Inspector Rebus span a broad spectrum of Scotland, including council estates, tenements, business districts, nightclubs, prisons, dying mining towns, secluded villages and desolate hillsides, as well as the better-known pubs and streets of Edinburgh. Some of these locations are fictional, although they may be based on real places. For example, the Pilmuir estate is a conflation of the two real Edinburgh locations Pilton and Muirhouse. Other locations, such as the Oxford Bar, Arden Street, and St Leonards police station, are real. Frequent references to real places, or local politics firmly ground the Rebus series in the real world. Another strong feature of
John Rebus a extensive record collection and drives a Saab 900. Rebus is a smoker and heavy drinker and often orders a pint of beer and a whisky. The traits that keep him strong are also the traits that drive those closest to him away. It is the pervasive image of Rebus as the noble loner that wins the sympathy of readers. Rebus does have a string of romantic liaisons, but apart from his marriage to Rhona none last very long. He has been linked with DI Gill Templer. He has a strong platonic relationship with his understudy and "protégée", Detective Inspector