McIlvanney Prize 2024 Shortlist

 

The Shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize has been announced by Bloody Scotland. The award, previously known as the Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing, will be presented on Friday 13 September 2024 on the first night of the Bloody Scotland Festival. 

Congratulations to all the nominated authors. 

2023 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist: Bloody Scotland

 

The Shortlist for the 2023 McIlvanney Prize for Scotland's prestigious annual crime writing award, was announced. The Prize is named in memory of the 'Godfather of Tartan Noir', the great William McIlvanney: 

Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley (Pushkin): the judges said: "A wonderfully rich and funny new voice in Scottish crime. McSorley has created characters you invest in and plot that keeps you hooked right from the start."

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina (Vintage): the judges said: "Seriously stylish and oozing with attitude, this Philip Marlowe mystery is an exquisite read."

Cast a Cold Eye by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan): the judges said: "A story inhabited by brilliantly drawn characters. Not just a crime novel but a vivid and immersive account of life in Glasgow in the 1930s."

The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell (Little, Brown): the judges said: "Mesmerising from the start. Devilishly dark and dripping with menace. A breath-taking masterclass in twisty crime writing."

These events are part of a three-day annual showcase of crime writing at Bloody Scotland, which is Scotland's international crime writing festival. Both prizes are again sponsored by The Glencairn Glass, Kirsty Nicholson, Design and Marketing Manager at Glencairn Crystal, said: 

"Now in our third year of sponsoring these prestigious awards with the Glencairn Glass, we’re very proud to be a part of this amazing Scottish annual event in the world of crime fiction. We continue to be impressed and enthralled by the talented authors who enter and we wish everyone the very best of luck."

The 2023 Bloody Scotland festival begins at 1: 30pm on Friday, September 15 , with the final event concluding at 2pm on Sunday September 17. It takes place at various venues in the historic centre of Stirling, including the Albert Halls, Trinity Church, and the Golden Lion Hotel. 

Finalists Revealed for The McIlvanney Prize 2022

Sponsored by The Glencairn Glass

Winners to be presented on Thursday 15 September 2022

In Bloody Scotland’s 10th Anniversary year, the judges are delighted to reveal the finalists for The McIlvanney Prize 2022:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic (HarperCollins)

Alan Parks – May God Forgive (Canongate)

Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate)

Louise Welsh – The Second Cut (Canongate)

A hat trick for Canongate and indeed for Scottish independent publishing! The McIlvanney Prize judges are Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow and Jacky Collins, otherwise known as the podcaster, Dr Noir and programmer of Newcastle Noir. They were unanimous in their praise for all four finalists:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic (HarperCollins) The masterful rendering of a richly layered plot makes you want to read this novel again as soon as you’ve finished it. It’s a warts and all tale with memorable characters and a great setting.

Alan Parks – May God Forgive (Canongate) This expertly handled and morally ambiguous novel paints a dark and mesmerising portrait of 1970s Glasgow. The skillfully written and complex plot builds to a thrilling and highly unconventional denouement.

Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate) A real slow burner of a novel which is a marvellous tale of murder and deception in Victorian Edinburgh. It handles some difficult subject matter with sensitivity and care and has a real feeling of authenticity

Louise Welsh – The Second Cut (Canongate) The raw, tight prose of this novel delivers an edgy glimpse into the underbelly of 21st century Glasgow. The novel feature the welcome return of Rilke from Louise’s classic debut The Cutting room in a witty and sometimes sordid tale of a rank outsider.

The winner will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday 15 September. All of the shortlisted authors will be invited to a VIP reception at the Church of the Holy Rude at 7pm and to lead the torchlit procession from Stirling Castle to The Albert Halls where the winner of both the McIlvanney and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prizes will be revealed at approximately 8.30pm. They will then be interviewed on stage by BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth.

Bloody Scotland Reveals 10th Anniversary Programme

 

Stirling 15-18 September 2022

We are very exciting to announce our 10^th anniversary programme! Ten years on from the first Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival the run has extended to four days, the number of events has doubled and the authors are more diverse than ever.

2022 sees the return of several Bloody Scotland favourites that we haven’t seen since the pre-pandemic days of 2019. Our dramatic torchlit procession through Stirling historic old town led by the pipes and drums of the Royal Burgh of Stirling Pipe Band and Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band encourages locals who don’t normally attend literary events to get involved. Scotland tackle England in our crime writers’ football match at the new venue of King’s Park, a free fun event which is also aimed at breaking down barriers.

There will be a return of the ever-popular Crime at the Coo cabaret featuring an array of crime writers showing off their musical talents and the much-loved Quiz this year takes the form of Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee’s ‘Red Hot Night of a Million Games’ in which they steal the best bits from the game shows of yesteryear and mash them up into something truly remarkable.

Val McDermid has described Bloody Scotland as a ‘dizzying weekend of pleasure’, Jake Kerridge talking on BBC Radio 4 praised Bloody Scotland for ‘thinking outside the box’ creating ‘a sort of fringe’ and William McIlvanney spoke fondly of it being ‘so friendly, so welcoming’. It is with great delight that we look forward to putting on that sort of inclusive, imaginative festival again to celebrate our 10^th Anniversary.

In addition to the headliners we are welcoming to Stirling such as Sir Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz, Lisa Unger, Jeffrey Archer, Ann Cleeves and Frankie Boyle, debuts are at the heart of what Bloody Scotland is all about. The very first festival featured a ‘Fresh Blood Panel’ and this year in addition to the ‘Bloody Scotland Debut Prize Panel’ we have ‘Alex Gray’s New Crimes Panel’ plus debut authors appearing in various events throughout the programme and twenty new authors appearing ‘In the Spotlight’ on stage ahead of the established names.

We continue our commitment to bring the festival to the wider world and those who can’t make it to Stirling can buy digital passes for individual events or the whole weekend. Val McDermid, David Baldacci, Sara Paretsky, Donna Leon and Irvine Welsh will all join us live for digital sessions. More information about which events will be available to watch on-line can be found at bloodyscotland.com/digital-pass.

Tickets can be bought here.

The programme can be found here.

Alan Bett, Head of Literature and Publishing at Creative Scotland said:

‘Much has changed in the decade since Bloody Scotland launched their first festival, in terms of Scottish crime writing and literature festivals more generally. This 10^th anniversary programme is not only the biggest, it also embraces a hybrid model that means a wider audience can engage with authors either on stage or on screen. Bloody Scotland continues to promote the highly popular genre of Scottish crime writing to the world, while also connecting Scottish readers to the work of both new and much loved authors.’

James Crawford, Chair of Bloody Scotland said:

‘It’s fantastic to be able to mark the 10th anniversary of the festival with a full, four-day programme of in-person events – along with a brilliant selection of digital offerings – featuring the best that crime writing has to offer. Bloody Scotland was established a decade ago to shine a spotlight on crime writing and to help develop a whole new generation of writers. Debut authors have always been central to this, and to the vibrant community that has grown up around the festival. Along with the excitement of seeing familiar faces comes the thrill of finding your new favourite writer. Bloody Scotland 2022 is a festival full of possibilities and discovery.’

Stirling Councillor Leader, Councillor Chris Kane said:

‘The fact that Bloody Scotland is now enjoying its 10^th Anniversary is a welcome plot development for a festival that has grown into one of Stirling’s most loved events. Bloody Scotland has brought a wide range of visitors into Stirling over the years while making sure Stirling residents are an integral part of the occasion, such as the spectacular torchlit procession that lights up our city centre.’

Bloody Scotland is Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival, providing a showcase for the best crime writing from Scotland and the world, unique in that it was set up by a group of Scottish crime writers in 2012. Full information at bloodyscotland.com

The festival takes place in various venues (including The Albert Halls, The Tollbooth and the social hub of the festival, The Golden Lion Hotel) in the historic town of Stirling from 15-18 September 2022.

The Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing first awarded in 2012 was renamed The McIlvanney Prize in 2016. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was introduced in 2019 and won by Claire Askew who this year made the McIlvanney longlist along with Deborah Masson who won the Debut Prize in 2020.

In 2018 Bloody Scotland began a partnership with Harvill Secker to encourage new crime writers of colour. The winner of the inaugural prize was Ajay Chowdhury and in December 2021 it was won by Dettie Gould with The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin.

In order to maintain a year-round presence Bloody Scotland set up the Bloody Scotland Book Club in Spring 2021. The panel rotates every month and those on the panel take responsibility for choosing the three books which are discussed.

In 2017 Bloody Scotland partnered with Historic Environment Scotland to produce the Bloody Scotland book of short stories which has been reprinted for the 10^th Anniversary and will be distributed free of charge throughout Stirling and the surrounding areas to encourage more engagement with Scottish crime fiction within the local community.

Bloody Scotland recently resurrected the short story competition which took place in the first year. The latest incarnation, sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with media support from The Scottish Field received over 132 entries from all over the world. Many previously unpublished. The winner was from Australia and was published in the Scottish Field Magazine.

To make the festival more affordable for everyone and mark our 10^th Anniversary we’re offering a limited number of tickets at £5 each for 10 of our events – see bloodyscotland.com/10-at-5

A 10% discount is available for all events in Stirling to people residing in the Stirling Council area – see bloodyscotland.com/localdiscount

In addition, free standby tickets will be offered to the unemployed or those on low income on the day of the event if there is good availability – see bloodyscotland.com/standby 

We are committed to making Bloody Scotland an accessible festival. All of the venues are accessible by wheelchair and BSL interpretation is available at events on request. Email - info@bloodyscotland.com

A free shuttle bus between venues is available for those who need it. Seating is unreserved so please advise at time of booking if you require a wheelchair space or have any specific needs and we will do our best to accommodate them.

BLOODY SCOTLAND HYBRID FESTIVAL EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS AND EXTENDS RUN FOR 2022

 

Bloody Scotland hybrid festival which ran from 17-19 September 2021 and closed its virtual doors on 30 September outperformed targets and has prompted organisers to extend their run for next year. Bloody Scotland 2022 will now start in the historic city of Stirling on Thursday 15 September with the torchlight procession and awards presentation and run through to Sunday 18 September.

Online and in person attendance this year was 16,000 and included visitors from over 30 countries. While many audience members were delighted to return to Stirling in person, the digital offering (paid for this year) was also extremely popular. The festival also extended its reach with approximately 25% of physical and online visitors attending the festival for the first time.

All sponsors remained on board and publishers welcomed the digital programme as a means of advertising their authors beyond those who normally pick up a physical brochure.

As Bloody Scotland starts planning for the 10th Anniversary in 2022, founding chair, Jenny Brown is stepping down. She said

‘It’s been an honour to chair Bloody Scotland since the idea of a Scottish crime writing festival was just an ambitious twinkle in the eyes of co-founders Lin Anderson and Alex Gray, to the splendid internationally-renowned event we have today. The success of the festival is down to the creativity of its directors and whole team, the dedication and energy of the Board, the commitment from our partners, the enthusiasm of crime readers and, above all, the brilliant support from crime writers themselves. As we look forward to Bloody Scotland’s 10th Anniversary in 2022, it’s great to be handing over the chair to Jamie Crawford, with the festival in such good shape for its second decade'.

Incoming chair, publisher and TV presenter, James Crawford said:

‘Having been involved with Bloody Scotland as publisher of the Bloody Scotland book, and as judge for two years on the McIlvanney Prize, I am delighted to be joining as Chair. This is a festival that has a very strong identity and a clear and ambitious vision for the future, and I am very much looking forward to helping shape the plans for its 10th anniversary in 2022

Bob McDevitt will remain as Festival Director for 2022 supported by the marketing team Fiona Brownlee, Tim Donald and Jessica McGoff and the rest of the board, Abir Mukherjee, Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown, Catriona Reynolds and Muriel Robertson.

Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize 2021 Finalists Revealed

 

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival reveals

five finalists for the McIlvanney Prize 2021 

sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with match funding from 

Culture & Business Fund Scotland

Five years ago the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney. This year his final book, The Dark Remains, completed with the help of Ian Rankin, was launched at the Edinburgh Book Festival immediately prior to the announcement of the McIlvanney Prize shortlist.

The McIlvanney Prize judges this year include Karen Robinson, formerly of The Times Crime Club and a CWA judge; Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow.

They selected five finalists from the longlist of thirteen. The list includes 2015 winner, Craig Russell; established names Stuart MacBride and Alan Parks and two debut authors, Emma Christie and Robbie Morrison who beat some of the biggest names in crime fiction to make the cut. Emma Christie was one of the up and coming authors selected to appear at Crime in the Spotlight as a support act for The Never Ending Panel last year.

The judges described Craig Russell as ‘an author who never disappoints and always gets to the heart of a story’ and they ‘loved the presentation of Victorian Edinburgh and Celtic myths’ in HYDE (Constable)

They praised THE APRIL DEAD by Alan Parks (Canongate) for ‘continuing to innovate’ and said they ‘enjoyed the well-drawn characters and cliffhanger ending’.

They called THE COFFIN MAKER’S GARDEN by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins) ‘a dark, edgy and original novel, full of action and a great sense of place with just the right kind of humour'

They described THE SILENT DAUGHTER by Emma Christie (Welbeck) as ‘taking the domestic noir genre and offering something fresh and different with well controlled characters’ and called EDGE OF THE GRAVE by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan) ‘. They enjoyed the pace of the novel and the unforeseen twist at the end. Both are also on the shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.

The Glencairn Glass, the World’s Favourite Whisky Glass and the Official Glass for Whisky is again sponsoring both The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year. Culture & Business Fund Scotland have generously given matched funding.

The winners of both prizes will be revealed at the Albert Halls in Stirling at 5.15pm on Friday 17 September and broadcast live on-line.

Bloody Scotland Virtual Festival 2020 Now Available on YouTube

 

Bloody Scotland closed its virtual doors on Sunday evening (20th) but the majority of the programme is now available on YouTube at- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaZgeYYd3QV-l5I0sYjGOVVMjnHY5LaF_ via our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/bloodyscotlandfestival

The virtual Festival will be online for the next month until October 30th allowing crime fans to dip into sessions they missed or revisit events they particularly enjoyed. Authors are still available for interview to promote their events online.

The response to the virtual Festival has been resoundingly positive:

‘Where other festivals might have shrunk, this one grew in ambition. The organisers of Scotland’s annual crime writing festival refused to let the small matter of a global pandemic get in their way, upping the ante with some truly international online events.’
David Robinson, The Scotsman.

‘The Festival happened but like so many cultural events it was all online. I have to say, WOW! Big respect to the team. Everyone’s talking about it. It was a huge success.’
Janice Forsyth, The Afternoon Show, BBC Radio Scotland

‘Congratulations, brilliant numbers for terrific events.’
Karen Robinson, Times Crime Club

‘Online #BloodyScotland has been fun… the chats are awesome! Instead of being told to shush during panels we’re encouraged to talk. Brilliant @BloodyScotland’
Anthony Neil Smith, Professor of English at South West Minnesota State University

‘Bloody Scotland was absolutely wonderful. You all did a brilliant job with it. I did miss being up in Stirling and getting to see everyone but it did let me finally get a taste of Crime at the Coo.’
Alison Campbell, Blogger, A Bookish Life.

One unusual result of the virtual Crime at the Coo is that it has led to debut author, Dugald Bruce Lockhart releasing an EP featuring the track he sang at Bloody Scotland. https://music.apple.com/gb/album/fazed-ep/1532806696 Crime writing clearly maketh music stars…

Bloody Scotland Reveals Team Captains for Annual Scotland v England Football Match

Bloody Scotland Team Managers, Craig Roberston (Scotland) and Luca Veste (England) today revealed that their teams will again be captained by Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham for the annual Bloody Scotland Crime Writers Football Match which will take place at 2pm on Saturday 21 September.

The football match was the brainchild of Craig Robertson in 2014 and the first year Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre and Martyn Waites all signed up to play.  Following a resounding victory for Scotland Craig Robertson said “In a drunken, triumphalist haze we waved our English friends a fond and patronising farewell, sending them homeward to think again. Unfortunately, they did think again and they came back two years later and gubbed us”. 

The football has taken place on the Bowling Green at Cowane’s Hospital ever since though following a dispute when Thomas Enger (a Norwegian semi-professional footballer) joined the Scottish team new rules were drawn up. Teams now have to be made up exclusively of Scottish crime writers and English crime writers. No publishers, no editors, no agents, and definitely no professional footballers. One highlight for the English team this year is former Gladiator turned crime writer, Mark Griffin.

It is free to watch and in recent years has had the addition of a pop-up gin bar courtesy of Stirling Gin who provide Bloody Scotland cocktails for the fans – and sometimes for the players!

If you would like to interview Craig Robertson, Luca Veste, Mark Billingham or Chris Brookmyre please contact fiona@brownleedonald.com

Stirling: a Shire with its Share of Savagery

As the crime writing community warms up for the fifth Bloody Scotland festival, with Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Helen Fitzgerald, Nicci French, Stuart MacBride and many more, William Sutton offers a guide to Stirling as a suitable spot for criminal fraternising.

It thrilled me, as a wee boy, that David Balfour, hero of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, hid under old Stirling Bridge on his cross-country quest to clear his name: the very same bridge that I passed on the way to the Thistle Centre or Stirling County Cricket Club.

From RLS to Rebus

Stevenson, author of two and half of literature’s most memorable characters (Long John Silver, Jekyll/Hyde) often stayed here (in the spa town of Bridge of Allan, along the road from my school). I later discovered Stevenson’s cave on the Darn Walk, a welcome escape for those exhausted by Stirling nightlife and the inspiration for Ben Gunn’s cave in Treasure Island. That may be a children’s book, but there’s no doubt Stevenson was a crime writer.

If you don’t consider The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a crime novel, read over Hyde’s misdeeds again and try telling that to Operation Yewtree.

Iain Rankin was astonished how few spotted that his Rebus novel Hide and Seek was a homage to Stevenson. Rankin explored his admiration for Stevenson’s gothic masterpiece in this excellent BBC documentary.

Deceptively peaceful

Viewed from the Wallace Monument, the Carse of Stirling seems a peaceful landscape. Yet the area has its share of violence.

I grew up down the road, in Dunblane. Fiction plumbs the depths of terrible crimes. William McIlvanney, through his hero Laidlaw, urges us to treat murderers as humans: “There are no monsters…only people.” But who can imagine Thomas Hamilton’s state of mind as he drove there from Stirling on March 13 1996?

Today, you will find commemorative gardens, a community centre, and a memorial to the tragedy in Dunblane Cathedral.

On the High Street, the gold letter box celebrates Andy Murray’s Olympic victories.

Gateway to the Highlands

Seven battlefields are visible from the top of the Wallace Monument’s 246 steps. From earliest childhood, I was convinced that the Battle of Bannockburn was the crux of world history, and that Robert the Bruce’s axe cracking Henry de Bohun’s head was the most important combat of the millennium.

The back road over Sheriffmuir passes the Gathering Stone of the Clans, where the Jacobite forces struggled through marshes to an inconclusive battle. A remote luncheon at the 17th Century Sheriffmuir Inn will inspire windswept thoughts in any writer.

Stirling in fiction 

Stirling Castle, on its rocky outcrop, is the breathtaking monument that tells me I’m home.

It is also the dramatic location for Tunes of Glory, the film of James Kennaway’s psychological novel, starring John Mills and Alec Guinness, in which a suicide is misreported as murder.

 

Iain Banks’ underrated crime novel, Complicity, features key moment at Stirling University. Throughout this sassy political thriller Banks sows seeds of dissent in the characters’ early lives – hopes, loves and betrayals – laying down clues in nostalgic flashback.

Beside the monument and the University sits Dumyat, the beginning of the Ochil hills. Rennie McOwan’s Light on Dumyat, an absorbing children’s adventure story, may tempt to you to try the stroll up, with glorious views as far as Edinburgh – if it’s not raining.

Auld Enemies

My school history books proclaimed Stirling the gateway to the Highlands. I never understood why armies didn’t simply go around it – until I read Tears for a Tinker.

Jess Smith’s travellers’ tales unravel the secrets of the peat bogs around Stirling.

Following the clearances, destitute Highlanders were pardoned and employed to drain the bogs, in return for small patches of land. They uncovered Roman artefacts, jewellery, weaponry – well beyond the Antonine Wall – and even whale bones. It was a Labour Colony; yet this exploitation led to the area’s fruitful settlement.

Divided allegiances

Today Stirling is Scotland’s compromise town. It’s perfect for events like Bloody Scotland, with divided allegiance to the bigger cities. Stirling voted strongly to stay EU, after voting almost as definitively to stay in the UK.

Enjoy the Scotland v England crime writers football grudge match, free and unticketed at Cowane’s Hospital, 1.30pm on Sat 20th September.

The Scots will look to celebrate, as William Wallace did at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The English will prefer to recall Wallace’s dismembered head spiked on London Bridge.

Stirling facts (via Stirling Council):

• The British currency ‘sterling’ derived from the town mint, producing coins from silver mined in the Ochils.
• The Black Boy fountain commemorates 30% of Stirling’s population killed by the Plague of 1369.
• The elite S.A.S. unit was founded by James Stirling of that famous Stirling family.
• The 1971 film Kidnapped, starring Michael Caine, was partly shot in Stirling.

William Sutton, author of Lawless and the Flowers of Sin (Titan Books), grew up in Dunblane and went to school in nearby Bridge-of-Allan.

Lawless and the Flowers of Sin is his second mystery featuring a Scots detective in Victorian London. Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square tackled the building of the Tube and sewers; the new book investigates a different kind of underworld.

www.william-sutton.co.uk

f/williamgeorgeq

t @WilliamGeorgeQ

Bloody Scotland Blog Tour - Author Interview: Allan Guthrie

Today on the blog I am joined by Allan Guthrie as part of the Bloody Scotland Blog Tour which is taking place between 11 to 13 September 2015. Allan Guthrie is an award-winning Scottish crime writer and ebook bestseller. His debut novel, Two-Way Split, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award and went on to win the Theakston’s Crime Novel Of The Year in 2007. He is the author of four other novels: Kiss Her Goodbye (nominated for an Edgar Ward, Anthony Award and Gumshoe Award), Hard Man, Savage Night and Slammer and three novellas: Kill Clock, and Kindle bestsellers Killing Mum and Bye Bye Baby.

Al Guthrie will be at Bloody Scotland in Stirling.  For more details please click here and here.  His latest book is the Kindle bestseller Bye Bye Baby.  He is also the co-founder of digital publisher Blasted Heath.

Describe your writing in a sentence?

Can I do it in a word? Stuttering.

Do you have any literary influences, or writers that you admire?

When I first started trying to write crime novels my main influences were Christopher Brookymre, Douglas Lindsay and Charles Higson. As time went by and I realised I wasn’t capable of being even one-tenth as funny as Brookymre, Lindsay or Higson, I started reading a lot more American noir fiction from the 30s through to the 60s. So my influences tend to come from there – James M Cain, Horace McCoy, David Goodis, Jim Thompson, et al.

When you are writing, which has the slight edge plot or character?

For me, character tends to drive plot. Having said that, a great character with a dull plot is a terrible waste of a great character.

What made you decide to write standalone novels instead of a series?

It wasn’t so much a conscious decision as me just writing some novels back-to-back that happened to be standalones. I also don’t write the kind of novels (at least not so far) that lend themselves to a series. In most of my novels, the few characters who remain alive at the end of the book are too traumatised to go through something similar again. Having said that, I do have a recurring character in Gordon Pearce, who pops up in a few books, sometimes in a central role and sometimes as more of a peripheral figure. He’s a fairly robust kind of guy and apparently quite hard to traumatise. I do try, though.

When can we expect the next book from you?  The last book (If I am not mistaken) was Bye Bye Baby back in 2010.

That’s quite true. I did co-write a novella, Replacing Max, with Stuart MacBride (anthologised in Dark Duets (HarperVoyager)), which is slightly longer than Bye Bye Baby. But that was a while ago too. I’ve made several predictions as to when there might be a new book, but they’ve all been horribly wrong. So I’ll not make any more bold pronouncements for now, other than to say that there are a couple of books in the works that might see the light of day sometime soon. Possibly. But don’t quote me on it.

You have also written a number of short stories and contributed an essay to one of my favourite books of all time Books to Die For.  Which do you prefer, writing novels or short stories?

Novels are seriously hard work. It should get easier, but I find it gets harder with each book and becomes increasingly labour intensive. So short stories make sense if you don’t have a lot of spare time or write slowly (or especially if both are true). I’ve always been a big fan of novellas, though. Both as a reader and a writer. I like to be able to see the end when I start and then hold the entire book in my head when I’m finished. Novellas are perfect for that.

On the one hand I love Hard Case Crime not solely because of the books that they publish but also because of their covers.   The downside is that I have had to stop reading them on public transport because I keep on getting really weird looks.  They published Kiss Her Goodbye.  How did you feel about being published by them?  They are in their own way a unique publisher.

At the time Kiss Her Goodbye was commissioned, Hard Case Crime was brand new, so I had no idea what to expect. But I took to Charles Ardai, the man behind HCC, straight away. He’s one hell of an editor and taught me a lot about the craft. I loved the cover they commissioned for my book too. Some publishers ask for ideas for covers and then proceed to ignore them. Charles asked which scene from the book I’d like to see painted, I mentioned a couple, and one of those ended up as the basis of the cover art.

Of all your books which is your favourite and why?

Slammer. It’s the one that achieves the closest approximation of what I set out to do. I think it’s possibly the most affecting too. But authors are notoriously bad judges of their own books, so although it’s my favourite, it’s quite probably not the best one.

You started Blasted Heath back in 2011 along with Kyle MacRae. What was the reason for this? One has to admit that you have some pretty outstanding books and authors on your list.

Thank you! I think so too. Kyle broached me out of the blue with some fascinating suggestions about how to help authors in this new digital age (as it was then). We talked for a while and then ended up deciding the logical next step was to set up our own publishing company. And Blasted Heath was born. It happened very quickly. We first spoke in July, and launched the company in November. I said at the time that we were insane to be even contemplating becoming publishers. I was right!

England or Scotland for the Crime Writers football rematch?

If last year is anything to go by, you’d want to stake your mortgage on Scotland.

How do you manage to juggle the day job as a literary agent with your writing?

I’ve been doing a lot of editing in the last couple of years, to the point where it’s now become the day job (if the day job is defined as the one that takes up most time). I’ve done a lot of freelancing for various publishers, as well as the bulk of the editing for Blasted Heath, but since March I’ve been working as an executive editor for a fascinating new joint venture between Imperative Entertainment, a Hollywood production company, and Bastei Luebbe, a big German publisher. They’re highly innovative and we’re working on some exceptional projects. I’ve worked part-time as an agent with Jenny Brown Associates for ten years now. I maintain a small but extremely talented client list there. Finding time to write can be a challenge, but it’s usually possible to find an hour or so at the end of the day.

Do you have a favourite recurring crime fiction hero/ detective?

I’d have to go with Charlie Williams’s Royston Blake, the nightclub doorman “hero” of the Mangel series. Royston Blake is an original and Charlie Williams is a comic genius.

Which five crime novels (not necessarily your favourites) would you encourage a new reader of the genre to read?

A Philosophical Investigation by Philip Kerr, – because it’s the book that got me into crime fiction. (Even though some would call it science fiction.)

The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell, – because it does happen to be one of the best

The Missing And The Dead by Stuart MacBride, – because it’s technically brilliant, multi-layered, authentic and ambitious

Double Indemnity by James M Cain, –  because it’s beautifully streamlined.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett – this one’s for writers as well as readers. It’s the best-known example of a technique I’ve heard referred to as “behaviourist”, in which an author chooses to avoid describing any of his characters’ thoughts or feelings. It also explodes the myth that PI novels have to be written in first person.

For those that have never been to Edinburgh describe your Edinburgh?

Ah, but that would be cheating. If you want to know what my Edinburgh’s like, you’ll have to pick up one of my books!

The state of Scottish writing especially Scottish crime writing is amongst the best and is in a buoyant state.   What do you think is the reason for this and how do you feel about being seen as part of the Tartan Noir rank and file?  What do you think of the term?

It’s an oft-asked question, but I don’t know that anyone’s come up with a terribly good answer. I suspect a large part of the success of Scottish crime writing is down to the early practitioners. William McIlvanney, then Ian Rankin and Val McDermid made Scottish crime writing very attractive to publishers, and canny writers write what publishers find attractive. And we’re a canny bunch up here. I’m happy to be called part of the tartan noir rank and file, but it’s mainly just a useful term that’s used by other people for marketing purposes.

Bloody Scotland has only been around for 4 years now but it has firmly established itself as one of the crime festivals to attend why do you think it has become so successful?

I don’t think there’s any one factor, but it’s more of a combination of the great organisation, the excellent programming, the tremendous writing talent on offer, the financing, the location, the publicity, and most importantly, the readers. It’s great that there’s so much enthusiasm for a celebration of the best of crime fiction from Scotland (and elsewhere) in our own back yard. Long may it continue!

Thanks to Allan for a wonderful interview.

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