Ian Rankin is a multi-award winning novelist and writer. Best known for his novels based in Edinburgh starring DI John Rebus and in more recent years DI Malcolm Fox, Ian Rankin has regularly contributed to BBC Arts Review and several documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Four.

We talked to Ian from his flat in Edinburgh and began by chatting about his first tools for writing, including the jotting pads from the school equipment cupboard. Ian tells us about feeling like a bit of an outsider growing up wanting to be a writer instead of learning a trade.

We talk about the challenges of working in isolation and we talk about Ian's passion for music and being a front man in a band.

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93: Ian Rankin