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Real-life pub pals have a starring role
in the books
MIXING fact and fiction has become a habit with Ian
Rankin.
He drinks in the Oxford Bar in Edinburgh - and so does
Detective Inspector Rebus. The pub, in the city's plush New Town, has
got used to visits from fans and even features on a Rebus tour of famous
scenes from the books.
And some of Rankin's favourite characters can be found
in the Oxford.
The medical team called out to pick over any grisly
remains in the books are generally led by Professor John Gates and Dr
John Curt. In real life John Gates is the owner of the Oxford, while
teacher John Curt is a regular and close pal of the author.
Then there's barman Harry Curran,  who Rankin describes
in the books as: "Harry, the grumpiest barman in the world."
The two Johns have an ongoing joke in the pub over
seniority - and both have been know to try to bribe Ian to bump off the
other with a pint or two.
"At the start, I did my damnedest to make it a
fictional Edinburgh," said Ian. "I made up the names of the
police station, it was a fictional road, the pubs had fictional names.
But people said that's obviously here, here and here.
"Eventually, I thought it would be a lot easier
if I used the real places so I burnt down his police station, relocated
Rebus to St Leonard's, which is about five minutes up the road from my
house, and started him drinking in the Oxford Bar."
The boys in the bar don't seem to mind popping up in
the books. "He didn't tell me he was doing it," said John
Curt. "He had the character and obviously needed a name so he used
mine. It was a nice surprise."
Sometimes, however, it can backfire. Ian said: "I
got a guy in a bit of trouble in the last book, Set In Darkness.
"Rebus wanted to know about a  painter and how
much her paintings were worth and there's a guy who drinks in the Ox
whose wife runs an art gallery.
"So in the book I had Rebus go in and talk to
him. Easy. But it turns out his wife didn't know that he was still
drinking in the Ox and she was taken aback when she found out. He wasn't
best pleased. You've got to be careful when you put real people in the
books."
When Four Weddings And A Funeral star John Hannah was
preparing to take on the role of the hard-drinking Rebus he met Rankin
for a pint in the pub - which ended up a 10-hour bender.
Now Ian hopes the actor will repay the favour by
sneaking him into shot during the next series.
Ian said: "I'd love to do a Hitchcock-style
cameo, but they never asked me.
"I went along to watch them do one day's filming
of the Hanging Garden, the second film. I thought I might get to be a
toughie hanging around in the background, but they didn't go for it.
"I'd really like to be a guy in the pub having a
pint.
"But I'd keep screwing it up so they have to keep
filming the scene again and again and again."
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Author's net thriller attracts
hundreds
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HUNDREDS of
Ian Rankin fans have been trying to finish off his latest crime
thriller, it was revealed today.
The creator of fictional
Edinburgh sleuth Inspector Rebus has sparked the imagination of fans
across the globe after writing the first part of a mystery based around
Edinburgh's Oxford Bar, where he is a regular.
The story has been posted on the pub's website and people are invited to
provide an ending.
Since then, there has been a big increase in the
number of hits to the site.
The best entry is posted on the pub's
website in what could be a never-ending and ever-changing story.
Tumor John
Gates, the landlord of the Oxford Bar, the favourite drinking place of
both the fictional Inspector Rebus and his creator, and regulars at the
pub helped set up the challenge.
And there have been contributions to the
specially-written thriller from as far afield as Australia.
Mr Gates said:
"We just started talking about it as an idea and it's proving really
popular.
"Ian wrote the first page of the story which basically said
a body had been found in the back room of the Oxford Bar.
"The idea is that his fans write the next stage of the story. It could be
never-ending.
"But it's Ian's popularity that's made it, he's taken
off all over the world."
Mr Rankin's tale begins when the Oxford
Bar's cleaning lady finds a fat man "sparked out" on the floor
of the back lounge of the pub on Young Street. Staff call a doctor and it
is feared the unconscious man may have a brain tumour.
When they search his trouser pockets, they find a folded piece of paper.
The last line says: "He unfolded the sheet of paper and started to read..."
Mr Rankin, who lives in Edinburgh, said he had no fixed idea how the story
should end.
"It's just a bit of fun for the pub
and it was nice to be
able to put |
in a few in-jokes - this is not the first person to be sparked
out on the floor of the Oxford Bar," the author said.
He said he had not as yet read any of the contributions to the website, but said he might
do so the next time he logged on.
A fan called Joyleen - believed to be
from Australia - sent in what she believes the note should read -
"£20,000. Oxford Bar. 11pm."
Her story reveals the man on the floor is actually a leading city businessman who the day before was
given an award for services to the community and had been out
celebrating. A newspaper report showed him being presented with the
award while wearing a gold watch and ring that were now missing.
Gordon Millar, a regular and a member of the website team, said there have been
almost 3000 hits since the site was created before Christmas. It
averaged about 20 hits a day until the novel was posted - now that
number has now risen to almost 30 a day.
"We needed to have a site that people were going to revisit," Mr Millar said.
"So many sites are static and we wanted interactivity."
John Skinner, who runs Rebus-tours which takes in famous locations from the Rebus books,
including the Oxford Bar, said the website was a great opportunity for
people to contribute to contemporary crime literature.
Passionate
Fans can take part be e-mailing an entry or by popping
into the pub itself.
"It's an excellent idea," Mr Skinner
said. "It's great to have it in the Oxford Bar because it has so
many connections with the author and it's a traditional Edinburgh pub.
"There are those who can't physically visit the pub so it's
excellent in that sense.
"I know from my own experience that there
are many Ian Rankin fans who have not had the chance to visit Edinburgh
and who are very passionate about it.
"Now they have the chance to
become involved in a 'whodunnit' crime set in Edinburgh."
The
website address is www.oxfordbar.com |
