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
Hibernian F.C. from the "Hibs firm" Capital City Service, is struck by lightning while under the influence of LSD in a Pilton park. His soul is then transferred to the body of an unborn child from one of the more affluent areas of Edinburgh. Furthermore, the appearances by Hibs in the 2012 and 2016 Scottish Cup finals are described in Welsh's novels "A Decent Ride" and "Dead Men's Trousers" respectively. Hibernian are also frequently referred to in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by Ian Rankin. Rebus himself is a Raith Rovers fan in the books, but he is a Hibs