Ian Rankin: 'Bringing Rebus Back Isn?t Desperate'.

In 2007, the 17th and, apparently, final Rebus novel, Exit Music, saw the Edinburgh detective retiring from the force. But last December Ian Rankin decided to pen a new Rebus book and the BBC asked if they could film you during the process of writing it...
"Nobody has ever filmed someone writing a book and the challenge was how do you make that interesting because it's something that happens inside your head. They decided the best way was to give me a camera and let me record a video diary."

Why did you decide to bring Rebus back?
"I'd invented a new cop, Malcolm Fox, and the books were successful, so bringing Rebus back isn't an act of desperation. It was just that the kind of story I wanted to tell suited Rebus."

I can't wait to read it but now prefer the grittier dark humour of cop novels by Stuart MacBride. Flesh House, the 4th thriller in the Number One bestselling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. Panic grips The Granite City as DS Logan McRae heads up a manhunt for 'The Flesher' - one of the UK's most notorious serial killers. The case was closed. Until the killer walked free...When an offshore container turns up at Aberdeen Harbour full of human meat, it kicks off the largest manhunt in the Granite City's history. Twenty years ago 'The Flesher' was butchering people all over the UK - turning victims into oven-ready joints - until Grampian's finest put him away. But eleven years later he was out on appeal. Now he's missing and people are dying again. When members of the original investigation start to disappear, Detective Sergeant Logan McRae realizes the case might not be as clear cut as everyone thinks...Twenty years of secrets and lies are being dragged into the light. And the only thing that's certain is Aberdeen will never be the same again.