New mystery to solve for Ian Rankin as wheelie bins outside house torched

Published on Thursday 31 December 2009 10:00

CRIME writer Ian Rankin has a new mystery on his hands – who set fire to the wheelie bins in his street?

And the best-selling Edinburgh-based author has pledged to use all the knowledge gathered in writing his Rebus detective novels to get to the bottom of the crime.

Rankin, 49, who lives in the Merchiston area of the city, dubbed Writer's Row, woke yesterday to find the plastic rubbish containers outside his house had been set alight during the night.

He revealed the incident on his Twitter page and announced he already had several leads.

He tweeted: "I deduce that some form of accelerant must have been used. And since only every third or fourth bin was torched. miscreant must have had v long legs."

Rankin hoped those who follow him on Twitter might be able to help with further clues.

And he made clear he would not be giving up on the case. He tweeted: "To the evil doers who torched several wheelie bins in my street – you cannot win. Our resole is strong. We will hunt you."

Then he sent another tweet, correcting himself: "I meant resolve, obviously."

Rankin might also hope for some assistance from fellow writer Alexander McCall Smith, who wrote the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, who lives nearby and Harry Potter author J K Rowling, who also used to live in the area.

Police said they were appealing for witnesses after five wheelie bins were set alight.

The incident happened between 3am and 3.30am on yesterday, when the bins, which had been left by the roadside for collection, were set alight on Napier Road and Polwarth Terrace. No damage was caused to any properties and no one was injured.

A police spokesman said: "Fortunately no one was injured, but this mindless act of vandalism could have had serious consequences. We would appeal for anyone who was in the area at the time, and who might have seen something suspicious, to contact police."