These two outstanding novelists, amongst the best of their generation, share more than a surname. They are both fearless, innovative writers with the priceless ability to create remarkable characters that live long in the memory. Irvine’s new novel Resolution sees the return of maverick investigator Ray Lennox, the troubled anti-hero of his TV adapted series Crime. Lennox has moved to Brighton, but his dark past has followed him. Louise’s hugely entertaining new book, To The Dogs, takes a headlong dive into Glasgow’s criminal underbelly as a good man’s moral compass spins out of control as his past also looms large.

This event will be chaired by TV presenter Stephen Jardine.
Crime in the Spotlight reading from Jack O’Donnell.

Sponsored by the Open University in Scotland 

These two outstanding novelists, amongst the best of their generation, share more than a surname. They are both fearless, innovative writers with the priceless ability to create remarkable characters that live long in the memory. Irvine’s new novel Resolution sees the return of maverick investigator Ray Lennox, the troubled anti-hero of his TV adapted series Crime. Lennox has moved to Brighton, but his dark past has followed him. Louise’s hugely entertaining new book, To The Dogs, takes a headlong dive into Glasgow’s criminal underbelly as a good man’s moral compass spins out of control as his past also looms large.

This event will be chaired by TV presenter Stephen Jardine.
Crime in the Spotlight reading from Jack O’Donnell.

Sponsored by the Open University in Scotland 

Witches, both historical and contemporary, both real and suspected, are the powerful driving forces for three spellbinding novels. Michael J Malone’s chilling gothic thriller The Torments is the story of Annie Jackson, a woman blessed with a curse – unwanted voices that tell of imminent deaths. Kate Foster’s beguiling and poignant novel The King’s Witches harks back to 16th century Scotland and the witchcraft mania that has gripped the country and its newly-arrived queen. The body of a missing teenager is found with a poem inked on his back in Suzy Aspley’s exceptional debut Crow Moon, set in a fictional Scottish village. 

Chaired by Teddy Jamieson

From the very top tier of psychological thriller writers come two novelists whose expertly crafted plots – and devilish twists – keep readers guessing, and on the edge of their seats, until the final page. 

Every Move You Make might be the boldest book yet from multi-million bestseller Cally Taylor. Reaching deep into personal experience, she has crafted a terrifying tale of five women being stalked with deadly consequences. The perfect life and the price you’d pay to get it is the propulsive premise for A Lesson in Cruelty, the jaw-dropping thriller with real heart from number one bestseller Harriet Tyce. 

Chaired by Dr Jacky Collins

Misogyny and toxic masculinity lie at the heart of three daring, important crime novels from authors with the storytelling skills to voice the fears and rage of a generation – and generations before them. 

Long-buried memories and uncomfortable family truths are dredged up alongside a body from a Swedish river in Tove Alsterdal’s disturbing thriller Deep Harbour. Ajay Close’s powerful What Doesn’t Kill Us packs an emotional punch as a killer stalks the streets and women fight back in 1970s Leeds. One of the Good Guys is Araminta Hall’s fearless, groundbreaking exploration of aggressive masculinity wrapped up in a murderous tale. 

The author and podcaster Zoe Venditozzi will chair this event. 

If you like your thrillers pacy and bloody, packed with action, twists, snappy dialogue, and heroes to die for – and let’s face it who doesn’t – then these are the writers for you. Carter and Cavanagh may sound like an 80s cop show, but they have much better storylines. Chris’s multi-million selling Robert Hunter series sets the standard for serial killer chillers. In The Death Watcher, a routine hit-and-run reveals a horrific truth. Steve is the creator of the celebrated Eddie Flynn series as well as several outstanding standalones. His new novel is the fiendishly clever Witness 8. 

This event will be chaired by TV and radio presenter Bryan Burnett.
Crime in the Spotlight reading from Charlotte Stevenson.

Iceland’s uncanny ability to produce a series of exceptional crime fiction writers continues to burn undiminished. It’s a tiny country but has a strong tradition of storytelling and a stunning, mythic landscape as a stage. Two of their brightest lights are coming our way. 

Katrin Júlíusdóttir, Iceland’s former finance minister, won the prestigious Blackbird Award for her stunning debut novel Dead Sweet, a breathless political thriller of financial crime, cults, and secrets. Lilja Sigurdardóttir is a Bloody Scotland favourite, and her brilliant new novel, the twisty and atmospheric Dark as Night, is the fourth in her addictive Áróra series. 

Chaired by Elaine Downs.

This event is supported by The Icelandic Literature Center.

Iceland’s uncanny ability to produce a series of exceptional crime fiction writers continues to burn undiminished. It’s a tiny country but has a strong tradition of storytelling and a stunning, mythic landscape as a stage. Two of their brightest lights are coming our way. 

Katrin Júlíusdóttir, Iceland’s former finance minister, won the prestigious Blackbird Award for her stunning debut novel Dead Sweet, a breathless political thriller of financial crime, cults, and secrets. Lilja Sigurdardóttir is a Bloody Scotland favourite, and her brilliant new novel, the twisty and atmospheric Dark as Night, is the fourth in her addictive Áróra series. 

Chaired by Elaine Downs.

This event is supported by The Icelandic Literature Center.

Is it okay to do bad things to bad people? Do the most satisfying ends justify the most terrible means? Meet three terrific authors who expertly toy with our moral compasses. 

Jack Jordan’s darkly emotional Redemption seethes with his trademark moral dilemmas as a mother is hell-bent on revenge for her son’s hit-and-run death. Andrew Hunter Murray’s A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering takes a hilarious and murderous look at the inequities of the housing market. In Nilesha Chauvet’s absorbing The Revenge of Rita Marsh, Rita poses online as young girls to snare the men who prey on them. 

The author and podcaster Zoe Venditozzi will chair this event. 

They come from a land down under (the other one) and they bring with them terrific crime novels filled with a rich sense of culture and simmering with antipodean angst. Two of New Zealand’s finest writers are making the long trip to Bloody Scotland to discuss their work and their homeland. Vanda Symon is New Zealand’s modern Queen of Crime, and her seventh novel Prey is an electrifying thriller set on the streets of her home city of Dunedin. Award-winning writer and filmmaker Michael Bennett brings us Māori detective Hana Westerman in his second stunning crime novel Return to Blood. 

New Zealand author and reviewer Craig Sisterson will chair the event.