Ian Rankin reveals first plot details of new Rebus book A Song for the Dark Times

Crime writer Ian Rankin has recorded a lockdown video to reveal the first plot details of his new Rebus novel A Song for the Dark Times - and insist it has nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic.

Ian Rankin's 23rd Rebus novel will be published in October.

The best-selling Edinburgh author's latest book will see the former detective head to the far north of Scotland to help his daughter after she comes under suspicion over the disappearance of her partner.

Rankin has told how he began writing the new book in the autumn at a time when he was increasingly worried about "where the world was headed."

He has also revealed that he had feared getting collared by the police after having a lockdown drink outside The Oxford Bar, the New Town bar famously featured in the Rebus novels, to mark his 60th birthday last month.

He has admitted that he heads into the city centre for exercise despite his new Edinburgh flat overlooking the Meadows - because he thinks the park has become "insanely busy" during lockdown.

Rankin revealed the title for the 23rd Rebus novel, which is due to be released in October, last month.

In a new video message recorded for the bookseller Waterstones, Rankin said a "fairly dark period in history" was unfolding as he wrote the book, which he chose the title for before Covid-19 caused havoc around the world.

The Fife-born writer said the title of the new book was also a nod to lines from a poem by the German writer Bertold Brecht.

Rankin, who is wearing a face covering at the start of the video, said: "A Song for the Dark Times is a book written before the virus - the dark times are where I thought the world was headed in September 2019 when, I started getting the idea for this book.

"I thought we were going through a fairly dark period in world history - how little did I know.

"In this book, Rebus heads up north, to the very far north of Scotland to help his daughter. Her partner has gone missing and she is suspected of having something to do with it.

"Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, my two detectives Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox are working on a murder case - the murder of a very well-connected, wealthy, overseas student.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE, Rankin recalled walking through the deserted streets of Edinburgh to celebrate his 60th birthday with a drink outside The Oxford Bar.

He said: "It wasn't quite a pint. It was a 330 ml can of Brewdog, as that was what I had in the house.

"I took a special glass which was made to mark the 20th anniversary of Rebus, stuffed them both into my pockets of my jacket, and walked down the completely empty streets to The Oxford Bar, which is about 20 minutes walk away from my flat. It was a lovely sunny day, there was nobody on the street at all and no traffic.

"I stood outside, opened the can, poured it, drank it and then walked home briskly before the police could stop me for being too far away from my home."

Rankin, who has been posting dozens of images of the deserted streets in the Old and New Towns on his Twitter feed, admitted that his wife Miranda has told him she wishes they were still living in a large house with its own garden, that they downsized from last year to a three-bedroom flat in the Quartermile development, where Rankin revealed that also works from a separate one-bedroom flat.

Rankin added: "We moved from a large house with lots of rooms where so we could always find a wee bit of space from one another to a three-bedroom flat, which looks over lovely parkland in central Edinburgh.

"But I don't use it that much during the lockdown, because it is insanely busy. There are lots of jogs, cyclists and families going around, whereas if you walk the opposite direction and go down into the very heart of the city it is completely dead. I love that glorious emptiness to it.

"We've bought two flats - one for living in and one for me to work in. The teeny-tiny one has one bedroom, a kitchenette, there is a desk which faces the wall, so that I'm not staring at the view - when I'm sitting at the desk I'm actually working. I've got bookcases, a sofa and a music centre and that's it.

"In my home are all the lovely books I've collected - signed first editions, all my favourite novels and things that I've read, but this being my office it is really my own work. It's like being in the middle of my own ego."