Rumors that famed author JK Rowling was working on a detective novel after having finished her Harry Potter series have been squashed by Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin.

It was a nice weekend with tingly speculation that JK Rowling, the beloved English writer that gave Harry Potter to the world, was hard at work on a fresh new book for fans: a detective story.

Ian Rankin explained recently that the speculation is based on something he said that was taken out of context. He told The Guardian:

“This is a joke that got out of hand. There were 600 people in the audience, and only one person didn't laugh.”

He explained that, while on stage during the Edinburgh book festival, he had said his wife Miranda had seen JK Rowling taking notes in an Edinburgh café, perhaps for her new book.

Rankin himself announced the title of his latest Inspector Rebus mystery at the festival last week.

Emma Schlesinger, speaking for Rowling's literary agent, Christopher Little, has insisted that the crime novel rumors were “unfounded.”

“JK Rowling is taking a well-earned break following the English language publication of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows and there are no firm plans as yet as to what her next book may be,” Schlesinger said.

It’s been a busy year for the writer: it was barely a month ago that the seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series was released, creating a tumult around the world. Children and parents alike queued libraries for days on end to get their hands on a copy of “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows.” 11 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours of publication.

Rowling told USA Today in late July that she was already working on two new books. “I'm sort of writing two things at the moment,” she said. “One is for children and the other is not for children.”

She also said she “probably will” publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia.

The first six books in the series have sold over 325 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 64 languages.

With two more screen adaptations coming up, Harry Potter-mania is far from over.