Rocker role for Rankin

The book is being published as part of a compilation album of the Irish’s rocker’s music, called Kickback City, which was in turn influenced by his love of crime fiction.

Rankin, whose most famous creation John Rebus has appeared in a string of bestsellers, said: “I was approached by Rory’s brother Donal who asked if I knew that Rory was a big fan of crime fiction.

“Donal mentioned he was thinking of putting together an album of Rory’s songs that are to do with crime and thriller elements and asked if I wanted to get involved. It was great fun and writing the story for the Rory Gallagher album was just obvious to me.”