Books in Order
Ian Rankin has said that readers can begin almost anywhere because each investigation tells its own story. I still recommend starting with book one and continuing in publication order. Rebus ages throughout the series, and the ongoing stories involving Clarke, Cafferty, and Fox carry more weight when you meet them in sequence.
Some of the early books reached the United States several years after their British editions, so the dates below may look slightly out of sequence. The list uses U.S. publication years where the American editions followed later. For Tooth and Nail, I’ve kept the novel’s original 1992 publication year and noted its first title.
Malcolm Fox enters Rebus’s story in Standing in Another Man’s Grave and continues appearing in later novels. He stars in two earlier books of his own, which I’ve listed separately below as optional background reading.
- Knots and Crosses (1987)
- Hide and Seek (1994)
- Tooth and Nail (1992) (originally published as Wolfman)
- Strip Jack (1994)
- The Black Book (1994)
- Mortal Causes (1995)
- Let It Bleed (1996)
- Black and Blue (1997)
- The Hanging Garden (1998)
- Dead Souls (1999)
- Set in Darkness (2000)
- The Falls (2001)
- Resurrection Men (2002)
- A Question of Blood (2004)
- Fleshmarket Alley (2005) (published in the UK as Fleshmarket Close)
- The Naming of the Dead (2007)
- Exit Music (2007)
- Standing in Another Man’s Grave (2012)
- Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013)
- Even Dogs in the Wild (2015)
- Rather Be the Devil (2016)
- In a House of Lies (2018)
- A Song for the Dark Times (2020)
- A Heart Full of Headstones (2022)
- Midnight and Blue (2024)
Malcolm Fox Books Before Rebus
Malcolm Fox stars in two novels before crossing into the Rebus series. You don’t need to read them to understand the Rebus books, but they introduce Fox, his work with the Complaints and Conduct Department, and his approach to investigating other police officers.
- The Complaints (2011 U.S. edition)
- The Impossible Dead (2011)
After these two books, continue with Standing in Another Man’s Grave, where Fox first investigates John Rebus. Fox and Rebus are then forced to work together in Saints of the Shadow Bible, and Fox remains part of the wider Rebus cast afterward.
Other Inspector Rebus Works
Rankin has also written Rebus novellas, short stories, plays, and companion works. Several collections repeat the same stories, so you don’t need every omnibus to read all the material. The notes below show where the overlap occurs.
Rebus Novellas and Short-Story Collections
- A Good Hanging and Other Stories (1992; U.S. edition followed later) (Collection of 12 Rebus stories)
- Death Is Not the End (2000; first published in the UK in 1998) (Novella later expanded into material used in Dead Souls)
- Beggars Banquet (2002) (Collection of 21 stories, including seven Rebus stories)
- The Complete Short Stories (2005) (Omnibus containing A Good Hanging and Other Stories, Beggars Banquet, and “Atonement”)
- In the Nick of Time (2014) (Crossover short story with Peter James and Roy Grace)
- The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2014) (Short-story collection)
The Beat Goes On is the broadest single Rebus collection, but its “complete” subtitle doesn’t cover every story. The U.S. edition adds “Cinders” and “My Shopping Day,” while several other stories still need to be found separately.
Uncollected Rebus Short Stories
These stories aren’t included in the main editions of The Beat Goes On. “In the Nick of Time” is another omission, but it is available separately as an ebook.
- “Well Shot” (1993)
- “Get Shortie” (1999)
- “The Acid Test” (1999)
- “Cafferty’s Day” (2016)
- “Charades” (2017)
Rebus Plays and Companion Books
- Rebus’s Scotland: A Personal Journey (2005) (Nonfiction companion)
- John Rebus: A Mysterious Profile (2007; ebook edition 2022) (Character profile)
- Rebus: Long Shadows (2018) (Play)
- A Game Called Malice (2023) (Play, co-written with Simon Reade)
Is there an Inspector Rebus TV show?
Yes. The original Rebus television series ran from 2000 to 2007 and produced 14 feature-length episodes. John Hannah played Rebus in the first four, followed by Ken Stott in the remaining ten.
Most episodes adapt recognizable plots from Rankin’s novels, although characters and subplots are often condensed for television. The Hannah films run longer and generally keep more of the books’ detail. The Stott episodes move faster and make larger changes, while still drawing directly from the novels.
A separate six-episode Rebus series premiered in 2024 with Richard Rankin as a younger Detective Sergeant John Rebus. It uses familiar characters, including Siobhan Clarke and Ger Cafferty, but tells a modernized story instead of adapting one novel from beginning to end.
The BBC commissioned a second series with Richard Rankin returning as Rebus.
About the Inspector John Rebus Books
The Inspector John Rebus novels follow Edinburgh as closely as they follow the detective. The city changes over the course of the series, and so does police work. Reading from the beginning lets you see that shift through Rebus’s cases, his colleagues, and the institutions he rarely trusts.
Rebus is an old-school detective who prefers interviews, legwork, and instinct to office politics or procedure. He’s cynical, stubborn, and willing to cross lines when he believes the result justifies it. Those flaws make him difficult for the people around him, but they also keep him from feeling like a polished, predictable hero.
Siobhan Clarke gives the series an important counterpoint. She’s younger, more comfortable with changes in policing, and often more willing to work within the system. Malcolm Fox creates a different kind of pressure because he begins as an internal-affairs investigator looking closely at Rebus’s past.
Music is another constant throughout the books. Rebus listens to artists such as the Rolling Stones and Leonard Cohen, while Clarke brings in bands including the Cocteau Twins and Belle and Sebastian. Titles such as Black and Blue, Let It Bleed, and Dead Souls also draw from songs or albums.
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.