Ian Rankin
Perhaps the best known modern Scottish author is Edinburgh-native Ian Rankin who has sold millions of books worldwide. His series of novels about Police Detective John Rebus has attracted a huge following, a popular TV series, and even a walking tour in Edinburgh. My favorite is a recent non-Rebus novel called Doors Open, about a museum art heist in Edinburgh. He has since started a new series about a Internal Affairs unit in the Edinburgh police.
Rankin has also branched out into graphic novles. he recently published "dark Entries for vertigo Comics. A music enthusiasts, he has also guested and hosted many radio shows.
Here is a link to several:
http://www.mixcloud.com/tag/ian-rankin/
Val McDermid
My personal favorite Scottish author is Fife-native Val McDermid, who also writes in the crime fiction genre. Although not always set in Scotland (she herself currently lives in North England), her novels all reflect her Scottish sensibilities. She is most famous for her Tony Hill novels, about a psychologist with his own mental problems who solves serial killings. It has been made into a successful ITV series called Wire in the Blood.
Here's a trailer:
My recommendation for McDermid, though, is a stand-alone novel about a 20-year old murder called The Distant Echo.
Irvine Welsh
Perhaps the most crticially-acclaimed modern Scottish author, Irvine Welsh best known work is Trainspotting, about heroin use in Edinburgh. It was made into a very successful film in 1995 that launched several film careers.
Trainspotting film trailer
Denise Mina
Another popular and crticially-acclaimed Scottish crime novelist, Denise Mina novels are more about characters and modern Scottish life than they are about the crimes. Her most popualr works are the three-part Garnethill series. My favorite is Field of Blood, the first in another series of novels about a journalist.
She has also recently wrote a successful graphic novel (as has Ian Rankin).
James Robertson
A critically-acclaimed Scottish novelist, James Robertson was originally from Stirling. His 2006 novel about religion, The Testament of Gideon Mack, was shortlisted for Booker Prize. But he began his career with the novel that he is still most known for, The Fanatic. It's about an Edinburgh ghost tour guide who becomes obsessed with the character he plays, Major Thomas Weir, a man accused of and executed for witchcraft in the 1600s.
