MURIEL Spark, Irvine Welsh, Iain Banks, Alasdair Gray - the biggest names in Scottish literature are in the running to take the prize for Scotland's most loved novel.

Book Week Scotland starts tomorrow and the nation has been busy voting for its favourite novel of the last 50 years. Votes on the Scottish Book Trust's shortlist of 50 closed on Friday, but the debate over the initial selection is just starting.

Among those said to be "snubbed" was JK Rowling, whose Harry Potter books were discounted as children's literature, while The Casual Vacancy was not deemed "good enough". Eyebrows were also raised over the exclusion of The Cone Gatherers by Robin Jenkins - often compared to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

With voting over, we reveal, in no particular order, the contenders for the top spot.