Interview: Denise Mina
Glasgow-born author Denise Mina saw a lot of the world in her early life because her father’s job as an engineer saw the family move 21 times in 18 years. She left school at 16, working in poorly paid jobs until she decided to pursue…
Rebus: saint or sinner?
Earlier this month the paperback version of Ian Rankin’s Standing in Another Man’s Grave came out and it saw the return of one of Scotland’s most famous crime fiction detectives: John Rebus. His creator had taken a break from JR and retired him off, preferring…
The Woman Who Walked into the Sea
Written by Mark Douglas-Home — It’s probably a bit easier for a journalist to launch a career in crime fiction. After all, they’ll be familiar with the editing process and are used to seeing their words cut, chopped, changed and rewritten. Having said that, with thousands…
The Swedish Girl
Written by Alex Gray — The bestseller lists are peppered with crime books set in Scotland or Scandinavia, so it was only a matter of time before someone attempted to bring together these two fine traditions within the genre. The Swedish Girl is the 10th book…
Interview: Alex Gray
Scottish author Alex Gray has been writing professionally since 1992, and her DCI Lorimer books are said to bring Glasgow to life in the same way Ian Rankin’s have brought Edinburgh to prominence. She has won the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for…
Close to the Bone
Written by Stuart Macbride — Aberdeen, and the granite walls of the city frown down upon a wave of violent and macabre crimes. A body is found on waste ground, hideously disfigured by having a burning tyre hung round its neck. A succession of Asian men…
Death on a Longship
Written by Marsali Taylor — Crime novels set in Shetland are very much like buses – you wait for ages, then two come along together! I had just finished Ann Cleeves’ Dead Water when Death on a Longship appeared on my Kindle screen. Could I cope…