The New York Times –bestselling author explains the creation of Inspector Rebus, the hard-edged Edinburgh cop and "superbly drawn character" ( The Times , London). "Rebus is without doubt one of the funniest among the classical fictional detectives." — The Guardian In this short work, Edgar and Diamond Dagger Award winner Ian Rankin delves into DI John Rebus's origins as a character, as well as his own origins as a writer. While author and character share a love of literature and a deep affection for Scotland's capital city, they differ in other ways, as Rankin entertainingly testifies, while revealing how this "compelling figure" has developed over the course of his long-running series of gritty crime novels ( Kirkus Reviews). "[A] hard-drinking, chain-smoking, terminally melancholic hero . . . trapped in a world where mavericks are an endangered species." — Booklist "With his stubborn insistence on tying up the frayed ends of every knotty clue, and iconoclastic refusal to be a team player. . . . Rebus is a bane to his superiors but a blessing to readers." — Publishers Weekly