It was originally called the Dorothy Dunnett Readers' Association.
It is a Charity regulated under Scottish law and has the following aims: In furtherance of these aims, the Society undertakes activities in the following area: Gives literary prizes and bursaries to encourage study and research into the periods about which Dorothy Dunnett wrote - most notably In 2006, the Dorothy Dunnett Society arranged for a memorial stone to be laid in the memory of Dorothy Dunnett in the Makars' Court by the entrance to the Scottish Writer's Museum at Lady Stair's Close on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
[15] The unveiling ceremony was attended by Dorothy Dunnett's son, Mungo Dunnett and his family, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Makar (Valerie Gillies), and the Ross Herald (Charles Burnett) as well as members of the Society and others.
The stone contains Lady Dunnett's coat of arms, and a short quote from one of her books "Where are the links in the chain ... joining us to the past".
[16] The Society has members in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and other countries around the world.