Interview Ian RankIn
With
Criminal
Intent
Best-selling crime writer Ian Rankin, award-winning creator of
the Inspector Rebus novels, is busy producing a graphic novel,
Dark Entries, and working on his latest crime thriller. He talks about
life after Rebus and continuing his efforts to encourage
new readers.WoRds: HannaH stepHenson
ritain’s best-selling crime-writer, Ian Rankin, Indeed, his working life is a world away from his
B
bid farewell to his most famous character home life in Edinburgh, where he lives with his wife
Inspector Rebus less than two years ago, Miranda Harvey and their two sons, Jack, 16, and 14-
but hasn’t had time to miss him. His hard- year-old Kit, who is severely disabled and suffers from
drinking, anti-social detective may have Angelman Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that left
retired, but millionaire Rankin is certainly not going him blind and unable to walk or talk. He attends the
the same way. Royal School for the Blind in Edinburgh.
At 48, retirement is not an option for the award- “When I’m writing books or talking to an audience,
winning Edinburgh-based author, who lives in the then that other part of my life is pushed into a
same street as fellow writer Alexander McCall Smith compartment,” Rankin explains.
and around the corner from JK Rowling. “But then when I come home I’ll be making Kit’s
Even though he doesn’t need to work, he sets breakfast or taking him up to Starbucks so we can sit
himself a punishing schedule, speaking at a range of outside and have a coffee and a bit of cake.”
book events and festivals, supporting charities, sitting Rankin and his wife, who support many disabled
on a literacy commission in Scotland and campaigning charities, are under no illusion as to how fortunate
to encourage young readers, in between writing they are to have the required funds for Kit’s care.
novels. “We can afford care, we can afford equipment. We
Not surprisingly, Rankin simply hasn’t had time don’t have to have a raffle at the pub to get our son a
to miss Rebus, the dour Scottish detective inspector wheelchair. I’ve come into contact with a lot of families
played on TV by Ken Stott and John Hannah. with special needs kids and that’s their day-to-day life.
“There hasn’t been a proper mourning process yet, “I worry on a practical level about the fact that
partly because maybe I think he’s still out there. He’s my younger son is never going to able to look after
not dead, he’s getting on with his life,” Rankin says. himself. He’s now 14 but we knew soon after he was Born in a small mining town of Cardenden, Fife, he
Rebus isn’t the only one to be moving on. Since born that he was always going to need 24/7 care. wrote and drew his own comic books before going on
his last Rebus novel, Exit Music, Rankin has written “Kit’s always improving but it’s in tiny, tiny degrees. to Edinburgh University to study English Literature.
another crime novel, Doors Open, about an art heist, He’ll never talk and although we’re still hopeful that He started to write fiction after graduating in 1982
and a 200-page graphic novel, Dark Entries, which will he’ll walk, he’s not walking at 14. He can feed himself and his first Inspector Rebus novel, Knots & Crosses,
be out later this year. in a rudimentary way but he can’t get himself dressed was published in 1987.
He’s also written a short crime novel, A Cool Head, and we are still toilet training.” “Many a time I thought, I’m not making a go of this.
published earlier this year, which is part of the Quick They recently returned from a week’s break in Publishers in the past would say, ‘Ian’s never going
Reads series by best-selling writers and celebrities. Bermuda at half term, which Rankin says was an to make it into the big time’ and I was worried Rebus
The books are designed for people who have lost experiment he’d probably not repeat. wasn’t the character people wanted to read about. The
the reading habit and for those who struggle with “He’d never been on a six-hour plane journey first five or six books got good reviews but they didn’t
reading. before. They managed to lose his wheelchair at win any prizes or go anywhere near the bestseller list.”
He is also working on another crime novel, set in Gatwick coming back. We got to Edinburgh with no He and his wife, then a high-flying civil servant,
Edinburgh. wheelchair so we had to manhandle him into a taxi ended up living in the Dordogne in France for six years
“I always feel like letting up, but somehow I keep and bring him home and he had to sit in the living where Ian could concentrate more fully on his writing.
signing these contracts. People keep offering me room until the wheelchair turned up later in the day.” But all that seems a long time ago now. Rankin’s
interesting projects,” he explains. Rankin could have reduced his work commitments, books are estimated to account for at least 10% of
Rankin’s life is a bit ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, slotted into but his reluctance to do so may stem from the fact all UK crime fiction sales and the Rebus books have
compartments as he constantly switches from mega- that he did not achieve instant success when he first been translated into more than 30 languages. He has
successful writer to parent of two teenage boys. started out as a writer. received many awards, including the Crime Writers’
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