I’m more of a saver than a spender, but I always lose money on cars, says SIR IAN RANKIN

Crime writer Sir Ian Rankin is best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.

The 64-year-old’s 25 novels about the hard-drinking Edinburgh police detective have sold more than 20 million copies.

The novels have also been adapted for television with actors John Hannah, Ken Stott and, most recently, Richard Rankin, all playing the character in spin-off dramas.

The father-of-two lives with his wife Miranda in Edinburgh.

What did your parents teach you about money?

I am one of two (I have a sister) and grew up in Cardenden, a former mining town in Fife. My mom Isobel, who worked in a school cafeteria, and my dad James, who owned a grocery store, didn’t have much money, so they taught me to be careful with it and save some for a rainy day.

I remember them sitting at the kitchen table every Friday night, payday, setting aside money for rent, food, summer vacations, and Christmas.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

I was lucky that when I went to the University of Edinburgh I had a full scholarship and I was also able to find work during the holidays.

Money was tight but I always had enough for a pint or a bag of chips. The most stressful time was when I was 30, when my wife Miranda (whom I met in college and married in 1986) and I left our jobs (I made a living as a hi-fi journalist) to move to rural France, where we had our children.

I became a full-time writer and sole breadwinner at a time when my books were not doing well. There were weeks and months of nerves, but the baguettes and cheese helped a lot.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

I remember when I lived in London I saw a poster on the tube. It featured author Iain Banks promoting a whiskey brand. I couldn’t wait for that to happen to me, but it never did.

I once received a four-figure sum for a dinner speech, but it was unnatural and I never repeated the experience.

What was the best year of your financial life?

I’m very lucky that each new book deal adds up to more than the previous deal.

But I’m slowing down, so there will be a year where a lot of money comes in, followed by a year with no posts and a year where not as much.

Still, even in the quiet years there are six-figure incomes. It’s a far cry from my first contract to publish The Flood, in 1986, for which I was paid £500.

Most expensive thing you bought for fun?

I like Jaguars and have owned three so far, although only one at a time. I also spent over £30,000 on my hi-fi system; That was a decade ago and I’m not sure I’ll ever need to change it.

Miranda likes cruises, and when we go on one I insist that it be a large cabin. Mind you, that’s mainly to have space to work on a book. We always travel with Cunard. Our last trip was from San Francisco to Auckland; I worked on the second draft of Midnight And Blue during the many days at sea.

Our next cruise will take us around South America from January to March of next year.

What has been your biggest money mistake?

I have bought art in the past and resold it at a loss, but nothing major. And I always buy new cars and watch their value drop like a stone.

However, being more of a saver than a spender, I have probably made fewer mistakes than others.

Best money decision you’ve ever made?

In the 1980s, when I had enough money to buy one, I bought my first word processor, an Amstrad. It lasted a long time and I wrote my first novels about it.

Finally, after years of typing on a typewriter, my stories looked professional and editors started treating them as such, so it was a few hundred pounds well spent.

My current computer is a venerable laptop. They replaced the hard drive and screen, but it still works. I’ve probably written a dozen novels about him, so he’s more than earned his keep!

Do you have a pension?

I was already in my 40s before I had the luxury of thinking properly about putting money into a pension, but I’ve been building up the pot ever since. He sits there waiting for me, drumming his fingers with slight impatience.

My dad, who died in 1990, retired at 65 and I will be 65 next year. Miranda thinks I should slow down or stop so we can start having fun. Writers rarely retire (mostly because writing can be so much fun), but I’m seriously considering it.

Do you have any property?

We used to have a big, lovely Victorian house in Edinburgh, but we were tossing around in it as both children had left home, so we moved into a flat in the city centre.

But it wasn’t big enough to have an office, so I have another smaller apartment nearby that I use for writing (and my record collection).

We have another house in Cromarty, a four-hour drive north of Edinburgh, which we use during holidays and weekends; I also write a lot there, especially since there is no television.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I would give the job to someone else. I guess it would be hopeless. I knew Alistair Darling quite well and when he talked about the banking crisis I marveled at how he kept such a cool head. I would have been jumping into the Thames.

What is your number one financial priority?

To make sure my family is safe and after that have enough extra money to be able to continue donating decent sums to charities.

About 30 to 40 percent of my net income goes to various charities through the trust Miranda and I created a few years ago. There is never a shortage of worthy causes.

Midnight And Blue by Ian Rankin is out on Thursday (Orion Fiction, £25).