Ian Rankin unveils the new Inspector Rebus

Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin has developed a new detective hero to take over from Rebus, the hard-drinking, Leonard Cohen-loving star of 17 novels – and he's teetotal. The 49-year-old writer told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that his new character, Malcolm Fox, was "a caring guy who plays by the rules" and "a team player, whiter than white".

Fox, who makes his debut in new novel The Complaints is a "policeman of policemen", said Rankin. He works in the Professional Standards Unit of Lothian and Borders Police in Edinburgh, which raises the intriguing possibility he could meet, or clash with, Rebus in a future book. Now in his 60s, Rebus has been put out to pasture working in the cold case unit, "just down the hall from the other guy", says Rankin, adding: "Maybe in book three, Fox could investigate Rebus – that would be interesting."

Rankin's new character is in his 40s, 20 years younger than his predecessor. And there are plenty of other differences between Rebus and Fox. "He's been off the booze a long time, he doesn’t listen to music, he's not a loner, he just lives alone, but like Rebus, he is a cop in Edinburgh, so of course there are similarities," says the author.

However, Rankin said he was braced for criticism: "I am expecting people to say he is too like Rebus, or he is 'Rebus-lite', or 'Why is he not Rebus?'." But, he explained, Fox is a new hero for new times, operating in an Edinburgh which, as the UK's second financial centre, is reeling from the devastation of the credit crunch. Rankin said he had seized on this reality for his fiction.

Rankin's best-selling detective novels have revivified – and darkened - Edinburgh's public image over the past two decades, while their author has been awarded four honorary doctorates and an OBE for services to literature. ·