SCOTS pop singer turned author Colin MacIntyre has become the winner of the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award with his debut novel The Letters of Ivor Punch.

MacIntyre, who rose to fame as the singer and musician who performs as Mull Historical Society, drew on his childhood roots setting his first published novel, which is a tale of secrets and sadness on a remote Hebridean island.

MacIntyre said: "I am absolutely thrilled to be the recipient of the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival's First Book Award.

"I had a wonderful time appearing at the Festival this year and would like to thank everyone involved for this very exciting honour..."

Colin MacIntyre is an award-winning musician who has released six albums to date, including two top twenty albums under the name Mull Historical Society.

He has been voted Scotland’s Top Creative Talent, and has toured worldwide with acts such as The Strokes, Elbow and REM. MacIntyre grew up on the Isle of Mull and now lives in London.

Nick Barley, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “As a songwriter, Colin MacIntyre seems always to have been a natural storyteller. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before he turned his abilities to the longer form of the novel.

"It is fitting that the man best known as Mull Historical Society has crafted a story to which he has put his own name, yet it is a novel which owes so much to his roots on the island of Mull. Such powerful storytelling resonated strongly with readers at the Book Festival, making Colin a runaway winner in voting for the First Book Award.”

The Letters of Ivor Punch introduces a pioneering female travel writer, two fatherless boys and a man who, quite literally, fell from the sky. At the centre of it all sits the figure who links the past to the present – the irrepressible, unforgettable Ivor Punch – who will not be taking his secrets to the grave.

The authors eligible for the 2016 First Book Award will be announced in June 2016.