A couple of years back, Scottish crime fiction author Andrew Raymond took a brief sojourn away from writing his DCI Lomond novels for a research trip to South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Andrew had a cunning plan, which is about to come to fruition with his next novel, The Long Isle.
Not only will the book take us away from Lomond and the streets of Glasgow, it will also introduce a new character, DC Mairead Maclean. Like Lomond, she’s a Scottish cop who solves crimes, but the similarities pretty much end there. While in South Uist, he took in the feeling of a place that would become almost like a character in The Long Isle – its beaches, its bothies, its cemetery, the local museum and the magnificent Ben Kenneth.
The barren landscape and the sense of isolation Andrew describes sound fascinating, reminiscent of Scandinavian crime fiction, and to me this is one of the things I’m most looking forward to about the novel. The atmosphere. The nature of the crime is particularly chilling as well…
From being a self-published digital author, in a short space of time Andrew has become one of the most important crime writers in Scotland, which was reflected in his appearance at the Bloody Scotland festival last year. Now, as we brace for something new and exciting from the author, we decided to invite him back to the site to tell us about Mairead, South Uist and The Long Isle.
What are crime fiction lovers going to love about The Long Isle?
A tense, atmospheric shift from the urban grit of DCI Lomond’s Glasgow to an intimate island community. It’s a story driven by secrets, combining the history of South Uist with DC Mairead Maclean’s personal and traumatic history with the island.
Who is Mairead Maclean and what inspired the character?
Mairead is an empathetic detective constable who has spent the last 18 months cutting her teeth on the Glasgow force. She was inspired by the contrast of someone possessing a deeply rooted Hebridean background navigating the harsh, cynical realities of big-city policing. She represents a different kind of investigator, who rejects her superior’s detachment and relies on her capacity for empathy.
After writing Lomond for quite a few years, what’s it like for you writing a female lead detective?
Stepping away from Lomond allowed me to explore an entirely different investigator dynamic, as Mairead doesn’t carry the same hardened, senior authority. I wanted to write a female lead who balances the pressure of a high-profile murder with the protective anxieties of being a single mother to a teenage daughter. It shifts the emotional stakes, making her vulnerabilities and personal resilience the core of the book.
What’s she up against in The Long Isle?
Mairead finds herself investigating a horrific murder after a young priest is discovered nailed to a timber beam on an isolated beach. She is up against a deeply controlled killer who knows every contour of the island, but also the dark secrets that the main protagonists have been hiding for years. This conflict forces her to confront powerful local factions, deep-seated religious politics and a wall of silence from the neighbours she grew up with.
The setting too is a step away from gritty, urban Glasgow. What role do the terrain, climate and community play in the book’s atmosphere, and how have you built that up?
The Outer Hebrides function almost as a living character. I wanted the reader to be aware of the shifting Atlantic tides throughout. Uist is an almost alien landscape, unlike anywhere else on Scotland’s mainland. It doesn’t have the dramatic mountains of Skye, or the Instagram-ready locations of the North Coast 500. But what it has in spades is character, and an almost suffocating sense of isolation. That’s a great mix for a crime book.
Who are the other interesting characters we need to look out for?
Readers will definitely want to look out for DCI Sorley Barr, a brilliant but exhaustingly cynical city cop who serves as the Senior Investigating Officer. There’s also Father Calum MacDonald who appears to be hiding a multitude of sins; Éibhlin Campbell, the enigmatic church housekeeper; Donald Farley, who finds the body and seems to be harbouring secrets of his own. But almost everyone in the book is hiding something.
Does Mairead exist in the same fictional universe as Lomond, and could they meet up, like Bosch and Ballard, for example?
Early on, I considered it, but I think when you indulge in literary games like that, you’re pulling the reader out of the story. Instead of them focusing on that or the characters, they’re thinking about this act of fan service, so ultimately I rejected that.
I also wanted Mairead to be able to stand on her own two feet and carry a story herself, and I think she’s worthy of that. I don’t want her to be playing second fiddle to someone like Lomond. This is what’s interesting to me about her being a detective constable: it doesn’t matter that she isn’t the most senior figure in the investigation or has the most authority. That was a challenge for me as a writer. To still find a way to make her the focal point at all times.
Can you tell us about some of the bigger themes you wanted to explore in the novel?
A major theme is female characters having a strong sense of agency and trying to extract themselves from the male figures in their lives. Mairead hasn’t had the luxury that her ex-partner Johnny has had to indulge in his creative life as a failed musician. Mairead has had to juggle her career with being essentially a single parent, while men like Johnny and DCI Barr have been able to focus on themselves. She’s brought in as a glorified tour guide but ends up being the anchor for the entire investigation.
Which other books and/or authors have inspired you to write about the Scottish isles and why?
It wasn’t particular books or authors that inspired me to write about the islands. It was personal experience of the island and an understanding that the best crime fiction is often set in places where people least expect a murder. And there was also the appealing paradox of having something so awful happen somewhere so beautiful. In that regard, the book shares a real legacy with international regional crime like Scandi-noir.
What’s next for Mairead and what’s next for Andrew Raymond?
Mairead will be returning with many other characters in 2027 for book two in the series, called The Missing Sisters. That book will be set mostly on Skye, but also Uist as well. And this year there are still two more DCI Lomond books to come: Broken Ranks in July, and The Murder Ballad in October, which is a real epic serial killer thriller.
The Long Isle by Andrew Raymond is on sale from 4 June. Watch for our review soon, and a reading from the novel by the author himself on our YouTube channel. Secure your copy with the buttons below.
