Doors Open by Ian Rankin

Mike Mackenzie is a retired software millionaire with too much time on his hands. His love of art introduces him to Allan Cruikshank, a banker, and Professor Robert Gissing, head of the College of Art in Edinburgh. Boredom, covetousness and ambition prompt them to hatch a plan to switch several paintings held in a warehouse – where the National Gallery of Scotland stores its treasures when not on view – with copies made by one of Gissing's students. The fact that Doors Open Weekend is coming up – when buildings normally closed to the public put out their welcome mats – makes the scam seem most opportune. However, when Chib Calloway, a notorious gangster who owes some Norwegian Hell's Angels a lot of money, becomes involved, the whole scheme is thrown into jeopardy.

Doors Open started life as a 15-part serialisation in the New York Times – but you can't tell. Rankin has beefed up the characters so that the result is an immensely satisfying, bloody and constantly surprising story of middle-class amateurs mixing it with the big boys. And, as usual, Edinburgh – "a village masquerading as a city" – is a character in itself. So much so that "you-know-who" is hardly missed.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

For the right man, all doors are open...Mike Mackenzie is a self-made man with too much time on his hands and a bit of the devil in his soul. He is looking for something to liven up the days and perhaps give new meaning to his existence. A chance encounter at an art auction offers him the opportunity to do just that as he settles on a plot to commit a 'perfect crime'. He intends to rip-off one of the most high-profile targets in the capital - the National Gallery of Scotland. So, together with two close friends from the art world, he devises a plan to a lift some of the most valuable artwork around. But of course, the real trick is to rob the place for all its worth whilst persuading the world that no crime was ever committed. But soon after he enters the dark waters of the criminal underworld he realises that it's very easy to drown...