Never mind Bojo we all want to know how John Rebus is coping in prison

Ian Rankin's new John Rebus thriller Midnight and Blue is out now

So Boris Johnson has written a book. His memoir Unleashed was published a few days ago. At 800 pages it certainly offers value for money, because if you get fed up reading the former prime minister’s breathless, self-justifying purple prose, you can always use it as a doorstop or a stand for your laptop, even a footrest.

An erstwhile political opponent, Ed Balls, now transformed from dour Labour politician into a cheerful TV presenter, has described the book as “absolutely, mind-blowingly explosive”, which funnily enough doesn’t make me want to buy it. We had enough of Johnson’s mind-blowing explosive approach when he was prime minister – we don’t need reminding of his bumbling, egotistical ways.

The publisher’s blurb says the book, for which it apparently paid Johnson a half million pound advance, is “reality as he saw it: unvarnished, unlocked, unleashed.” The Daily Mail insists the memoir is “sensational”. Hardly surprising, given that the newspaper paid handsomely for exclusive extracts from the book in the run-up to its publication. And Johnson is one of their columnists.

I usually enjoy political books, but on reflection I am going to pass on this one, even though I have a long trip tomorrow to Malawi and will need something to take my mind off flying. Luckily, I have the perfect alternative. Sir Ian Rankin’s latest book, Midnight and Blue, is sitting unopened in my Kindle app.

It has taken a Herculean effort on my part not to read it before taking off tomorrow night, as I am desperate to find out how John Rebus is coping in prison. But I can’t think of anything better to read while cruising at 35,000 feet over the Sahara desert. Ian Rankin is a genius, a master storyteller who has created one of British literature’s most memorable characters. Rebus is so much part of our city’s story that there is even a poster campaign in Edinburgh right now bearing the legend “Free John Rebus”.

Johnson’s book is an overblown confection, much like its author, but Rankin’s tales of Edinburgh’s underworld and his portrait of a flawed but empathetic detective truly deserve the accolade sensational. Rebus is once again “unvarnished, unlocked, unleashed”, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Never mind Bojo we all want to know how John Rebus is coping in prison - Susan Dalgety