well, certainly not in the early days – but when he did tackle the theme there was always a blue-tinge to his collar (working class not Conservative), which quite naturally stems from his formative years. He understands the human grief and suffering behind large chunks of Scottishindustry closing down, such as the mines in Fife, Rosyth Dockyard, the list goes on. Indeed, this political sub-theme is expanded in Rankin’s following novel Black and Blue : underhand dealings to rebuild Scotland’s industry, as seen in Let It Bleed . Also, Rankin was a much more confident and competent writer at the time of writing Let It Bleed . Loyal readers knew what to expect from the Rebusseries now and Rankin knew what he wanted to deliver.
So was Rankin suddenly writing to a formula? No, that would be too harsh. What he did do was weave in two or three storylines – different strands – and carry the reader through many twists and turns before arriving at his final conclusion. If Rebus’s summing up was a little too far-fetched then this was simply because Rankin hadn’t fully developedhis new style.
Rebus’s story continued with a grand tour of Scotland. It would be another book that would take its title from a Rolling Stones album, Black and Blue , and Rankin would crack that new way of writing so well that his ultimate goal of recognition for his literary efforts would finally be fulfilled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BLACK AND BLUE
O il, a central theme in Black and Blue , is sometimes referred to as ‘black gold’. Couple that with the phrase ‘The Boys in Blue’ (i.e. the Police Force) and you have the black and blue of the title. 46 Black and Blue was Rankin’s breakthrough novel: the one that made him an international bestseller, not just a recognised quality writer.
Shortly before the book wasreleased, Rankin returned from his six years in France. He and his family were renting a house in Edinburgh but had to vacate it when the family who owned it wanted it back for Christmas. Initially this wasn’t a problem as the Rankins spent Christmas in Belfast with Rankin’s wife’s family. They then spent New Year with friends in Cambridge. They moved around to other family and friends for a while,and while in York visiting friends Rankin read a teaser in The Times . It announced that the best crime novel of 1997 had already been written and its identity would be released the following week. Rankin’s next novel was due for January release and he prayed that it was his book that the reviewer was raving about. It was, and by November, the eighth Rebus novel had picked up the Gold Dagger Awardfor the best crime novel published in 1997. The Times had got it right. Rankin had now truly made it.
But it was largely due to Rankin’s experiences with writing ‘scripts’ before writing Let It Bleed that made Black and Blue – and Rankin – famous. There had definitely been a step up in the substance of the novels since The Black Book , and it wasn’t just because of Rebus’s move to St Leonard’sand the introduction of ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty (although that didn’t hurt the series at all). It was to do with writing technique.
Rankin had learned the art of script-writing and the fact that two or three sub-plots were important to a story. He had tried out the formula in Let It Bleed and refined it for Black and Blue , and this to me is the reason why the series then took off. Rankin doesn’t quitesee it that way: ‘I think everything conspired to make Black and Blue a better book than my previous offerings. I got a strong central story and, thanks to James Ellroy’s object lesson, brought real-world 47 crimes and stories into my fictional world.
In May 2005, Rankin admitted that Black and Blue had been ‘written in anger’. His son Kit had been born in July 1994, while he and Miranda wereliving in France. There had been no signs of problems with the baby either during pregnancy or the first couple of months of its life, but by
So was Rankin suddenly writing to a formula? No, that would be too harsh. What he did do was weave in two or three storylines – different strands – and carry the reader through many twists and turns before arriving at his final conclusion. If Rebus’s summing up was a little too far-fetched then this was simply because Rankin hadn’t fully developedhis new style.
Rebus’s story continued with a grand tour of Scotland. It would be another book that would take its title from a Rolling Stones album, Black and Blue , and Rankin would crack that new way of writing so well that his ultimate goal of recognition for his literary efforts would finally be fulfilled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BLACK AND BLUE
O il, a central theme in Black and Blue , is sometimes referred to as ‘black gold’. Couple that with the phrase ‘The Boys in Blue’ (i.e. the Police Force) and you have the black and blue of the title. 46 Black and Blue was Rankin’s breakthrough novel: the one that made him an international bestseller, not just a recognised quality writer.
Shortly before the book wasreleased, Rankin returned from his six years in France. He and his family were renting a house in Edinburgh but had to vacate it when the family who owned it wanted it back for Christmas. Initially this wasn’t a problem as the Rankins spent Christmas in Belfast with Rankin’s wife’s family. They then spent New Year with friends in Cambridge. They moved around to other family and friends for a while,and while in York visiting friends Rankin read a teaser in The Times . It announced that the best crime novel of 1997 had already been written and its identity would be released the following week. Rankin’s next novel was due for January release and he prayed that it was his book that the reviewer was raving about. It was, and by November, the eighth Rebus novel had picked up the Gold Dagger Awardfor the best crime novel published in 1997. The Times had got it right. Rankin had now truly made it.
But it was largely due to Rankin’s experiences with writing ‘scripts’ before writing Let It Bleed that made Black and Blue – and Rankin – famous. There had definitely been a step up in the substance of the novels since The Black Book , and it wasn’t just because of Rebus’s move to St Leonard’sand the introduction of ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty (although that didn’t hurt the series at all). It was to do with writing technique.
Rankin had learned the art of script-writing and the fact that two or three sub-plots were important to a story. He had tried out the formula in Let It Bleed and refined it for Black and Blue , and this to me is the reason why the series then took off. Rankin doesn’t quitesee it that way: ‘I think everything conspired to make Black and Blue a better book than my previous offerings. I got a strong central story and, thanks to James Ellroy’s object lesson, brought real-world 47 crimes and stories into my fictional world.
In May 2005, Rankin admitted that Black and Blue had been ‘written in anger’. His son Kit had been born in July 1994, while he and Miranda wereliving in France. There had been no signs of problems with the baby either during pregnancy or the first couple of months of its life, but by
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