A week today I will be heading off to Stirling for the weekend of fun and frolics because it's Bloody Scotland time! Scotland's biggest crime writing festival is now in its 13th year and yet again has a fabulous programme of events lined up. I'm not sure how long I've been going, think this is my eighth time, and it's always a highlight of my year. I'm going to share some of the events I'm looking forward to below. Many thanks to Fiona Brownlee at Brownlee Donald for inviting me to take part.
I've been asked to talk about the two events I'm most excited about at this year's festival, which I'm going to do, but there are so many brilliant things in the programme, I might sneak in one or two more of the sessions that I'm hoping to catch!
Debut Prize Panel
Debut Prize Panel
I am really, really looking forward to this year's Debut Prize Panel. Every year, Bloody Scotland awards two prizes - The McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. The shortlisted authors for the latter will be taking part in a panel on Friday afternoon. The five contenders this year are Doug Sinclair for Blood Runs Deep, Daniel Aubrey for Dark Island, Suzy Aspley with Crow Moon, Martin Stewart for Double Proof and Allan Gaw for The Silent House of Sleep. I've read all of them - all very different - and they're all great reads and I'm excited to see such strong finalists. I loved Daniel Aubrey's Orkney set thriller Dark Island featuring a young neurodivergent main character and a very dark storyline, and Blood Runs Deep by Doug Sinclair introducing us to haunted main character Malkie McCulloch - a well written police procedural, laced with dark humour. I'm glad I'm not the one picking a winner from this talented bunch - we'll be hearing a lot more from all these authors, I'm sure! Unfortunately, the Debut Prize Panel is sold out but tickets are still available for the Opening Reception and Prize Ceremony where the winners will be announced and interviewed on stage. Tickets are also still available for Saturday's panel in which author Alex Gray's New Crimes, picks her choice of debut authors from the last year, It features Marie Tierney, CL Miller, Tom Baragwanath and Roxie Key.
The second event I am super excited about is on Saturday morning - Abir Mukherjee and Chris Whitaker in conversation. These authors have written two of my favourite books of the year so far, and I'll be bringing my copies along to get them signed! Hunted is the first book by Abir I've read (hangs head in shame!) and I know it's very different to his other books. I loved it - super pacy, very tense, incredibly relevant, covering radicalisation and terrorism, but also the unwavering love and commitment of two very different parents for their respective children. It's brilliant, and one of the books shortlisted for this year's McIlvanney Prize. I'd been waiting for Chris's new book, All the Colours of the Dark, ever since finishing We Begin at the End. I loved that book, but it also broke me! Heartbreakingly beautiful, or maybe beautifully heartbreaking. Whichever, All the Colours of the Dark gave me the same chills. Spanning twenty plus years and crossing the US, it's a story of a terrible crime and the ripple effect of that one act but also a tale of friendship, love and devotion . I was crying ugly tears by the end of it! It's going to be fascinating listening to these two authors chat and I fear an hour won't be long enough!
Henry Hemming: Four Shots in the Night
Although I read a load an awful lot of crime fiction, true crime has never really been my thing. But investigative journalist Henry Hemming's session in the opening slot sounds absolutely fascinating. Four Shots in the Night discusses the murder of a British agent in Northern Ireland in 1986, which thirty years later was rumoured to have been carried out by another British agent, leading to a massive murder inquiry. I'll be making every effort to arrive early enough for this one.
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A panel that I unfortunately can't attend due to a time clash is Saturday morning's The Rest is History featuring Eleni Kyriacou, David Greig and AJ West. I've read AJ's The Betrayal of Thomas True, about love and betrayal in the molly houses of 18th century London and loved it - London and it's characters are so richly described and the story deeply affecting. The other two authors have written novels set in different times and places but both The Unspeakable Acts of Zuma Pavlou and Columba's Bones sound fascinating and this is sure to be an interesting panel.
My final quick pick is towards the end of the festival on Sunday lunchtime. Capital Offences features Emma Christie, Helen FitzGerald and Doug Johnstone, authors who have all set their books in Edinburgh. I'm lucky enough to have read and enjoyed all three of these books - all very different, and you can find my reviews of Halfway House and Living is a Problem on the blog. I think this session will be a lot of fun.
There you have it - a very brief look at some of the things I'm looking forward to next weekend but you'll find the full run down of all the events on the Bloody Scotland website. I hope to see some of you there - there's a really warm and welcoming atmosphere and you're sure to come away having made new friends.
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