Category Archives: Ian Rankin

E is for Edinburgh ~ 2018 #AtoZ Challenge

E is for Edinburgh

E is for Edinburgh

2018 #AtoZ Challenge

 

Today, we’re hopping on a short flight for the puddle jump from Dublin to Edinburgh.

Scotland’s capital city boasts many museums, is the fictional home of Ian Rankin’s, Rebus, and two castles at either end of the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle (seen below) sits atop an extinct volcano.

At the opposite end of the street stands the Palace of Holyrood House, the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh.

E is for Edinburgh

But the city has a dark side. Deacon Brodie, a mild-mannered well-respected businessman by day, thief by night. He was the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

There are also the notorious grave robbers, William Burke and William Hare. They dug up the dearly-departed and sold the corpses to Doctor Robert Knox. When they couldn’t get enough already dead bodies, they resorted to murder to fill the quota.

No trip to Scotland is complete without a trip to this vibrant city.

What have you done this past week?

I’ve been rather quiet here at Celtic Connexions since posting about going to my first live curling event.

If you follow the Goodreads widgets on my sidebar, you’ll see I’ve spent a lot of time in this young year with my face stuck in books. Crime fiction, short stories, YA, and true crime. And I’ve currently got my face stuck in another book of crime fiction.

Yeah, I know, if I’m doing all this reading, I’m not getting any writing done. You’re right, but in order to be a good writer, one has to read and read lots.

The crime fiction I’ve read and am reading could almost be classed as research. I can see you shaking your heads and wondering if I’ve gone completely doolally. Well, peeps, I haven’t. You see, the authors of this genre I’ve been reading are both Scottish authors – Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride.

By Kyzer (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
While reading about places in Scotland isn’t quite the same as being there, I have been to Edinburgh where Ian sets his novels

By Ragazzi00 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
and Aberdeen, the home of Stuart’s. Reading their books brings the sights, sounds and smells back to me. And I’ve discovered a few things along the way that I didn’t know before. See why I say my reading could almost be classed as research?

What will the next book on my TBR pile to move onto my currently reading list? Any suggestions?

What authors/genres do you like to read? Leave a comment and tell me.