John Rebus and the frequent popular music references and thoughts that Ian Rankin weaves into the stories. However, Rebus' reliance on alcohol is evident and he is often seen drinking in the Oxford Bar. Also, in the television series Rebus is portrayed as being a supporter of Hibernian. This is not found in Ian Rankin's books, he having stated outside the books that Rebus is a Raith Rovers supporter.Rebus's Fife accent is softened as well; in the novel "Tooth and Nail", London Metropolitan Police colleagues find it difficult to understand his speech. Alexander Morton played Rebus in a 1999 BBC Radio 4
Inspector Rebus novel, Rebus also reveals that his grandfather came from Poland. Rebus is a fan of 1960s popular music. He often connects situations with an apt song from the 1960s. The "Inspector Rebus" series is commercially successful in the United Kingdom, accounting for an estimated 10% of all crime book sales in the UK as of 2015. The books now routinely sell half a million copies within the first three months of printing and have been translated into 26 languages. As of 2015 they are published in the UK by the Orion Publishing Group. The seventeenth was thought to be the