Ian Rankin: A Rebus for the Dark Times (2020 Event)

We have all become familiar with living through these strange
times but for Ian Rankin 2020 was unusual in more ways than one.


For starters, even though the number one bestselling writer
thought he was taking a year off, he found himself topping the
charts with a book he once hoped would ‘never see the light of
day again.’ That book is Westwind, first published in 1990 in an
edition of just 1000 copies, but strikingly relevant today in its
brand-new edition.


What’s more, his new Rebus novel, finished just a few months ago,
carries a prescient (Brecht-inspired) title despite not being
about the COVID-19 pandemic at all. A Song for the Dark Times is
released in October and sees John Rebus travelling to the north
of Scotland to help his daughter, who is in a spot of bother. In
this event recorded live at the 2020 Book Festival, Rankin joins
us for a conversation, in our Edinburgh studio, with leading
Scottish journalist Ruth
Wishart about Westwind, and a hint of the Dark
Times to come.