THERE'S been something of a changing of the guard in the talented and successful world of Scottish crime fiction.

With Ian Rankin having threatened to retire his legendary detective John Rebus, there's a looming vacancy at the top of the Scottish crime writers’ list.

It may just have been filled by Christopher Brookmyre, who last week won Crime Novel of the Year at the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival for Black Widow.

The same novel last year scooped the McIlvanney Prize last year at Scotland’s own festival of crime writing, Bloody Scotland.

What’s more, Brookmyre has been nominated for this year’s McIlvanney Prize with his latest novel, Want You Gone.

The prize is named after the late and much-missed William McIlvanney, who is credited with inventing Tartan Noir with his Laidlaw trilogy, though the man who coined the phrase was American crime writer James Ellroy – a great compliment from one of the kings of the crime genre.

CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE – THE NEXT RANKIN?

WITH all due respect to the man who inspired him, Brookmyre would no doubt prefer to be called the first Christopher Brookmyre.

Their styles, though recognisably both Tartan Noir, are considerably different, not least because in his 20 published books – he has also produced two e-books – Brookmyre has several lead characters, including investigative journalist Jack Parlabane. Eight novels feature him, including Black Widow and Want You Gone.

Counterterrorism officer Angelique de Xavia leads in three, while private detective Jasmine Sharp and police investigator Catherine MacLeod are featured together in another three of his books.

Brookmyre also has a somewhat darker comedic approach than Rankin, though both use social comment and factual events in their works.

In any case, Rankin is still writing, though he did say that Rather Be The Devil, the 22nd Rebus novel published last November, might be the last in the line, especially as the detective was given a rather frightening health scare in his latest outing.

WHAT IS BLACK WIDOW ABOUT?

TO avoid any spoilers, have a read of the publisher’s blurb: “Diana Jager is clever, strong and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing.

“Then she meets Peter. He’s kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past: the second chance she’s been waiting for.

“Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairytale romance.

“But Peter’s sister Lucy doesn’t believe in fairytales, and tasks maverick reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling Black Widow...”

To say any more would be to give away the many twists and turns in a tour-de-force of writing that’s as much a psychological thriller as it is a story of crime.

WHO ELSE RIVALS BROOKMYRE IN THE TARTAN NOIR ARMY?

THOUGH many of her books are set in England, Val McDermid is avowedly Scottish and a huge supporter (and sponsor) of Raith Rovers to boot.

The Kirkcaldy-born journalist turned novelist is a multi-award-winner and likes nothing better than to attend book festivals in Scotland. Her Wire In The Blood series made compelling television, but her first main investigative character was a Scottish journalist, Lindsay Gordon.

So, too, was Patricia “Paddy” Meehan in the novels by Denise Mina that spawned television series The Field Of Blood.

Stuart McBride’s novels set in and around Aberdeen are compelling, funny and often very gruesome, but his fans adore his Logan McRae series in particular. Caro Ramsay’s novels are mainly set in Glasgow and are of the police procedural genre with a twist or two along the way.

Alex Gray’s series with Detective Chief Inspector Lorimer and his psychological profiler Solomon Brightman are quite captivating, while the Robbie Munro series by Willie McIntyre draws on the author’s long experience as a criminal lawyer.

In no order of preference, those wishing to find out more about Tartan Noir should seek out the works of Tony Black, Lin Anderson, Allan Guthrie, Quintin Jardine, Doug Johnstone, Lesley Kelly, Douglas Skelton, Craig Russell (aka Christopher Galt), Ann Cleeves, Craig Robertson, and Peter May – a Scottish crime squad to rival the Noir writers of any nation.