I have a daughter who is planning on attending The University of St. Andrews in Scotland next year so I have been interested in all things Scots! While browsing the mystery shelves at my local used bookstore I found,just by accident, Ian Rankin-Set in Darkness. Detective Inspector John Rebus in Edinbourough Scotland-grumpy, loner, alcoholic, brilliant with intuition, somewhat of a loose cannon, not trusted or liked by the higher-ups. This seems to be a common charcteristic of police detectives in mystery literature. Although I lived in Ireland for several years, Scotland is a land unto itself and I am not very familiar with its vocabulary, customs, etc. I'm going to have to find other novels set in Scotland which aren't quite so dreary (also, hopefully set in summer rather than winter!). Although I did find Rebus and his protege Siobhan Clarke compellingly written and will look for the beginning of the series-this one is already several books along.