Rebus is to return.
Ian Rankin, the best selling Scottish novelist and creator of the Inspector Rebus novels, is at work on an another Rebus mystery, he has confirmed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Rankin also said he was working on other projects, and that a Rebus stage play was also being developed but that the character he has been writing for 30 years is to return in a new novel.
The new book will follow Rather Be The Devil, the 21st Rebus novel, which was published last year.
"I have just signed a contract for two more books, and one has to to be Rebus, so the next book I have to write is Rebus," he said.
"The one after that can be anything I want, so when the festival finishes, I will get the thinking cap on - I have got nothing at the moment, I have not got a title, I have not got a plot.
"I will start writing as normal in January, and by June, hopefully, touch wood, I will have another Rebus novel which will come out next Autumn."
Of the play, he said: "I have got lots of plans, there is a mooted TV series again next year, there is a possible Rebus play, which someone else is writing, not me."
Rankin said that the toll of time was beginning to show on his famous character - in the latest book he has been diagnosed with COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and has a shadow on his lung.
The writer said in the real world, Rebus would be long retired and unlikely to be working on crime investigations, but the lure of 'cold cases' means he can keep the character going.
Rankin added: "In the real world Ms Marple would be solving crimes, and Sam Spade would be doing divorces, he wouldn't be investigating murders necessarily.
"A good writer can convince you this stuff could happen."
He added: "The last two or three books have really been about encroaching mortality and Rebus not being able to get into fights anymore, and not being able to shoulder a door of a cheap apartment block in Leith.
"He tries to kick in a door and he limps for the rest of the book - because he is not a superman. He is fallible and fragile and that's interesting to me, and people often say to me, what keeps the series fresh when you have been writing for 30 years?
"The fact is that with every book - when I sit down to think about it - he has changed, from the previous book, he has changed from the guy he was 20 years ago - things have happened to his body, things have happened psychologically, philosophically, and that is the same for the other characters, and that is what keeps the series fresh."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here