First, I should declare an interest. A long time ago I worked with Ian's wife, and during the period he was still a struggling writer driving a Citroen 2CV, I once took the two of them to watch a cricket match at Headingly, in Leeds.

So I've watched the subsequent development of his career with a lot of interest and enthusiasm.

"Exit Music" is the latest Inspector Rebus book. Set, as are most of the previous books in the series, in Edinburgh, it kicks off by telling the reader that Rebus is just 10 days from retirement, and the chapters through the book count down from there...

I'll not get into the plot. Suffice it to say that it is as compellingly page-turning as the previous books in the series, and once again, the pleasure in reading it is enhanced by the exploration of the book's central character - Edinburgh itself. If you've enjoyed the earlier Rebus books, this will not be a disappointment.

We've also recently watched all the DVDs of the Rebus TV shows. There have been two attempts at filming the books. The first was a series of three TV dramas starring John Hannah as Rebus. More recently there have been five (?) TV dramas starring Ken Stott as Rebus.

It's been fascinating re-watching them after a period of time, in part to work out whether we preferred the John Hannah or Ken Stott renditions. The truth is that I still don't know. The tone of the two series was very different, yet both were believeable and gripping. I personally see Ken Stott as Rebus more readily than I see John Hannah as him, and the later Gill Templar was much more believable. This made me think I'd prefer the more recent series. But the original three really are very good, and well worth watching in their own right.

The conclusion is the absence of a conclusion. The two series are so different (though it is interesting to watch for the crossover of at least two actors playing similar minor parts in both) that comparison is a fairly meaningless occupation. It's a lousy way for a review to end, but I have to say that they are all extremely good, again, especially if you enjoy spotting the Edinburgh locations in which they were filmed.

I've not read any of Rankin's books (yet!), but myself and Linda recently watched a documentary on Rankin and his thoughts on how he should end of the Rebus series. In the programme Rankin went to Cardenden, his own and Rebus's birthplace and traced their combined history together back to the present day.

One of the insights he gave was when researching his first book he went in to Leith police station and ended up being a suspect in the Caroline Hogg & Susan Maxwell disappearances.

Anyway, here is the complete list of Rebus books:

Knots and Crosses (1987)
Hide and Seek (1991)
Tooth and Nail (1992 - originally published as Wolfman)
Strip Jack (1992)
The Black Book (1993)
Mortal Causes (1994)
Let it Bleed (1996)
Black and Blue (1997)
The Hanging Garden (1998)
Dead Souls (1999)
Set in Darkness (2000)
The Falls (2001)
Resurrection Men (2002)
A Question of Blood (2003)
Fleshmarket Close (2004)
The Naming of the Dead (2006)
Exit Music (2007)

As for the tv series, the first starred John Hannah in:

Black and Blue (1997)
The Hanging Garden (1998)
Dead Souls (1999)
Mortal Causes (1994)

Subsequent series star Ken Stott in:

(series 2)
The Falls (2001)
Fleshmarket Close (2004)

(series 3)
The Black Book (1993)
A Question of Blood (2003)
Strip Jack (1992)
Let it Bleed (1996)

(Series 4)
Resurrection Men (2002)
The First Stone
The Naming of the Dead (2006)
Knots and Crosses (1987)

The dates after each episode is when the book was published and it is interesting to note that while Rankin wrote the books in "real time" the series weren't filmed that way!