Life With Rebus

The author behind Edinburgh's most famous detective reflects on the evolution of crime fiction

- by DAWN GEDDES

SIR IAN RANKIN has seen plenty of change in the crime-fiction genre during his long career as a bestselling author.

Once dismissed as frivolous, crime fiction has become one of the most well-read genres out there and the perfect vehicle to explore important societal issues.

"When I started out, crime fiction wasn't seen as being sexy," Sir Ian says. "It was something that middle-aged, middle-class people read on trains. Then younger writers came along who were interested in using the crime novel to say the things that they wanted to say about the world.

"It's been exciting to be part of that and to watch that trajectory. The crime novel has become more literary. It's become accepted as being proper literature and not just the cousin of proper literature."

The elevation of the genre has also led to a rise in crime-writing festivals, such as Bloody Scotland, a weekend-long event in Stirling that Sir Ian is guest programming this year.

"When the festival asked me to be guest curator, I said, 'Well, how much work is it?' And, of course, they always lie and say, 'Not very much'!

“I've been close to Bloody Scotland since its inception. Back in the bad old days a lot of literary festivals wouldn't invite crime writers along. There was one big festival in England that was just for crime writers, and we thought, 'Why don't we do that up here?'

“Bloody Scotland is an incredibly friendly festival. At some festivals you never really see the authors. They get shipped in, do their event, then leave again. But at Bloody Scotland authors stay around for the weekend.

“You see authors in restaurants, cafés and bars - and they're a nice lot to hang out with, too, despite writing about horrible murders for a living!