Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar
Written by Olga Wojtas — This time slip romp through imperial Russia has been published to coincide with the centenary of The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie author Muriel Spark’s birth. Spark’s bestselling book mined her own schooldays at James Gillespie’s High School in Edinburgh, which…
The Gathering Dark
Written by James Oswald — Ever since James Oswald published his first Tony McLean novel in 2013 he has been admired for his skill in capturing loyal readers with his police procedurals that have a sprinkle of the supernatural. Less adept writers would alienate those who…
The Wages of Sin
Written by Kaite Welsh — The heroines of crime novels come in all shapes and sizes. Police officers, private detectives, doughty mothers and spirited teens, have all earned their places on our ever-more-groaning bookshelves. Time to add another to the fold – meet Sarah Gilchrist, medical…
Ice Cold Alice
Written by CP Wilson — Alice Connolly leads a double life. Her public persona is the author of a highly successful fantasy series of vampire novels. In private she is Tequila, a serial killer who targets wife beaters. So far, Tequila has killed 16 men. Ice…
A classic revisited: Knots & Crosses
We’ve been together now for 30 years, and it doesn’t seem a day too much. Yes, John Rebus and his devoted fans go back a long, long way, although even his creator, Ian Rankin, seems a little taken aback at the staying power of one of…
Written in Bones
Written by James Oswald — When the body of a man is discovered in Edinburgh parkland called The Meadows, Detective Inspector Tony McLean is called in to solve the puzzle. Because nothing is ordinary about the case central to James Oswald’s seventh DI McLean novel, Written in…
Rather Be the Devil
Thirty years a crime author, 21 Rebus novels, and Ian Rankin is still going strong. Having retired and later returned to the force to help solve cold cases, John Rebus has always scratched his head about one particular murder. The socialite Maria Turquand was found…