Ian Rankin was the undoubted star of Sara Cox’s Book Week special, dropping the revelation that Inspector Rebus was originally killed off at the end of the very first novel. “The first draft of the first Rebus novel, he dies at the end,” Rankin told Sara, explaining he changed the ending purely so he could bring the character back. With Rebus now pushing 80 in the books, Sara had a cheeky solution for his retirement: “sell him to Richard Osman” and let him join the Thursday Murder Club gang.
Rankin was on to discuss his first standalone London novel in nearly three decades, The Heights, which follows a Tottenham-raised detective investigating murder among oligarchs and tech bros in a posh high-rise. He also recalled being knighted by Princess Anne, telling her she’d once addressed a room of a hundred women all called Margaret, which “had her bursting out laughing.” For listeners stuck in a reading slump, Rankin’s top three picks were The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Jilly Cooper’s Rivals and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Elsewhere, Sara’s regular Surprise and Shine feature saw teacher Katharine win a pair of ‘Sara Sox’ live on air, while the Let’s Hear It For The Noise game tripped up University of Bristol administrator Lisa and her daughter Esme, who mistook The Archers for Antiques Roadshow — prompting a cameo from the show’s own Susie Ridley (Tracy Horrobin). Grassington listener Kate also moved Sara with a touching Signed, Sealed, Delivered tribute to her parents Barbara and Jim’s 60th wedding anniversary.
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