‘But here’s the thing – we’re not the Met, nothing like the Met. We do things differently up here.’ A dead man returned, a copper on a domestic violence charge threatening to expose a longstanding culture of intimidation and violence at Tyneside Station, and John Rebus’ name in the frame.

The master of Tartan Noir returns to MLF with ‘A Heart Full of Headstones’, his most explosive Rebus novel yet. Ian Rankin is the worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and the creator of curmudgeonly detective John Rebus, portrayed on television by John Hannah and Ken Stott. Ian is the winner of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK’s most prestigious award for crime fiction. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. He received a Knighthood for his services to literature and charity work. Hosted by Jackie Kay, poet, novelist and former Makar of Scotland.

Copies of A Heart Full of Headstones will be available to collect before the event.