Fife crime writers’ books among most borrowed by readers at Kingdom’s libraries

A list of the 25 most borrowed books across Fife libraries has confirmed a few suspicions - that Fifers are crazy about crime fiction and they like to support their own.
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Figures obtained under Freedom of Information for 2021 revealed that crime thrillers appear to be the go-to novels of choice for the region’s book lovers, with almost all of the entrants in the top 25 loans falling into that much sought-after category.

James Oswald, who writes and farms in north east Fife, is growing an army of fans through his Inspector McLean series, so it was little surprise that ‘What Will Burn’ - the 11th novel in the sequence - topped the list with 435 loan transactions between January 1 and December 31 last year.

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Fife authors Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and James Oswald are all top of the charts with book borrowers at librariesFife authors Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and James Oswald are all top of the charts with book borrowers at libraries
Fife authors Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and James Oswald are all top of the charts with book borrowers at libraries
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British thriller writer Lee Child, the brains behind the Jack Reacher series, squeezed into second spot with ‘The Sentinel’, just ahead of another Fife homegrown author, Ian Rankin, whose ‘A Song for the Dark Times’ successfully continued the popular Inspector Rebus series.

Oswald’s popularity is perhaps borne out by the fact that ‘Bury Them Deep’, the 10th Inspector McLean novel, was fourth on the list, followed by yet another Fifer, Val McDermid, whose DCI Karen Pirie novel ‘Still Life’ made it into fifth.

Oswald has thanked members of the public for their support and believes libraries and books have been a great place of refuge for people over what have been a difficult few years.

"I always knew Fifers had good taste!” he joked.

"I'm a huge fan of libraries and love visiting them to meet reading groups, as well as borrowing the odd book or two.

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"Public libraries are one of the greatest achievements of civilised society, and we must do all we can to protect them.

"While I take a certain satisfaction in beating such illustrious names as McDermid, Rankin and Child, it's not really a competition.

"I would encourage anyone who's not visited one in a while to go and see what their local library has to offer."

Most borrowed books in Fife libraries in 2021:

James Oswald - What Will Burn - 435

Lee Child - The Sentinel - 386

Ian Rankin - A Song for the Dark Times - 378

James Oswald - Bury Them Deep - 368

Val McDermid - Still Life - 362

Alex Gray - When Shadows Fall - 359

Peter May - The Night Gate - 359

Lee Child - Blue Moon - 328

Michael Connelly - The Law of Innocence - 321

Harlan Coben - The Boy From the Woods - 320

James Patterson - 20th Victim - 316

Ann Cleeves - The Long Call - 312

Richard Osman - The Thursday Murder Club - 310

Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain - 303

Quintin Jardine - The Roots of Evil - 301

Ian Rankin - In a House of Lies - 289

Val McDermid - How the Dead Speak - 287

Peter May - A Silent Death - 287

Stuart MacBride - The Coffinmaker’s Garden - 280

James Patterson - 21st Birthday - 272

Quintin Jardine - The Bad Fire - 271

John Grisham - A Time for Mercy - 271

Harlan Coben - Win - 269

Ann Cleeves - The Darkest Evening - 268

James Patterson - The Russian - 251

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