nine months it became clear that there were serious problems with Kit. Frustrated by his lack of grasp of the French language and the punishment God had inflicted upon him, Rankin let fly his anger at Rebus and the new novel he was writing. Black and Blue became longer, more intricate and menacing as a consequence. ‘The anger and all of that helped,’ Rankin explained. ‘I really felt focused… and Rebus becomes more of a believable human character – we begin to care about him. 48
So the introduction of a disabled child spawned the bestseller Rankin had been dreaming of? No. Black and Blue was pure evolution: a sudden set of leaps up the ladder thathad started with The Black Book , then Mortal Cause and followed by Let It Bleed . Of course the series had been evolving since day one, but Rebus’s world had suddenly got bigger and more intricate, and characters were returning to the series, such as – with Black and Blue – Jim Stevens (the journalist) and Jack Morton (who had worked with him in Knots and Crosses ).
We can also picture Rebus alittle more clearly now. He is ‘a couple of inches’ taller than DS ‘Dod’ Bain, who is 5ft 11in, and he is also out of shape – if we believe Jack Morton, who has given up the bad things in life for a new fitness regime! So Rebus is clearer in his creator’s mind suddenly, and does not have anything more in common with Rankin. Does this tell us anything in itself? Yes, perhaps. It tells us that Rankindidn’t have to rely on his own personal background any more. The research he had done about the Police Force, Edinburgh and real life bad guys had made Black and Blue a real watershed novel for him. Rebus was suddenly the older man; Rankin had distanced himself somewhat and this distance had allowed the writer to bounce his character around a little more, take risks, become more creative.
Anothervery interesting and important part of Black and Blue is the character Rebus is tracking down, Johnny Bible. It appears that this serial killer is a copycat murderer based upon 1960s killer Bible John. The point here is that Bible John really existed and was never caught by the police. Rankin decided to work this urban-gothic story into Black and Blue (this is what Rankin was referring to withJames Ellroy’s object lesson), thus adding a speculative but very thought-provoking sub-plot that would engage anyone remotely interested in the Bible John case.
Using Bible John was inspired but surely Rankin was concerned about using a real-life serial killer after the fictitious Wolfman had had his name painted on an underpass wall? I asked Rankin if copycat murders troubled him (i.e. peoplebasing their crimes on incidents in his book)? ‘I’ve discussed this a bit with other crime writers,’ he said. ‘We feel that the people who read crime fiction tend to be very well-balanced – lovely people to meet! It’s because reading is cathartic. All your fears and frustrations and any innate aggression are “earthed” by placing yourself in the shoes of these characters. 49
Black and Blue wasmore than a stream of consciousness emanating from urban folktales. It must be remembered that Rankin’s social conscience was working hard nowadays, and the plight of Scottish industry/enterprise was something that stuck in his throat and hardened his stories. For me, this is where the anger comes in. Maybe the anger is also detected in some of the supporting ‘bad boy’ cast, as they are all a littlemore vicious than usual. There’s Tony El, a man who likes to tie his victims up, put polythene bags over their heads and use power tools to torture them. Then there’s Malky – aka Mr Stanley Knife – who fills emergency rooms all over Glasgow with his ‘particular hobby’. Yes, Black and Blue is a more spiteful novel, and if we focus in on the statements about the decline of Scottish industry to theviciousness of certain characters and the cavalier things that happen to Rebus –
So the introduction of a disabled child spawned the bestseller Rankin had been dreaming of? No. Black and Blue was pure evolution: a sudden set of leaps up the ladder thathad started with The Black Book , then Mortal Cause and followed by Let It Bleed . Of course the series had been evolving since day one, but Rebus’s world had suddenly got bigger and more intricate, and characters were returning to the series, such as – with Black and Blue – Jim Stevens (the journalist) and Jack Morton (who had worked with him in Knots and Crosses ).
We can also picture Rebus alittle more clearly now. He is ‘a couple of inches’ taller than DS ‘Dod’ Bain, who is 5ft 11in, and he is also out of shape – if we believe Jack Morton, who has given up the bad things in life for a new fitness regime! So Rebus is clearer in his creator’s mind suddenly, and does not have anything more in common with Rankin. Does this tell us anything in itself? Yes, perhaps. It tells us that Rankindidn’t have to rely on his own personal background any more. The research he had done about the Police Force, Edinburgh and real life bad guys had made Black and Blue a real watershed novel for him. Rebus was suddenly the older man; Rankin had distanced himself somewhat and this distance had allowed the writer to bounce his character around a little more, take risks, become more creative.
Anothervery interesting and important part of Black and Blue is the character Rebus is tracking down, Johnny Bible. It appears that this serial killer is a copycat murderer based upon 1960s killer Bible John. The point here is that Bible John really existed and was never caught by the police. Rankin decided to work this urban-gothic story into Black and Blue (this is what Rankin was referring to withJames Ellroy’s object lesson), thus adding a speculative but very thought-provoking sub-plot that would engage anyone remotely interested in the Bible John case.
Using Bible John was inspired but surely Rankin was concerned about using a real-life serial killer after the fictitious Wolfman had had his name painted on an underpass wall? I asked Rankin if copycat murders troubled him (i.e. peoplebasing their crimes on incidents in his book)? ‘I’ve discussed this a bit with other crime writers,’ he said. ‘We feel that the people who read crime fiction tend to be very well-balanced – lovely people to meet! It’s because reading is cathartic. All your fears and frustrations and any innate aggression are “earthed” by placing yourself in the shoes of these characters. 49
Black and Blue wasmore than a stream of consciousness emanating from urban folktales. It must be remembered that Rankin’s social conscience was working hard nowadays, and the plight of Scottish industry/enterprise was something that stuck in his throat and hardened his stories. For me, this is where the anger comes in. Maybe the anger is also detected in some of the supporting ‘bad boy’ cast, as they are all a littlemore vicious than usual. There’s Tony El, a man who likes to tie his victims up, put polythene bags over their heads and use power tools to torture them. Then there’s Malky – aka Mr Stanley Knife – who fills emergency rooms all over Glasgow with his ‘particular hobby’. Yes, Black and Blue is a more spiteful novel, and if we focus in on the statements about the decline of Scottish industry to theviciousness of certain characters and the cavalier things that happen to Rebus –
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