The Oxford Bar of police officers drink there. In "Dirty Work: Ian Rankin and John Rebus Book-By-Book", Ray Dexter and Nadine Carr note that the Oxford Bar would be an improbable local for Rebus due to its geographical location. Other visitors to the bar have included actor Sean Connery and author Colin Dexter. Quintin Jardine's 2009 Bob Skinner novel, "Fatal Last Words", also mentions the Oxford Bar considerably, again due to the connection with the local police force drinking there. There are a few other nods to Rankin too. The Oxford Bar The Oxford Bar is a public house situated on Young Street,
John Rebus Siobhan Clarke. His longest relationship has been with Patience Aitken which spanned several novels. Either his relationships are improper and unsuitable – with women personally linked to the cases Rebus is working on, or else they find that Rebus is 'married' to his job, and cannot be fully committed to a relationship. In an "Independent on Sunday" interview Rankin said that he drew "some of his inspiration" for the character from the “sixth Stone”, Ian Stewart. Three of the Inspector Rebus novels are named after Stones albums: "Black and Blue", "Let It Bleed" and "Beggars Banquet". In a 2007 interview