Crime writer Ian Rankin tells MAXINE GORDON about putting his two star detectives head to head in his latest novel.

SCOTTISH crime writer Ian Rankin must have felt at home at his book-signing in York. The sky was grey and the drizzle relentless. The Scots have the perfect word for it: dreich.

And you can forgive Rankin for feeling homesick. He’s been touring for six weeks, promoting his latest thriller, Standing In Another Man’s Grave. Today began with an appearance on BBC Breakfast in Manchester and will finish with a book signing in Gateshead before heading home to Edinburgh.

For now, there are fans to meet; scores of them, snaking round the Waterstones in High Ousegate, cradling copies of Rankin’s works like family heirlooms.

“I’ll probably sign for an hour – or however long it takes,” says the writer, looking comfy in a dark blue flannel shirt and nursing a cup of tea in an upstairs office at the bookstore.

There’s a bit of Peter Pan or even Dorian Gray about Rankin, who looks younger than 52. Perhaps it’s because he still has a fine head of dark hair; or maybe it’s his author’s lifestyle that has him turreted away for half the year in his family home working on the next novel that helps hold back the years.

Or perhaps it’s in the genes. He is half Scottish, half Yorkshire, his mother coming from the Bradford area. “I’ve still got lots of cousins out that way,” he says.

Anyone who saw the recent BBC documentary on Rankin, in the Imagine series, will have gained an insight into the life of the author. It followed him for a year in the writing of Standing In Another Man’s Grave, beginning, as always for Rankin, in early January with a clean slate.

It’s a scary time he admits, and that deadline is looming large now.

“I’ve got to start a new book on January 9 and I have no idea what it will be about. That’s the fear,” he says. “There’s too much happening at the moment and I need to switch off; I’ve been on the road for six weeks.”

When he’s not writing, he is travelling the world publicising the latest release. For this novel, the anticipation has been unprecedented; Rankin has brought back his much-loved character Rebus, the maverick Edinburgh cop, played on telly by Ken Stott and John Hannah – and who he first wrote about 25 years ago.

Rankin prides himself on writing in real time, which allows him to set his thrillers in the here and now. Unfortunately this meant he had to “retire” Rebus a few years ago when he reached 60, the official retirement age for police officers.

Two years ago, Rankin introduced a new character, Inspector Malcolm Fox, who works for the ‘Complaints’ – aka police internal affairs. The series spawned two novels, The Complaints and The Impossible Dead, and were well received by fans and critics alike.

In the new novel, Rankin pitches Rebus against Fox, and admits it was highly amusing to turn Fox, a “goody two shoes” into a villain.

“People are really happy to have Rebus back, but some say it’s a shame that Malcolm Fox is the villain. But he had to be; Rebus is a maverick and he is not the sort of person Fox would want back on the force.”

In casting Fox in this light, Rankin has left himself with another problem: what to do with him next? “I’m not sure I can write about him as a hero again.”

In less than a month, Rankin will have to wrestle with such dilemmas as he knuckles down and goes through his files of “stuff” looking for inspiration for the next book.

With the referendum on Scottish independence looming, might readers find the political debate featuring in the new book?

Probably not, concedes Rankin. “I’m conscious that it’s not that interesting for people outside Scotland. And I don’t want to write books that put people off.”

Has he made up his mind on the issue? He shakes his head. He says Rebus would vote ‘no’, but he is yet to decide. “There are lots of unanswerables; lots of facts and figures not been released. We are waiting for politicians and economists to come up with the answers to everyone’s questions.”