Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | False Start | 2022 | Ed James | Buy |
| 2 | False Dawn | 2024 | Ed James | Buy |
Rakesh Siyal is a Detective Inspector introduced in False Start in 2022, and the two-book series takes its name from the character rather than the detective’s rank or location. False Start establishes Siyal’s background and working style, setting up what becomes a second entry, False Dawn, published in 2024.
Ed James has used the series to bring a different perspective to his Police Scotland world, with Siyal’s background adding a dimension absent from his earlier Edinburgh detectives. The books fit within the procedural framework James applies across all his work, with investigations that move at pace and personal character threads running underneath.
With two books published so far, the series has the feel of an early-stage sequence that may continue in future years.