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Val McDermid’s novel, 1979, topped the charts in 2022, beating fellow crime writers Lee Child and Richard Osman.

The book, which was loaned a total of 425 times, was the first in a new series from the hugely successful author, introducing a new character, reporter Allie Burns, chasing her first big scoop set against the backdrop of the ‘79 winter of discontent.

Val’s novel trumped Jack Reacher author Lee Child and Richard Osman’s million-selling The Thursday Murder Club to top the Fife libraries’ fiction list.

Val McDermid with Gordon Brown at the 2013 gala relaunch of Kirkcaldy Galleries where the main library is based. (Pic: Fife Photo Agency).

And there was a double cause for celebration as he novel, Still Life, which is part of the hugely popular Karen Pirie series, also made the top five most borrowed list.

And that popularity with people visiting a library where she spent so much time thrilled Val.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to top the charts in Fife libraries,” she said. “I’ll never lose sight of the debt I owe public libraries in the kingdom. They showed me that books offered worlds that were different to mine. They gave me dreams and the means to make them come true.”Val added: “It’s great that they’re still doing that.”

Val’s links with Kirkcaldy Galleries’ library was strengthened when she returned for the venue’s grand re-opening in 2013, along with Gordon Brown, former MP, and artist Jack Vettriano.

The most borrowed books of 2022 were revealed by Fife libraries service across a number of genres including adult fiction, non-fiction and children’s books

Mr Brown’s book Fife: A History From Earliest Times To Present Day was loaned 149 times, topping the non-fiction table ahead of Michelle Obama.

Julia Donaldson had two books in the top five children’s section - The Scarecrow’s Wedding and The Gruffalo.

Fife has a network of libraries, all run by the cultural trust.,

Many of them now operate as warm spaces where people are welcome to drop in to read, surf, and have a blether as well as enjoy board games or just relax with a free cuppa.

Visit onfife.com/warm-spaces for more information.

Val McDermid novel is most borrowed library book in Fife