IN MY LIBRARY
Ian Rankin
You don’t have to be Scandinavian to be a curmudgeonly detective: Ian Rankin’s hard-boiled, hard-drinking Scot, John Rebus, has been at it for 30 years. His latest caper is “Rather Be the Devil,” the 21st book in the series, out Jan. 31. Happily, Rankin doesn’t seem to have any plans to kill him off, as Henning Mankell did his poor, grumpy Kurt Wallander. “I can honestly say that when I begin a new Rebus book, I have no idea whether he will be alive or dead by the end of it,” said Rankin, who’ll speak at Manhattan’s Center for Fiction on Feb. 7. “His own body may kill him before the bad guys can.” Rankin’s favorite poison? “Right now I’m a fan of Cromarty ales. They’re hoppy and potent.” Here are four of this Scottish writer’s favorite books.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
I return every few years to this short poetic novel about Edinburgh between world wars. It’s funny and tragic and morally complex. The schoolteacher Jean Brodie is one of the great characters s of 20th century literature. It probably de- fined my home city for a generation of readers, though that would change with the arrival of “Trainspotting.”
A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
It’s the fictionalized account of Samuel Beckett’s time in France during World War II, his experiences leading him ever closer to penning “Waiting for Godot.” This manages to be both tense and exciting, a tale of enduring love in the midst of terrible hardship and a fine portrait of the artist as a young Resistance fighter.
A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
These 12 (slim) volumes really add up to a single long-form story as we follow Nick Jenkins from childhood to old age through a changing England. Life is indeed a dance, and Powell is a tremendous choreographer. He showed me how to write a series and how to age one’s characters.
Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
I’m a huge fan of McKinty’s Northern Ireland-based crime novels, set during “The Troubles” and featuring a Catholic police officer named Sean Duffy, who begins each day by checking under his vehicle for explosive devices. This is the latest installment of a story with a sure sense of period, place and politics.