KEY POINTS:
Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, creator of the acclaimed Inspector Rebus series, says his hard-drinking detective hero will retire this year but might well be back to tackle unsolved cases.
Rankin said Edinburgh-based Rebus, who first appeared 20 years ago, would reach 60, the mandatory retirement age for Scottish detectives, in the next novel, due out in September.
"There is every possibility that Rebus could be brought back to investigate cases that have not been cleared up," Rankin said. "I don't get the sense yet that the Rebus books are running out of steam."