First, let me tell you that I absolutely fell in love with Arnold Lobel’s illustration “Books to the Ceiling” that we can see inside your post: “First Steps in Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street… Very original rendering of a house full of books!

As we are both great book lovers, no wonder this charming illustration depicting a stylized cat reading a book gave me such an “emotional kick”

Whiskers & Rhymes Arnold Lobel

Second, I thought it would be fun, to follow your steps in the colorful presentation of the 44 Scotland Street series written by the popular Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith, and showcase other book covers that I have on my bookshelf.

The runners-up for the series, ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series’ are:

Book Covers From Alexander McCall Smith 'No1 Ladies' Detective Series'

Cover Artist for the first book in the series, ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ is designer Barrie Tullet. Photograph by Sandy Grant.

Cover Artist for the fourth book in the series, ‘The Kalahari Typing School For Men’ is designer Stuart Midgley. Photograph by L.H. Grant.

Cover Artist for the sixth book in the series, ‘In The Company of Cheerful Ladies’ are designers Barrie Tullett and James Hutchison. Top photography is from Karen Duthie/Alamy, while the clothesline photo is under by Xing Productions and L.H. Grant copyright.

From the French version of this same series, I happen to have these two books:

Published by Editions 10/18 in the collection grands détectives,  ‘Vague à l’âme au Botswana’  (2004)  is the translation of ‘Morality For Beautiful Girls’ and  ‘Mma Ramotswe détective’  (2003)  is the translation of  ‘No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’.

If I’m not mistaking Mairiuna, I think you have different book covers as well?  Was there not a dragon depicted on one of them?

Alexander McCall Smith Mma Ramotswe detective Editions 10-18 collection 'Grands Détectives' 2003

Mairiuna:  Not a dragon, Janice, but a crocodile .  YES it’s an African crocodile and one which does ring a bell, doesn’t it? Or should I say that it rings a clock for it seems to have swallowed up one like the crocodile in Peter Pan, the famous book by JM Barrie

Alexander McCall Smith The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency back cover Abacus 2008

Alexander McCall Smith The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency front cover Abacus 2008

I like this kind of colourful and naive illustration which we can see on the Abacus English and 10-18 French editions. The artist is Hannah Firmin.

In 2004 she won Best Book Cover of the Year at the British Book Awards for her cover of Alexander Mccall Smith book ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective’ series. She also illustrated the covers for the rest of this series.

Below is a mosaic of the first eight volumes of ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ series.

'The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency' - Inner front cover - Abacus 2008 Edition

Eleven out of the twelve book covers of the series are designed with the same attractive, naive and colorful style.

Just for the pleasure of the eyes, I will add them below:

Janice:  Thanks so much Mairiuna for sharing these gorgeous book covers! Wow…what a treat!

Now, let’s take a look at the ‘Sunday Philosophy Club‘ series.

Below is the 2005 English version dust jacket of  ‘Friends, Lovers, Chocolate’ novel, alongside the 2006 French version book cover of  ‘Amis, amants, chocolat’.

It is very interesting to notice that book covers differ depending from which country they are published. Would be nice to research all countries publication.

Well Mairiuna, I guess we shall wrap it up here or else we’ll still be uploading book covers when the dawn breaks!

Enjoy all!

Talk soon.

Janice

Ian Rankin’s Exit Music, published in December 2007, was to be the final instalment of a series of eighteen ( if we include Death Is Not The End, a novella that was further expanded in the novel Dead Souls) crime novels featuring the well known and charismatic Edinburgh’s Inspector  John Rebus.

Book reviews quoted Exit Music to be one the finest book in the series. It was read by many with mixed emotions as the delight of reading another thrilling story based on instant history, like only Ian Rankin can write, was tinted with sadness  knowing it was the last case in his fictional detective career.

We had came to consider Inspector Rebus as being almost a real person!

There has been many printed editions of the Inspector Rebus mystery novels and below are the book covers created for the Orion Paperback series.

Mairiuna and I are always on the look out for a new Inspector Rebus cover design as we collect them.

By clicking on the Amazon links provided below you will discover another set of cover design created for the publishing companies such as Little, Brown and Company and Minotaur, to name just these two.

1- Knots and Crosses (1987)

2- Hide and Seek (1990)

3- Tooth and Nail (1992)

4- Strip Jack (1992)

5- The Black Book (1993)

6- Mortal Causes (1994)

7- Let it Bleed (1995)

8- Black and Blue (1997)

9- The Hanging Garden (1998)

10- Death is not the end (this novella was further expanded in to “Dead Souls”) (1998)

11- Dead Souls (1999)

12- Set in Darkness (2000)

13- The Falls (2001)

14- Resurrection Men (2002)

15- A Question of Blood (2003)

16- Fleshmarket Close (2004)

17- The Naming of the Dead (2006)

18- Exit Music (2007)

The Inspector Rebus novels have won four Crime Writers’ Association awards, including the Diamond Dagger in 2005. Translated in more than 30 languages, several have also been adapted for television.

Ian Rankin with his wife and two sons lives in Edinburgh, where he now holds the rank of Deputy Lieutenant.

Exit Music - Ian Rankin

Rankin provides a different rationale for Rebus’s re-emergence into the world of fiction.

“Rebus is merely retired, not dead. He is working with the police department as a civilian. He lives in a compartment in my head, waiting patiently to be brought back to life,” he stated.

http://www.examiner.com/x-27605-Mystery-Series-Examiner~y2010m1d23-2-rankin-revive-rebus

With Rebus gone, what next for Ian Rankin?

That’s what we will be talking about in a subsequent post!

Now let’s get back to reading these thrillers..

A Bientôt!

Janice

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]]> http://www.scotiana.com/ian-rankins-inspector-rebus-crime-thriller-series-finale/feed/ 0 http://www.scotiana.com/ann-cleeves%e2%80%99s-scottish-sense-of-place-in-the-shetland-quartet/ http://www.scotiana.com/ann-cleeves%e2%80%99s-scottish-sense-of-place-in-the-shetland-quartet/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:58:56 +0000 MAJA http://www.scotiana.com/?p=2848 Very hot summer day in Bordeaux, especially in my attic room which overlooks our neighbours’s blue swimming pool ! I feel like flopping down on a deck chair in the garden with a good book and fresh lemonade. Of course I would choose a detective novel or a thriller ! It’s quite topical on Scotiana presently and the Scottish crime fiction pit we are searching seems to be bottomless. We’re discovering new books every day.

So eager were we, on opening our blog, to speak about Scottish people, beautiful landscapes, mysterious castles, towns and villages that if somebody had told me then that we were to devote so much time to Scottish crime fiction, I wouldn’t have believed him. But here we are and here we will go on, trying to cope with our growing pile of detective novels and thrillers to read. Mind you, we’re taking notes. After some hours of suspense, time to reflect!

The atmosphere of the place being a key ingredient in crime fiction recipes, no wonder Scotland is being so successfully chosen as a place for that kind of fiction. So, it is with great enthusiasm that, yesterday, I discovered Ann Cleeves, a British crime fiction writer whose “Scottish sense of place” seems to be particularly developed.

Among other books, Ann Cleeves wrote a collection of four novels entitled The Shetland Quartet . She is not a native of the place nor even of Scotland mainland but having lived some time on Fair Isle, where she met her husband, an ornithologist from the west of England, she knows her subject perfectly.

Each title of The Shetland Quartet evokes a colour which can easily be linked to Scotland : black, white, red and blue while the synopsis of the stories reveal the importance of specific themes : day and night, dark and light, the seasons. Take a look how beautiful and expressive the book jackets are.

As written by Anna Burnside in an article entitled “Ann Cleeves unveils Shetland murder mystery” published in The Sunday Times of 20 April, 2008 : “As a location, it’s perfect – an enclosed community, a dramatic landscape, incomers versus the established community, a summer season of tourists to add new flavours to the mix. It is the traditional village mystery transplanted to the North Sea, with the remnants of the oil industry and vast trawlers as a backdrop.”

Source: Shetlopedia.com & AnnCleeves.com

On her  website the author has included a map of Shetland that was cleverly modified to situate the stories.

Raven Black - Ann Cleeves

It is a cold January morning and Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter’s eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance …The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man – loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine’s neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst. Raven Black is a haunting, beautifully crafted crime story, and establishes Ann Cleeves as a rising talent in psychological crime writing …’A riveting read. Ann Cleeves probes beneath the surface of a community to reveal the darkness that can fester when everyone thinks they know each other’s secrets’ -  “Val McDermid”.  Source: Amazon

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White Nights - Ann Cleeves

“It’s midsummer in Shetland, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets. Artist Bella Sinclair throws a party to launch an exhibition of her work and to introduce the paintings of Fran Hunter. The Herring House, the gallery where the exhibition is held, is on the beach at Biddista, in the remote north west of the island. When a mysterious Englishman bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he’s come from, the evening ends in farce. The following day the Englishman is found hanging from a rafter in a boathouse on the jetty, a clown’s mask on his face. Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that this is a local murder. He is reinforced in this belief when Roddy, Bella’s musician nephew is murdered too. But the detective’s relationship with Fran Hunter clouds his judgement. And this is a crazy time of the year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.” Source: Amazon

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Red Bones - Ann Cleeves

“Spring: a time of rebirth and celebration. And a time of death…for April is the cruellest month. When a young archaeologist studying on a site at Whalsay discovers a set of human remains – the island community is intrigued. Is it an ancient find – or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly is shot on her land in a tragic accident and Jimmy Perez is called in by her grandson – his own colleague Sandy Wilson. He finds two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community. With Fran in London, and surrounded by people he doesn’t know and a community he has no links with – Jimmy finds himself out of depth. Then another woman dies and as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists the two deaths remain shrouded in mystery. ” Source: Amazon

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“Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancee, Fran, to his parents. It’s a community where everyone knows each other, and strangers, while welcomed, are still viewed with a degree of mistrust. Challenging to live on at the best of times, with the autumn storms raging, the island feels cut off from the rest of the world. Trapped, tension is high and tempers become frayed. Enough to drive someone to murder…When a woman’s body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. With no support from the mainland and only Fran to help him – Jimmy has to investigate the old-fashioned way. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion – but a murder of cold and calculated intention. With no way off the island until the storms abate – Jimmy knows he has to work quickly. There’s a killer on the island just waiting for the opportunity to strike again…” Source : Amazon

I’ve already bought Raven Black and I’m looking forward to reading it. I had to refrain from buying the first three volumes at the same time but I hope to get and read them before Blue Lightning is published.

On 29 June 2006, Ann Cleeves won the inaugural Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the biggest crime writing prize in the world for Raven Black, published by Macmillan. Peter Ostacchini, Deputy Managing Director, Duncan Lawrie Bank, presented her with the dagger and her £20,000 prize at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony, which took place at the Waldorf Hilton in London’s Aldwych on Thursday 29 June. In all, seven daggers were awarded on that night.

Given our focus on crime fiction it could be interesting to give our readers a list of these awards. Hey Janice, isn’t that a good idea? Let me know.

A bientôt !

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Christopher Brookmyre at Sherlock Award Ceremony

The Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective? Sure Mairiuna, it is with great pleasure that I will talk more about it, especially that information on this very unique literary award is not easily gathered online. Furthermore, it is rather confusing as they are several categories.

I first heard about it when blogging a few days ago about Christopher Brookmyre‘s novel, Boiling a Frog, for which he won the award in 2000.

What’s different from other literary awards is that it recognises the best in detective fiction, but the award goes to the detective instead of the author !

“The creation rather than the creator”. The author brings back home from the prize winning ceremony, a stylish bust representing the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes.

The idea comes from Mike Ripley, himself crime novelist and reviewer.

Inaugurated in 1999, the ceremony, presented by the Sherlock magazine, was held in the premier crime fiction bookshop, ‘Murder One’ on Charing Cross Lane in London. In 2002, the venue was changed to the ‘Crime Scene’ at the National Film Theater.

From the numerous contenders, listed below are a few literary Sherlock Awards given at the beginning of the millennium:

2004 Christopher Brookmyre (Little, Brown ) - Be My Enemy with detective Jack Parlabane [Best Comic Novel]

Jack Parlabane in Be My Enemy by Christopher Brookmyre

It was a junket, a freebie. A ‘team-building’ weekend in the highlands for lawyers, advertising execs, businessmen, even the head of a charity. Oh, and a journalist, specially solicited for his renowned and voluble scepticism – Jack Parlabane. Amid the flying paintballs and flowing Shiraz even the most cynical admit the organisers have pulled some surprises – stalkers in the forest, power cuts in the night, mass mobile phone thefts, disappearing staff, disappearing guests: there’s nothing can bring out people’s hidden strengths or break down inter-personal barriers quite like not having a clue what’s going on and being scared out of your wits. However, when the only vehicular access for thirty miles is cut off it seems that events are being orchestrated not just for pleasure …And that’s before they find the first body. Thereafter, ‘finding out who your colleagues really are’ is not so much an end product as the key to reaching Monday morning alive.

Visit the author’s website at www.brookmyre.co.uk

2004 Val McDermid (HarperCollins ) – The Distant Echo [Best Crime Novel]

Scot officers Maclennan and Lawson in The Distant Echo by Val McDermid

Four in the morning, mid-December, and snow is smothering St Andrews. Student Alex Gilbey and his three best friends are staggering home from a party when they stumble upon the body of a young woman. Rosie Duff has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in the ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young students stained with her blood. Twenty-five years later, Fife police mount a cold case review. Among the unsolved murders they’re examining is that of Rosie Duff. But someone else has their own idea of how justice should be done. One of the original quartet dies in a suspicious house fire. Soon after, a second is killed in what looks like a burglary gone sour. But Alex fears the worst. Someone is taking revenge for Rosie Duff. He has to find out who it is before he becomes the next victim. And it might just save his life if he can uncover who really killed Rosie all those years ago.

http://www.valmcdermid.com/pages/books/echo.html

2004  Paul Johnston (Hodder & Stoughton) – The Last Red Death [Best Detective Novel]

2003 Mark Billingham – In The Dark. Series of London-based novels featuring D.I. Tom Thorne.

2001 Ian Rankin (Best Detective created by a British Author)

2000 Christopher Brookmyre - Boiling a Frog (Little, Brown)  with detective Jack Parlabane.

Jack Parlabane in Boiling a Frog by Christopher Brookmyre

Jack Parlabane, the investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for the sake of a good story, has finally been caught on the petard of his own self-confidence and is experiencing accommodation courtesy of Her Majesty.

The fledgling Scottish parliament is in catatonic shock after experiencing its first dose of Westminster sleaze. The Catholic Church of Scotland is taking full advantage of the politicians’ discomfort and is riding high in the polls as the voice of morality.

Behind the scenes the truth is obscured by the machinations of the spin doctors and in prison, aware he’s missing out on a great story, Parlabane discovers that contacts and a pretty way with words are no defence against people he has helped to put away.

Part political satire, part cliff-hanging thriller this is high calibre entertainment.

And for the author’s own view on his books visit his website at www.brookmyre.co.uk.

Would you believe me Mairiuna if I told you that I am heading again to my preferred bookshop?

Wink…wink..

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Edinburgh Ghosts Tours - Janice & Mairiuna

The Rebus Tours ! Can’t wait to play the game  Janice, but you know, it’s already listed on Itinerary 7, together with the Ghosts Tours and a number of other ones for that matter!

Remember how we used to stop in front of every poster advertising the Tours in Edinburgh and how desperately we tried to understand what the lively guides were telling to fascinated audiences all over the Old Town. I’m looking forward to following Colin Brown on the steps of Inspector Rebus ! He seems to know very well his subject! Do you think he speaks French ?

It makes me think, Janice, wouldn’t it be a good idea before embarking on the Rebus Tour to try and read as many Inspector Rebus books as we can? Hum.. I know, another big challenge for both of us, but it would be fun to offer reviews of these books to our readers.

In your last post you said there were seventeen Rebus novels in all, and that Knots and Crosses, published in 1987, was the first one, while Exit Music published in 2007, was the last one. We were in Edinburgh in 2007, and I remember how we wanted to go to the Book Festival to have one copy of this book signed by Ian Rankin for Fabien, the polar expert of the Toulousan Quartet.

Fabien & Nathalie - Toulousan Quartet

We’ve only read one Rebus story so far. I read it to you during our long travel by car from France to Scotland. It was Set in Darkness,  published in 2000, but of course I read the French translation of it, Du fond des ténèbres. (2004). We’ve bought several books by Ian Rankin at Wigtown and I’ve just ordered a copy in English of Set in Darkness on Amazon. It could be useful to have some quotations in English to illustrate our Rebus chronicles as well as Scotiana’s point of view of Edinburgh.

We had printed a number of very interesting articles about Ian Rankin and some very useful notes given to us by Karine Gilabert, an expert in the very big polar department of Mollat Library, Bordeaux to bring along with us on our last trip to Scotland and they proved very useful.

Below is the complete list of all the novels in the series.

Ian-Rankin-Set-in-Darkness-Inspector-Rebus

Du Fond Des Ténèbres - Ian Rankin - Inspecteur Rebus

- Knots and Crosses (1987)

- Hide and Seek (1991)

- Tooth and Nail (1992)

- Strip Jack (1992)

- The Black Book (1993)

- Mortal Causes (1994)

- Let it Bleed (1995)

- Black and Blue (1997)

- The Hanging Garden (1998)

- Dead Souls (1999)

- Set in Darkness (2000)

- The Falls (2001)

- Resurrection Men (2002)

- A Question of Blood (2003)

- Fleshmarket Close (2004)

- The Naming of the Dead (2006)

- Exit Music (2007)

Exit Music - Ian Rankin (Photo Tim Duncan - Licensed Creative Commons)

And to begin with the beginning, what about reading the first Inspector Rebus novel Knots and Crosses?

And now exit Mairiuna

A bientôt et bonne lecture !

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Knotts And Crosses - Inspector Rebus series - Ian Rankin

Touring the beautiful city of Edinburgh has never been so easy since the implementation of various thematic guided tours catering to the visitors flowing in all year round. Be it ghost walks, history, architecture, cycling or literary tours or even a tour of the most famous taverns and pubs, there is something for everyone.

Ian Rankin & Colin Brown - Rebus Tours

Amongst all those tours, there is one Mairiuna that we shall absolutely take upon our next visit to Edinburgh, and that is the literary tour of Ian Rankin’s famous fictional detective, the Rebus Tours.

Imagine strolling along the streets of Edinburgh and stopping by the places we came to know through our readings as if we had lived there and have those literary scenes taking shape and form in front of our eyes? What a thrilling perspective…

Tour – 1 HIDDEN EDINBURGH

Starting in the Rebus pub The Royal Oak, this two hour walking tour features the first Royal High School, the historic Flodden Wall, the grey Carnegie Housing Scheme and a stunning view of the imposing Salisbury Craggs, before reaching the arresting Saint Leonard’s Police Station. The tour then sidles through busy Newington and into the bustling Meadows before arriving at the historic George Square, on to lively Middle Meadows Walk, along Forest Road and outside the impressive Sheriff Court in Chambers Street. Readings from Set in Darkness‚ Dead Souls and Question of Blood are augmented by other readings to present a rounded picture of old and new Edinburgh.

Tour – 2 THE BODY POLITIC

Starting in the Rebus Royal Oak pub, this two-hour walking tour presents the secret City Mortuary, the grim Cowgate and the dour Dumbiedykes, before ascending past the Poetry Library onto the High Street and into the fascinating Canongate Cemetery. A wander up the Royal Mile, with several intriguing stories of Edinburgh’s former mysteries, is completed with a reading in/from Fleshmarket Close. Other Rebus readings are used in order to show the darkness in this most ancient and modern of European capitals.

Ian Rankin wrote seventeen detective novels in the Inspector Rebus mystery series. The first , Knots & Crosses was published in 1987 , and the last one Exit Music, in 2007.

Unlike Conan Doyle with his famous Sherlock Holmes character, Ian Rankin did not announced the death of the well known and acclaimed Inspector Rebus, but instead had him retire in the last novel of the series.

Having started the series in ’87, when he was 40, in 2007 he must be 60. In Scotland, if you’re a cop, if you’re a detective, you’ve got to retire at 60. So I was sort of forced into it. If they changed the law, then he would happily come back and be a cop again.

Ian Rankin -CBC Interview – 2007

Exit Music-Inspector Rebus series-Ian Rankin

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) held a great interview with Ian Rankin in which he talks about the end of his best-selling detective series. Click the link above to access the interview and read all about it.

Colin Brown - Guide on Rebus Tours

Surfing the Internet, I came across  several comments from people who took the Tour, and they are all praise for the guides of the Rebus Tours. And it doesn’t matter if it rains or not, because the guides are so enthusiastic in their presentation that you become unaware of the climate and don’t even care about it anymore. What a testimonial!

When we come to think about it, it’s truly a benefit to take a guided tour because the guides can share with us local legends and anecdotes that are not published in the written documentation freely distributed.  And you and I love to hear those stories!

Can’t wait to take the tour. Don’t forget Mairiuna to write it down on our itinerary. 

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 - 7 July 1930)

Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930. He was aged 71 and lived then at “Windlesham”, his house situated in East Sussex, England. He was buried in the churchyard at Minstead in the New Forest, Hampshire. The epitaph on his grave reads “Steel True – Blade Straight – Arthur Conan Doyle – Knight – Patriot, Physician & Man of letters”.

If you question people about Conan Doyle’s nationality many will probably answer : ‘English’. But let’s try to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. If Conan Doyle did spend most of his life, died and was buried in England, he was born, spent his childhood and studied medicine in Edinburgh. That is why, on 22 may 2009, the day of his one hundred and fiftieth birth anniversary, he was paid a very moving tribute in Edinburgh, his native town.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's grave, Minstead Churchyard

To begin with, let us go back a few years ago. Of the three houses where Conan Doyle had lived during his childhood, in Edinburgh, only one had not yet been demolished. But Liberton Bank House, a late 18th century sandstone cottage located between Liberton Road and Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, 2 miles southeast of the city centre, was being threatened in its turn by the very polemical project of a Mac Donald fast food restaurant planned to be built there.

Fortunately it’s another one that was finally adopted, of the kind that would certainly not have displeased Conan Doyle who had lived there from the age of 5 to 9 ! It was a school that was to be established there !

In 2007, in a completely refurbished and extended building, Dunedin School opened its doors to a score of children with learning difficulties. But the story does not end here. In the garden of the new school there lived a very old sycamore aged 170 years in the branches of which Conan Doyle had played when a young boy.

Alas, it soon proved that the old tree was dying and that, to everyone’s dismay, it had to be cut. Dunedin school staff soon found a very interesting solution. Why not use the wood of the tree to create something in memoriam of Conan Doyle ? It could be one of those emblematic belongings of Sherlock Holmes, the most famous character created by Conan Doyle .

Finally it was decided that it would be a violin and that the work would be done by a well-known luthier of Edinburgh, Steve Burnett. The violin was finally made right on time and did make its debut on Friday 22 May 2009 at Dunedin school where the instrument would later serve to teach music to the children. The violin had been christened “Sherlock” and inside you can read the following words: “Sherlock, 150th anniversary, birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, wood from sycamore at Dunedin School, former chilhood home, Edinburgh, 22.05.2009″ Steve Burnett is going to carve four other instruments (two violins, one viola and one cello) for a group which will be called the Conan Doyle Quartet.

Sherlock Holmes - Illustration by Sidney Paget

So you see, author and character will be forever associated exactly where young Conan Doyle had played in the branches of the old sycamore. In my next post I will tell you about another great tribute paid to Conan Doyle in the city of books… but in the meantime I think Janice is intending to introduce another Scottish author whose detective could well prove to be to Edinburgh what Sherlock Holmes has been to London…

A bientôt!

Mairiuna

PS: Looking for Sherlock Holmes Posters ? Check out Candlesbook.com