He may have missed out on winning this year's Man Booker prize but author Graeme Macrae Burnet has triumphed in The Herald's annual list of Scotland's favourite books.

Each year we ask 40 of the nation's best-known book lovers, from authors to politicians to historians and publishers, for their favourite reads of the year. Macrae Burnet's novel His Bloody Project, which was released by small Scottish independent publisher Saraband, stunned London's literary giants when it made the shortlist for the prestigious fiction prize. In our round up, it was picked by more respondents than any other book.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who recommended it. She said: “ It had such an engrossing plot that I couldn’t put it down once I started reading it, so it was no surprise that Graeme Macrae Burnet’s excellent work was short listed for the Man Booker Prize. It’s not so much a classic ‘whodunnit’ book, but more a ‘why did he do it?’.

"The interesting and innovative structure used by the author, where you feel like you are reading original historical records, sets the book apart from others of a similar genre and his skilful writing means the reader can’t help but empathise with the ‘murderer’. In addition to the gripping story, the book gives the reader a fascinating insight into Highland life at the time – its harshness, poverty and brutality. Definitely one of the best books this year.”

See Saturday's Herald Arts for our Books of the Year special