Ian Rankin

Published on Friday 17 August 2007 00:09

WHATEVER about John Rebus retiring, there's no sign of Ian Rankin, a mere 47 years old after all, hanging up his computer for a long while.

The last book before Rebus leaves the force - booted out four days early, apparently - is to be called Exit Music. He knew it would be, he revealed, as far back as two years ago, when he first spotted the title of Scottish singer-songwriter Steven Lindsay's solo album.

But while the title hints at Rebus's departure from the force as well as the changing political landscape in which an exit from the Union is at least being more actively considered, Rankin was still keeping a number of options open.

He suggested we might not have seen the back of the surly, but fundamentally decent, detective for good.

Rebus, he admitted, wasn't likely to be found running a taxi or a B&B or retiring quietly abroad. Indeed, his retirement might well be dangerous for his health if his only exercise consisted of walking out of the door of the Oxford bar to smoke and back in again for his pint.

But his friendship with Siobhan Clark is deep enough for her to ask for his advice on her own cases. And - who knows? - he could still crack long-forgotten ones working with the Serious Crimes Review Unit. It depends on two things: "Have I anything new to say - and is Rebus holding anything back from me?"

Elsewhere, in a sparklingly confident and wide-ranging interview, Rankin touched on a string of other projects he is working on - a 15-minute libretto for Scottish Opera, a graphic novel, and a novella about an Edinburgh art heist.

Rebus fans may be in mourning; Rankin fans certainly are not.