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Ian Rankin is perhaps the UK’s foremost crime writer, best-known for his extensive series of novels set in Edinburgh and featuring Detective Inspector John Rebus.

Christopher Nicol’s Scotnote examines one of Rankin’s most popular works, the award-winning Black & Blue. The complex, multilayered narrative is untangled, the characters studied and the novel’s social and psychological undercurrents explored. This guide is suitable for senior school pupils and students at all levels.

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CONTENTS

• Ian Rankin and his work
• Outline
• Black & Blue: the social landscape
• John Rebus in Black & Blue
  • Rebus’s empathy with victims and underdogs
  • Rebus’s lack of respect for establishment figures
  • Rebus and personal engagement
• Characters
  • Detective Inspector Jack Morton
  • Detective Sergeant Ludovic Lumsden
  • Chief Inspector Charles Ancram
  • Bible John
  • Detective Sergeant Brian Holmes
• Themes
  • The power of past sins
  • Fathers and children
  • The effects of the oil industry
• Structure and style
• Bibliography