AN ICONIC crime author visited York yesterday to promote the latest mysteries solved by his most iconic character.

Sir Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus series, visited two bookshops in the York area yesterday (October 18) to sign copies of his new novel, ahead of a Q&A at the Theatre Royal for his sold-out play - Rebus: A Game Called Malice.

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The downstairs of the shop was reportedly ‘rammed full of people’ with Ian taking the time to chat and sign copies of his Rebus novels.

Rankin also spoke to customers about the play – which saw a full house of attendees at the Theatre Royal guess ‘whodunnit?’ after a death in an Edinburgh townhouse.

Some super fans even waited multiple hours for his arrival in order to get their hands on signed copies of his newest novel, Midnight and Blue - which was released on October 10 and is the 25th instalment in the Rebus series. 

The display of Rankin's Rebus books, set up at the front of the shopThe display of Rankin's Rebus books, set up at the front of the shop (Image: Provided) According to Criminally Good Books owner Isla Coole: “Ian said that he absolutely loved the bookshop and was made up about the display.

“The week that we opened the shop, Ian had actually tweeted about how great it was that there was an independent bookshop dedicated to crime and how he wanted to come along to see it, so it was really great to have him here.”

After leaving Criminally Good Books, Ian watched his play at the Theatre Royal before leading a crowd Q&A about his iconic Edinburgh detective. 

Signed copies of multiple titles in Rebus series, including Midnight and Blue, are still currently available in Criminally Good Books on Colliergate.