Despite being voted the best city in Britain by the Observer Travel Awards, Edinburgh seems to be a mysteriously intriguing place. What better way to coax a city out from behind its walls is to, as Ian Rankin discovers, take a walk and get lost, or better yet, go get some drinks.

This pleasant saunter of an article visits the depths of the city. Rankin attempts to describe it by saying, “the Scottish capital is bursting with stories, but sometimes you have to tease them out . . . or get lucky.”

His cultural beer stroll starts with some friendly banter at the “Ox,” then with some unplanned detours through a few history lessons stumbles into Kay’s Bar. Before finishing up his walk at Edinburgh’s famous Canny Man’s, he passes a modern statue of Sherlock Homes (not to mention the pint downed at Conan Doyle’s Bar), and visits a museum displaying a wallet made out of serial killer William Burke’s skin.

Yes, a wallet of skin and Sherlock Holmes in the same walk. Let’s just say, today, he got lucky.