Detective Inspector John Rebus Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series. He was born in 1947 in
Fife and left school at the age of fifteen to join the
Army. After serving in
Northern Ireland he applied to undergo selection for the
SAS, but after a horrendous ordeal in training, left the army and joined
Lothian and Borders Police. He is initially introduced as a
Detective Sergeant, and is promoted to
Detective Inspector early in the series.
Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke Detective Sergeant Siobhan "Shiv" Clarke is Rebus's trusted friend and partner. Her given name is represented in
IPA /ʃɨˈvɔːn/. In
the 2000 television series, Clarke was first played by Gayanne Potter and then by
Claire Price. In the
2024 reboot, she is played by
Lucie Shorthouse. Clarke hails from a middle-class English family (her parents are politically active on
the left) and is much younger than Rebus. She has a university degree and is a devoted follower of
Hibernian F.C. As a woman, she faces obstacles to acceptance in the police force, especially since, like Rebus, she enjoys the challenges of solving cases rather than administrative work or networking. At the same time, she is Rebus'
foil; in contrast to his hands-on approach to policing, Clarke strictly follows procedure. The relationship between Clarke and Rebus is emotional; she is his apprentice but also something of a daughter figure, and there is, during the middle years, some romantic charge in the relationship as well. She first appears in
The Black Book (1993) as a newly promoted
Detective Constable. She remains a useful sidekick of Rebus until
Set in Darkness (2000), when she becomes a secondary protagonist with chapters devoted to her cases and perspective. She is promoted to Detective Sergeant by the beginning of
Resurrection Men (2002) and to Detective Inspector after
Exit Music (2007). As a DI in the later novels, after Rebus's first retirement, she provides him with access to cases, and eventually she, Rebus, and Malcolm Fox become a pseudo "team". In
Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013), Rebus rejoins the police as a DS and she is his superior. In
A Song for the Dark Times (2020) she is the one who helps Rebus move downstairs to his new ground floor flat. She is more willing and able than Rebus to incorporate technology into her work, and in
The Falls (2001) she pursues a killer through an email correspondence while Rebus explores historical parallels. She is also more cautious than he about violating policies and procedures, and provides a voice of reason. Like Rebus, she is "married to the job." Most of the men romantically interested in her (or she in them) are policemen. At one point, in
Resurrection Men, she has three suitors but prefers the one who is willing to settle for a platonic relationship; later, she and Malcolm Fox have a similarly platonic relationship. In the later books, she has an affair with divorced colleague DCI Graham Sutherland.
Detective Chief Superintendent Gill Templer Detective Chief Superintendent Gill Templer is a regular character in Rebus series up through
A Question of Blood (2003). She first appears in
Knots and Crosses as a Detective Inspector and Press Liaison; she and Rebus have an affair. In the two subsequent novels, he is still in love with her but their relationship is on-and-off-again; it ends definitively when he chooses to move in with Patience Aitken in
Strip Jack (1992). Templer is ambitious and networks with other women who are pushing the boundaries in their professions. She is promoted to
Detective Chief Inspector in
Let it Bleed and thus becomes Rebus's boss at St. Leonard's police station. She becomes the first female
Detective Chief Superintendent just before
The Falls. In that novel, she tries to mentor DC Siobhan Clarke. She also plays Cupid to Rebus and Jean Burchill.
Assistant Chief Constable Colin Carswell Assistant Chief Constable Colin Carswell is the chief officer with overall responsibility for crime in Lothian and Borders Police. He first appears in
Black and Blue (1997), nicknamed "The CC Rider". He reappears as ACC Colin Carswell in
Dead Souls (1999), but his description has changed. He continues in that role through
The Falls (2001). He and Rebus disapprove of each other.
Detective Chief Superintendent Thomas "Farmer" Watson Detective Chief Superintendent Thomas Watson, nicknamed
"The Farmer" is a senior detective, Rebus's superior, from
Hide and Seek (1991) until the first chapter of
The Falls (2001), where he retires. He also appears in some of the short stories in
A Good Hanging. In most of these novels, he is charge of the CID based at
St Leonard's, Edinburgh police station. Occasionally we get a brief glimpse of his point of view on Rebus. Although he is exasperated by Rebus's tendency to ignore his requests and even orders, he appreciates that Rebus gets results.
Detective Chief Inspector Bill Pryde Detective Chief Inspector Bill Pryde is the Chief Inspector at St Leonard's CID before its closure. He is introduced as a Detective Inspector and is promoted prior to
Resurrection Men.
Detective Chief Inspector James Macrae Detective Chief Inspector James Macrae is the head of CID at Gayfield Square police station in Edinburgh when Rebus and Clarke are stationed there after the closure of St Leonard's, that is, in
Fleshmarket Close,
The Naming of the Dead, and
Exit Music (2004-2007). He does not like or trust Rebus, not even giving him a desk in the CID room at first, and suspending him three days before retirement in
Exit Music. He has a favoured DI, Derek Starr, who does what he wants, but he also likes DS Clarke.
Detective Chief Inspector James Page Detective Chief Inspector James Page is in charge of the Gayfield Square CID during the period of Rebus's retirement (starting with ''Standing in Another Man's Grave
, 2012). Because the station was not designed with an office for the DCI, he has repurposed a closet as his office. At first, he and DI Siobhan Clarke seem to have some romantic history, but it is not mentioned in later novels. He is a well-organised, cheerful manager of the team, and loves the limelight and networking with his superiors, which disgusts Rebus. When Rebus serves as a DS at Gayfield Square in Saints of the Shadow Bible,'' DCI Page does not appreciate him and kicks him out of the station.
Detective Chief Inspector Graham Sutherland DCI Graham Sutherland first appears in
In a House of Lies in charge of the Major Incident Team; he includes
DI Siobhan Clarke in his group. He is "early fifties maybe," lives in Glasgow, but has been stationed in various locations around the country. By the end of that book, the two are clearly good friends, and by the next book,
A Song for the Dark Times, they are lovers; she recalls that he has asked her to move in with him, but she is doubtful. He is divorced but signs of his ex-wife linger at his home, and she doubts he has bothered to buy a new bed.
Chief Inspector Lauderdale Chief Inspector Frank Lauderdale ("Fart" Lauderdale) is described as Rebus's senior officer so presumably a Detective Chief Inspector, and as a "bigot." He appears in the novels from
Strip Jack (1992) to
Let it Bleed (1996), at the beginning of which he crashes the car in which he and Rebus are pursuing two young criminals; he survives but is badly hurt. He also appears in some of the stories in
A Good Hanging. Rebus winds him up whenever he can and calls him "the Clockwork Orangeman" behind his back. Once when Rebus replied "Right you are, sir" Lauderdale sat in a daze: "He'd said it! Rebus had actually ended a sentence with 'sir'!"
Detective Inspector George Flight Detective Inspector George Flight of the London
Metropolitan Police is in charge of the serial killer case in
Tooth and Nail (1992). Rebus is sent to assist him and the two men become friends. Rebus consults him by phone in the next book,
Strip Jack, where Flight remarks that Rebus persuaded him not to retire. He is also on a phone call with Rebus in the short story "Seeing Things" from
A Good Hanging and Other Stories (1992).
Detective Inspector Abernethy Detective Inspector Abernethy is a representative of the
Special Branch (Metropolitan Police). He involves himself in two of Rebus's cases. In
Mortal Causes (1994) he is interested in the relationships between Irish and Scottish paramilitary groups, and gun-running. In
The Hanging Garden (1998) he tells Rebus that it is not in the national interest for Rebus to succeed in his efforts to persuade Mr. Lintz to talk about his activities as a Nazi.
Detective Inspector Alister Flower Detective Inspector Alister Flower is based at
St Leonard's, Edinburgh police station in three novels, starting with
The Black Book (1993). He hates Rebus, his fellow DI, because he sees him as competition. In
Let it Bleed (1995), Rebus has been offered a promotion to DCI, but in
Galashiels, by higher-ups who want him out of Edinburgh. After Rebus has caught Flower in several nasty activities, Flower helps Rebus in exchange for the promotion.
Detective Inspector Claverhouse Detective Inspector Claverhouse is a Detective Sergeant, then Detective Inspector, based at the Lothian and Borders Police headquarters at Fettes as part of the Scottish Crime Squad. He works in partnership with DC/DS Ormiston and is nicknamed
"Bloody Claverhouse". He is tall and thin with sandy hair, and fond of country and western music. He and Ormiston first appear in
Mortal Causes (1994), and again in
The Hanging Garden (1998) and
Resurrection Men (2002), at which point the Crime Squad is evolving into
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.
Detective Inspector "Shug" Davidson Detective Inspector "Shug" Davidson is a police officer based at Torphichen Place (West End) police station in Edinburgh. He appears in
Let it Bleed (1996),
Dead Souls (1999),
Fleshmarket Close (2004), and
Exit Music (2007). He and Rebus respect each other and he is often helpful to Rebus.
Detective Inspector Bobby Hogan Detective Inspector Bobby Hogan is a police officer based at
Leith police station. He appears in most of the novels from
The Hanging Garden (1998) to
A Question of Blood (2003). He is an intelligent cop and he and Rebus enjoy working together.
Inspector Malcolm Fox Inspector Malcolm Fox is the main protagonist in the Inspector Malcolm Fox series,
The Complaints (2009) and
The Impossible Dead (2011), where he is an Inspector with the Lothian and Borders Complaints and Conduct (or Professional Standards) Department. In the Rebus series, starting with
Saints of the Shadow Bible, (2014), he is an important point-of-view character. He is described as a bear of a man; despite this imposing physicality, his early stint in CID (including time working with John Rebus) was not a success. His brief marriage ended in divorce, after which he decided to stop drinking completely. He pays to keep his father in a nursing home until, in
Even Dogs in the Wild, the old man dies; he also does his best to support his sister Jude, who is an alcoholic, a gambling addict, and full of spite. In ''
Standing in Another Man's Grave (2013) he is a distant antagonist, suspicious of John Rebus. However, in Saints of the Shadow Bible'' he needs Rebus's help on an investigation, and they develop a rapport; he also meets and admires Siobhan Clarke, and the three of them become a kind of team. In
Rather Be the Devil (2016) and subsequent novels, he has been transferred to the Scottish Crime Campus at
Gartcosh, but he is given assignments in Edinburgh when the Gartcosh chiefs need to be involved in a case, and then he rejoins Rebus and Clarke on their investigations. He gradually gains confidence in the field as well as in rooms full of case files. In
A Song for the Dark Times, he and
'Big Ger' Cafferty manipulate each other in the way Cafferty and Rebus often do. He and Clarke establish a platonic relationship in
Even Dogs in the Wild but it is spoiled when he is promoted to Gartcosh instead of her (and also when he allows her to be investigated for a leak to the media for which he is himself responsible). He also has a brief fling with DS Tess Leighton, between
In a House of Lies and
A Song for the Dark Times. He also appears (based in Gartcosh) in
A Heart Full of Headstones. In
Midnight and Blue, Fox resigned due to the 'utter fucking fannies' in the police hierarchy.
Detective Inspector Derek Linford Detective Inspector Derek Linford is a police officer based at the Lothian and Borders Police headquarters at Fettes. He appears in
Set in Darkness, The Falls, and
Resurrection Men (2000-2002), though he has a significant role only in the first of these. He is ambitious and sure of his own moral high ground, qualities which do not endear him to Rebus. He takes Siobhan Clarke out on a date, but when she is no longer interested he spies on her. He is an acolyte of ACC Colin Carswell.
Detective Inspector Jack Morton Detective Inspector Jack Morton is a police officer who appears
Knots and Crosses, the first Rebus novel (1987), as a friend of Rebus; they are both Detective Sergeants, and have to do a lot of legwork together. Rebus re-establishes their friendship during
Black and Blue (1997( when he meets him during an investigation. Morton helps him give up alcohol and paint his apartment. Afterward, though Morton returns to Falkirk, he acts as sponsor for Rebus, talking him through his temptations to drink. Rebus invites him onto an undercover operation in
The Hanging Garden (1998) in which Morton is shot in the chest and killed. He becomes one of the "ghosts" Rebus drinks to forget.
Detective Inspector Stefan Gilmour Detective Inspector Stefan Gilmour appears in
Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013) and the related short story, "Dead and Buried." He was in charge of a CID team at Summerhall police station in the early to mid-80s, when Rebus was posted there as a Detective Constable. When the violence and corruption of the Summerhall team was close to exposure, he resigned his post to shut down the inquiry. In
Saints he has become a prominent builder of hotels and a proponent of the "No" vote in the
2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Detective Sergeant Brian Holmes Detective Sergeant Brian Holmes is a police officer who is a trusted, though often mystified, subordinate of Rebus in the early novels and short stories. His point of view on Rebus is sometimes presented. He first appears in the novel
Hide and Seek (1991) as a DC with a girlfriend, Nell Stapleton, who is a librarian at the
University of Edinburgh. He is Rebus's friend and closest associate in
Strip Jack (1992) through
Black and Blue (1997), as well as in many of the short stories published during these years. He is torn by the choice between Rebus's obsessive style of policing and the more domestic life Nell wants. Finally he chooses to leave the police. To some extent his function as Rebus's sounding-board is replaced by Siobhan Clarke.
Detective Sergeant Ormiston Detective Sergeant Ormiston is a police officer based at the Lothian and Borders Police headquarters at Fettes as part of the Scottish Crime Squad. He works in partnership with DI Claverhouse. He has greasy black hair.
Detective Sergeant Eric Bain Detective Sergeant Eric Bain ("Brains") is a police officer and computer expert based at the Lothian and Borders Police headquarters at Fettes, who appears in three novels. He provides tech support to Siobhan Clarke during
The Falls (2001) and in
Resurrection Men (2002) they have what seems to be a good friendship, visiting each other and sharing their interests. However, when Eric wants to take this into romantic territory, Siobhan withdraws. In
The Naming of the Dead Eric turns up again, living with the gorgeous Molly; both characters twist into the plot.
Detective Sergeant Ellen Wylie Detective Sergeant Ellen Wylie is a police officer at Torphichen station. She first appears in
Set in Darkness (2000) as part of a team from various Edinburgh police departments assigned to assess security at the as-yet-unbuilt Scottish Parliament. She and DC Grant Hood together work on assignments from Rebus; her point of view is occasionally included in the narrative. In
The Falls (2001) she has a crisis when DCI Templer appoints her as Press Liaison and she is not able to handle a difficult presentation; Rebus uses her on his case but she resents the whole situation. She is active in
Fleshmarket Close (2004), where Rebus is investigating a case in Torphichen territory. In
The Naming of the Dead (2006), she is again assisting Rebus; she is now living with her sister, who has escaped an abusive husband.
Detective Sergeant Tess Leighton Detective Sergeant Tess Leighton is part of the Major Incident Team headed by Detective Chief Inspector Graham Sutherland in
In a House of Lies and
A Song for the Dark Times. She is tall, slim, pale, intelligent, and interested in men. She and
Malcolm Fox have a few dates. Her colleagues on this team in the two books include
DS George Gamble and
DC Phil Yeats.
Detective Constable Robert Burns Detective Constable Robert Burns ("Rab") appears in
The Black Book (where he is a Detective Sergeant),
Mortal Causes and
Let it Bleed, always stationed at Torphichen (West End). He is a member of the
Free Church of Scotland (the "Wee Frees") and preaches damnation on
The Mound on Sundays. In
Mortal Causes, he is a native of the Pilmuir housing estate and helps Rebus with his foray into this dangerous area, full of young thugs. In the other books, he is generally helpful.
Detective Constable Grant Hood Detective Constable Grant Hood is a police officer who was based at St Leonards. He is a big fan of new technology and gadgets. During
The Falls he is attracted to Siobhan Clarke, and attempts to kiss her. During the same novel he takes on a media liaison role, a position he takes up in a number of subsequent investigations.
Detective Constable "Hi-Ho" Silvers Detective Constable George "Hi-Ho" Silvers is a police officer who was based at St Leonards. He is described as "coasting towards his pension."
Detective Sergeant Christine Esson Detective Sergeant Christine Esson is part of the Gayfield Square police station CID starting with
Saints of the Shadow Bible (2013). She is a social media expert. Rebus thinks she looks like Audrey Hepburn (
In a House of Lies, Chapter 25). She works with databases and, when cold cases necessitate it, archives, researching leads not only for DI Siobhan Clarke but also for Rebus, who may or may not have any official status at Gayfield. She was paired with another detective,
Ronnie Ogilvie. In
Midnight and Blue she clashes with Rebus and Fox when investigating a prison murder. She now works with DI Jason Mulgrew. Esson dislikes tea and coffee, preferring to drink hot water.
Police Constable Toni Jackson Police Constable Toni Jackson is a police officer who is based at St Leonards. She frequently encourages Siobhan Clarke to socialise with the other female officers. ==Police associates==