Author of the Month for November - Ian Rankin

We continue the darker mood, set by last month's author Sheila Quigley , with some tartan noir from Ian Rankin.

Creator of the famous Inspector Rebus character, Ian Rankin began writing novels while he was supposed to be working towards a PhD in Scottish Literature. His first Rebus novel was published in 1987, and the seventeen books in the Rebus series are now translated into twenty-two languages and are bestsellers on several continents.

Many fans were dismayed when Rankin allowed Rebus to retire, but Rankin's most recent, post-Rebus titles, The Complaints and The Impossible Dead  have introduced a successor, in the form of Inspector Malcolm Fox. Fox works in the Complaints and Conduct Department, known colloquially as 'The Dark Side', or simply 'The Complaints'. They're the cops who investigate other cops, and when Fox's investigations uncover conspiracy, cover-up, and brutal murder, it isn't always clear who is on the right side of the law.


Earlier this year Ian Rankin was linked to a real-life mystery, as several venues around Edinburgh found they had been targeted by an anonymous paper sculptor, who left breathtakingly intricate models,cut from the pages of a book, placed in public spaces.

Edinburgh's Filmhouse Cinema received a model of a cinema with a tiny paper Rankin sitting in the audience drinking a bottle of Deuchars and warriors on horseback leaping from the screen.



National Library of Scotland received a model of a coffin and a gramophone sculpted from a copy of Rankin's novel Exit Music. 

The Scottish Poetry Library found an intricate paper tree on a table, alongside a note saying "this is for your support of libraries, books, words and ideas"  and although the Poetry Library sculpture has no obvious link to the author, Exit Music includes a scene at the venue. 

Despite rumours that Ian Rankin himself was behind the mysterious sculptures, the author denied any involvement, but did say that "it has to be someone who knows my work".

The sculptures have appeared in many more venues around the city, including the one pictured below with Ian Rankin, which was left for UNESCO Edinburgh City of Literature during the Edinburgh International Book Festival.