"WE NEED A LITTLE LAUGHTER IN THE DARK": MIDNIGHT AND BLUE'S IAN RANKIN

In the latest John Rebus novel, Midnight and Blue, Ian Rankin makes his former copper into a prison inmate. Soon a fellow prisoner is murdered in his locked cell and he goes to snooping with the help of former partner Siobhan Clarke and semi-nemisis Malcolm Fox working connected cases on the outside, where every suspect is a convicted murderer. Ian was kind enough to talk about the new Rebus book and his hero's world.

SCOTT MONTGOMERY: What did you enjoy most about putting Rebus in prison?

IAN RANKIN: It was just a natural consequence of the ending of the previous book.  I knew he would be jailed and I immediately thought - interesting.  For all kinds of reasons.  He is in his 70s and has health issues, so prison will be a challenge.  He is also an ex-cop, so he will be in the midst of people who don't trust him and might even wish him harm.  But then if there's a hard-to-solve murder (a locked cell mystery, if you will) he is best placed to solve the mystery and stop the prison from erupting.  I began to get really excited about the prospect of seeing how Rebus would deal with all these challenges.

S.M.: What surprised you the most in your prison research?

I.R.: There were a lot of surprises along the way, many to do with the support services - for example, I had no idea the local council in Edinburgh provided a qualified librarian to run the prison library.  I also learned that the prisoners wear colour-coded clothing so that officers know what type of offender they are dealing with.  I found plenty of professionalism and compassion and a broad agreement that some prisoners shouldn't actually be in prison at all, but would be better served in a care facility - if such facilities existed and had space and personnel.

S.M.: Because of the circumstances of the story, this becomes an ensemble investigation that includes Clarke and Fox. How did you keep the balance between characters as well as the momentum of the story?

I.R.: I was told by the prison governor that a serious crime inside would be investigated by detectives from the city.  That was great for me because it meant things didn't become too claustrophobic - readers could leave the prison confines with those detectives and spend some time outside the walls.  Then another storyline crept into my head featuring a missing teenager, which allowed me to give Rebus's one-time colleague Siobhan Clarke something to do!  And of course Malcom Fox (ex-Internal Affairs and no fan of Rebus) also entered the picture because the murder in the prison gives him a chance to go there and see how Rebus is faring.

S.M.: Clarke has gone through a lot since Rebus' retirement. How has she changed without him as an official partner?

I.R.:  I think Clarke misses hanging around with a cop from the 'old school', a maverick who got the job done.  But Rebus's retirement also allowed her to step out from his shadow and prove to those around her (and the readers!) that she is more than a sidekick - she is a great detective in her own right.

S.M.: Maybe it's because I came to Rebus late  and Fox early, but I always feel the need to stick up for the man every time Rebus belittles him. Am I wrong?

I.R.: Haha!  I thought I was done with Rebus when he retired, but I still wanted to write about cops.  However, I didn't want readers to think they were getting Rebus 2.0, so Fox was perfect for me - the kind of cop who needs to remain cleaner than clean as he investigates bent cops.  But it was difficult to make such a goody-two-shoes character interesting!  So I gave him flaws.  He wants to be a man of action but he is a born desk jockey.  And when I brought Rebus back, Fox could no longer be the protagonist - he had to be the antagonist (because readers love Rebus so much).  So, yes, I've been cruel and heartless to Fox - maybe more than he deserves, poor guy.  Good for you for sticking up for him!

S.M.: Even in this situation Rebus keeps his biting, sardonic humor. Does that come from him being a cop, Scottish, or written by Ian Rankin?

I..R.: I think there is a dark humour in policing - it is a necessary reaction to the facing of daily horrors and tragedies.  And Scottish humour tends to be droll and dark-edged anyway.  Rebus is funnier than his creator.  He says the perfect punchline at the perfect moment, whereas in reality I always come up with a punchline or a pun hours after it would have been apposite.  I do think that we need a little laughter in the dark...