Ian Rankin and Maj Sjöwall Photo: Ola Erikson / Forflex
Sample of authors
Rankin, Ian
The Scottish crime writer Ian James Rankin was born in the coal mining town of Cardenden, Fife, where his father owned a grocery store. His mother worked in a school canteen. There were few books at home, and Rankin began to visit his local library as a child and began to write short stories as a teenager. He attended Denend Primary School in Cardendan and later Auchterderran Junior High at...
Literary figures
Maud Silver
Gender: Female
The former governess has a small pension, so she works part-time as a private detective – with success. She solves cases in a suite of whodunnits by Patricia Wentworth (pseudonym for Doris Amy Dillon Turnbull). Miss Maud Silver is a determined lady with a sharp tongue who can quickly deal with pompous men. She has mouse-brown hair with a bit of grey, smooth skin, neat facial features, is a s...