Re-reading Rebus – A thread

In preparation for @Beathhigh latest Rebus novel #ASongForTheDarkTimes, I decided in lockdown to re-read all 23 of the Rebus novels in order. To give added interest, I also counted every time Rebus drank an alcoholic drink. The results are in....

Good job I didn’t read them as a drinking game, having a drink when Rebus does – maybe I will for the new book....

A caveat – there were times when Rebus went ‘for a few drinks’ or a ‘couple’ of drinks, and those, I didn’t want to guess at (and skew the results), so that occasions are noted

Black&Blue is the pinnacle of Rebus’ drinking (tho there may be some margin for error – it was a long time since I recorded it all, and might have counted ‘double’ whiskies as 2) Even so, he drinks A LOT in that book, which is not surprising when faced with 2 serial killers...

Also, don’t want to lay the blame at the South, but he seems to drink more after a secondment in London in Tooth and Nail...

Would be also interesting to see if his drinking increases in the books when Big Ger features prominently...

It’s also interesting to see his whisky and beer consumption seems to be slowing down over the past few books...

Some additional reflections on Re-reading Rebus:

My top ten Rebus books:
1.The Hanging Garden
2.Dead Souls
3.Resurrection Men
http://4.Black  and Blue
5.Rather be the devil
6.The Falls
7.Mortal causes
8.Exit Music
9.Fleshmarket Close
10.The Black Book

My top two actually surprised me – I always like Resurrection Men, Black and Blue, The Falls, but re-reading them, I realised that The Hanging Garden and Dead Souls seem to be the most introspective of the Rebus novels: they are when he questions much of his life as a detective..

...but also as a man, a father, a husband. In the midst of his own personal crises with his daughter, Rebus wonders what life is all about, and confronts his own demons/ghosts and failures. Those two books have such soul-searching