McIlvanney Prize shortlist 2019 announced!
The wait is over! (well, this wait. Now begins the wait for the winner announcement but one thing at a time) We can reveal the shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize Crime Book of the Year is...
Breakers, Doug Johnstone (Orenda)
Judges said of Breakers: A tightly written and compelling exploration of two sides of Edinburgh, touching on social topics rarely examined in crime fiction. A brilliant and moving portrait of family dynamics and loyalty as a young boy struggles to break out of his powerlessness.
Conviction, Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
Judges said of Conviction: A highly original and timely rollercoaster of a read, a caper which takes the reader on an unforgettable journey from central Glasgow to the Highlands, France and Italy. The novel fizzes with energy and brims over with a love of storytelling.
The Way of All Flesh, Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
Judges said of The Way of All Flesh: Intensely and brilliantly researched piece of writing, casting back to 19th century Edinburgh when the art of surgery was just emerging at the same time as body snatchers were at large on the streets.
Treachery of Spies, Manda Scott (Bantam Press)
Judges said of Treachery of Spies: A powerful, complex and remarkable espionage thriller where a present-day murder links back to Resistance France. An intricately plotted novel which keeps the reader guessing right to the end.
This year's judges are Alison Flood, James Crawford and Stuart Cosgrove. Here they are making the tough decisions earlier this week!
The winner will be revealed on Friday 20th September at our gala event before the torchlight parade from Stirling castle. If you'd like to be there for the gala announcement, you can still buy tickets here.
Hugest of congratulations to our shortlist!
Pitch Perfect 2019
Revealing the 2019 Pitch Perfect cohort! They will be pitching to our expert panel and you can attend the event by buying tickets here.
Robert Craven has been writing short stories and novels since 1992. His latest novel ‘The Road of a Thousand Tigers’ launched in November 2018 went to No.1 on Kobo downloads in July 2019 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Working with the Ian Fleming Society, a pitch for the ‘00’ universe grew into a stand-alone adventure in the style of Lee Child and James Patterson. His Eva series: Get Lenin, Zinnman, A Finger of Night and Hollow Point have received rave reviews and solid sales on both Amazon and Kobo platforms. His final Eva adventure ‘Eagles Hunt Wolves’ is in the pipeline for release in early 2020. A former touring musician, he also regularly reviews CDs for Independent Irish Review Ireland. Robert is a member of the Irish Writer’s Union.
Rob will be pitching The Road of a Thousand Tigers
Suzy Aspley is Geordie living in Scotland with a dash of Danish. A former journalist, she lives in the Trossachs, west of Stirling, with her family including kids and assorted animals. Inspired by the landscape around her, she can often be found wandering in the forest with her dogs, conjuring up dark tales of murder and mystery. She also writes very short flash fiction and the occasional poem.
Suzy will be pitching: One for Sorrow
Twitter: @Miss_Suzannie
Elissa Soave is a Scottish writer whose work has appeared in Structo, Gutter, the Glasgow Review of Books, Open Pen, Literary Orphans, and others. Her story 'Blood' will appear in this year's New Writing Scotland (forthcoming September 2019). She has had stories selected for performance at Glasgow CCA and the Scottish Writers' New Writing Showcase, and another shortlisted for performance by Liars League London. She has also written two short plays, both of which have been performed by the Short Attention Span Theatre Group (@SASTSCOTLAND). She is currently on the shortlist for the Primadonna Prize (winner to be announced in December). Elissa's fiction is set in the domestic but often dangerous world of ordinary people. Her characters tend to be alienated, damaged, and often angry, but their perspective on the world and the way in which they deal with their problems will reassure readers of the resilience of the human spirit.
Elissa will be pitching How Will You Love Me?
Twitter: @elissa_soave
Dave Macdonald is a sociologist by training and has lived and worked in several African and Asian countries mainly as a drug demand reduction advisor. He spent five years in Afghanistan working for the UNODC and as an advisor to the Ministries of Counternarcotics and Public Health. Now he lives in Perthshire but escapes to India in the winter to escape the Scottish winter. Most of the year he spends his time writing and teaching Qigong. He has several non-fiction books, book chapters and journal articles, including Drugs in Afghanistan: Opium, Outlaws and Scorpion Tales, published by Pluto Press, London.
Dave will be pitching Elvis in Kabul: Killing Ground of the Creole King
Anne Hamilton is a creative writing tutor and freelance fiction editor. She has published life-writing and short stories – but this is her first foray into crime and suspense. She lives in Edinburgh with her young son.
Anne will be pitching The Baby In The Box
Twitter: @AnneHamilton7
David Smith is a lawyer and writer from Washington, DC. He spends more time in airports than is probably healthy but does not complain about the results of this practice. He was recently shortlisted for the 2019 CWA Debut Dagger.
David will be pitching The Last Bird
Twitter: @dcsmithwrites
Libby Cutts is a writer, a reader, a listener and, by day, a gardener. She fell into gardening from an English Literature with Creative Writing degree and has been wrangling the greenery around large historic houses for the last fourteen years of her working life, most recently in Derbyshire. She is currently pruning and training her life into a ladder she can use to climb further into writing.
Libby will be pitching The Mere
Cheralyn Wilcox (who writes under C J Willcox) was born in Bristol and grew up in Severn Beach which was known as the Blackpool of the south. She has always had a love of books and writing that was fuelled by her late father. She completed her law degree at Bristol University but decided the corporate world wasn’t for her, so embarked on other things which included being a foster carer. She now lives with her wife Kat, their four grown up children and a serious amount of animals on a farm in a little village on the edge of the Cotswolds. She and her family run the farm as a retirement home for horses and a small riding centre that specialises in working with special needs adults and children. She is about to start her final year training as a psychodynamic therapist and once qualified, she would like to bring together her therapy training with horses to help people who suffer with mental health problems.
Cheralyn will be pitching The Marble Man.
Twitter: @C_J_Willcox
Crime in the Spotlight-ers 2019 revealed!
We're thrilled to announce this year's 12 Crime in the Spotlight winners who will be supporting a number of events at Bloody Scotland by reading from their books before kick-off.
In order of time of performance we look forward to welcoming...
- Judith O’Reilly with David Baldacci, Fri 20th, 8.30pm (Reading from Killing State)
- Geraldine Hogan with Dr David Wilson, Sat 21st, 10am (Reading from Silent Night)
- Jackie McLean with Chris Brookmyre & Michael Robotham, Sat 21st, 11.45am (Reading from Shadows)
- Gordon Kerr with Alexander McCall Smith, Sat 21st 1.30pm (Reading from The Partisan Heart)
- Fiona Erskine with Denise Mina & Louise Welsh, Sat 21st 3.15pm (Reading from The Chemical Detective)
- Daniel James with Richard Osman, Sat 21st 5pm (Reading from The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas)
- Noelle Holten with Ian Rankin & Nicola Sturgeon, Sat 21st, 8pm (Reading from Dead Inside)
- Anne Pettigrew with Professor Angela Gallop, Sun 22nd, 11am (Reading from Not the Life Imagined)
- Neil Lancaster with Lin Anderson & Alex Gray, Sun 22nd, 12.45pm (Reading from Going Dark)
- Douglas Watt with Ambrose Parry and Nicci French, Sun 22nd, 2.30pm (Reading from The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite)
- Anna Sayburn Lane with Yrsa Sigurdardottir & Sally Magnusson, Sun 22nd, 4pm (Reading from Unlawful Things)
- Christine Laurenson with Stuart MacBride & Mark Billingham, Sun 22nd 5.30pm (Reading from Dark Business)
Nicola Sturgeon to join Ian Rankin at Bloody Scotland
You've been very patient while we've held on to this secret for a while but now we can reveal all: Bloody Scotland is delighted to reveal that the ‘special guest’ interviewing Ian Rankin on Saturday 21 September will be First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
A self-confessed crime fiction fan, the First Minister was last seen at the Harrogate Crime Festival singing backing vocals with the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers hot from their appearance at Glastonbury.
In case you didn't know: at the last count, Ian had sold some 30 million books that have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been bestsellers around the world. As a thrilling storyteller – Ian Rankin has few rivals.
The First Minister said:
“Ian Rankin is one of Scotland’s most celebrated crime writers, world-renowned for his page-turning thrillers - so it’s a real pleasure for me to interview him at the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival.
“Now in its eighth year, Bloody Scotland is attracting writers and audiences from around the world with its excellent programme - and I look forward to attending this year’s festival.”
Ian Rankin said:
“I’ve probably done hundreds of events during my time as an author but this is a first for me. I’ve no idea what the First Minister will ask or where our conversation will lead. I just know she’s one of the best-read politicians currently gracing the world stage - and she definitely knows her crime fiction!”
We can't wait to see what questions Nicola will have lined up for Ian! Sure to sell out, don't miss your chance to attend this once in a lifetime event.
Get your tickets now.
Sunday showing added to SOLD OUT You the Jury play
Due to phenomenal demand and the two Saturday showings of Douglas Skelton's YOU THE JURY play selling out, we're delighted to add a third showing on Sunday at 2pm.
A woman is found dead in her flat, a rope around her neck. Was it suicide – as her husband suggests – or murder? What’s it really like in a Scottish murder trial? Do lawyers cry out “Objection”? Does the judge strike a gavel to maintain order? Are there dramatic witness box confessions?
Find out in this reconstruction in a real court room, based on an actual case, with real-life lawyers, court staff and scientists playing their own parts.
And YOU could be on the jury!
The play is sponsored by the Faculty of Advocates and Gordon Jackson, QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said: “The Faculty of Advocates is proud to sponsor the opening gala at Bloody Scotland again this year, as well as collaborating with the forensic science and crime writing communities on a courtroom dramatisation. You The Jury will be both authentic and entertaining, and will give the audience a real insight into what goes on in a Scottish murder trial.”
Tickets for the Sunday showing are available now: https://bloodyscotlstg.wpenginepowered.com/event/you-the-jury-a-play-by-douglas-skelton/
Grab them before these sell out too!
Revealing the 2019 McIlvanney longlist and debut prize shortlist
It's that time of year again where we reveal the McIlvanney Prize longlist for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. We know that you skip all this pre-blurb to get straight to the juicy stuff so we won't hold you back.
THE 2019 MCILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST IS...
A Breath on Dying Embers, Denzil Meyrick (Polygon)
A Treachery of Spies, Manda Scott (Transworld)
All That’s Dead, Stuart MacBride (Harper Collins)
All the Hidden Truths, Claire Askew (Hodder)
Breakers, Doug Johnstone (Orenda)
Broken Ground, Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
Conviction, Denise Mina (Vintage)
Fallen Angel, Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
In a House of Lies, Ian Rankin (Orion)
In the Silence, M R Mackenzie (Bloodhound Books)
No Man’s Land, Neil Broadfoot (Little, Brown)
The Way of All Flesh, Ambrose Parry (Canongate) aka Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman
Thunder Bay, Douglas Skelton (Polygon)
Read more about the longlist titles here.
We also have a prize for best Scottish crime debut book this year for the first time and here's the shortlist...
THE 2019 MCILVANNEY DEBUT PRIZE SHORTLIST IS...
All the Hidden Truths, Claire Askew (Hodder)
Black Camp 21, Bill Jones (Polygon)
From the Shadows, G R Halliday (Vintage)
In the Silence, M R Mackenzie (Bloodhound)
The Peat Dead, Allan Martin (Thunderpoint)
Read more about the shortlist titles here.
The longlist and shortlist were chosen by an independent panel of readers and booksellers and the finalists for the McIlvanney Prize 2019 will be revealed at the beginning of September and selected by Alison Flood, books reporter for The Guardian; James Crawford, presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky; and Stuart Cosgrove, writer and broadcaster who was formerly a senior executive at Channel 4.
The debut prize will be judged by a panel from our own board including Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown and Abir Mukerjee. The debut shortlist makes up the debut panel at the festival on Saturday 21 September.
Congrats to all!
Announcing the 2019 Bloody Scotland Programme!
Hello, friends! It has been a while. We're so glad to be back and presenting you with the programme of 2019's Bloody Scotland.
Alexander McCall Smith
Alex Gray and Lin Anderson, interviewed by the BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth
Denise Mina and Louise Welsh
Nicci French and Ambrose Parry
Icelandic queen of crime Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Stuart MacBride
Mark Billingham and,
straight from our favourite game show Pointless, Richard Osman, who will be releasing his first crime novel The Thursday Murder Club next year.
Alice Vinten (police constable in the Metropolitan Police) appearing with Mim Skinner (who writes with insight into the experiences of women in prison), former prison governor Dr David Wilson and forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop (who explores her work on cases such as Damilola Taylor, Stephen Lawrence and Rachel Nickell) and so much more.We could go on or you could check out the full programme for yourself by clicking here.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.
Welcome the many faces you'll be seeing there!
Announcing Val McDermid & more...
Your quick update from Bloody Scotland:
LAUNCHING THE 2019 PROGRAMME ON 3RD JUNE
- In case you missed last week's announcement, we are so very pleased to be welcoming Val McDermid to star at our programme launch in Stirling on 3 June 2019 with an event in Stirling for her next, slightly different book, for which tickets are available RIGHT NOW! For just £5 you can see Val talk about how she has used distinctive settings across Scotland in her books, in her new photography book My Scotland. (1pm, 3rd June, Golden Lion Ballroom, Stirling) Organised book by book, My Scotland goes through McDermid’s titles and the places in which they are set. She will be on stage at the Golden Lion Ballroom with Alan McCredie (her teammate on BBC Radio 4 panel show “Round Britain”), whose photographs of Scotland illustrate it. Val is a bit of a national treasure and we are absolutely delighted that she can join us at the launch of Bloody Scotland particularly as she will be in New Zealand at the time of the festival itself.
>>> GET YOUR TICKETS NOW <<<
THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE
- Submissions for 2019's McIlvanney Prize closed recently and it was a record year for us with 82 entries, including 14 debuts in the running for the inaugural Debut Prize. We can also reveal the judges this year to be Stuart Cosgrove, Jamie Crawford and Alison Flood! (Read a little more about them here.) We'll reveal the longlist as soon as our readers have time to make their way through all 82 entries! A busy few weeks ahead...
ALEX GRAY'S NEW CRIMES
- On Saturday 21 September four new crime writers will be taking the stage in Stirling to be part of our co-founder Alex Gray's popular New Crimes panel. All she praises for ‘how well the stories stuck in my mind and, more importantly, the superb quality of writing’. In Alex's own words:
- Freefall by Jessica Barry (Harvill Secker) was just one of those thrillers that creates a lasting impression long after finishing the story, a crime debut by a writer previously known for romantic fiction. Quite a leap!
- Close to the Edge by Toby Faber (Muswell Press) kept me reading and I loved the setting and characters in equal measure
- Past Life by Dominic Nolan (Headline) combines Police Procedural with a harrowing account of one woman’s amnesia, not a tale for the faint-hearted and never falling into the trap of a predictable outcome but a book that grabs you and refuses to let go till the very end.
- The Rumour by Lesley Kara (Bantam Press) takes what might be considered a small thing, a mere rumour, and build it into a thrilling story. The Rumour might be compared to the recent BBC drama, The Victim, but its resemblance is pure coincidence, just showing the zeitgeist prevailing right now.Tickets for Alex Gray's New Crimes panel will be available from 3rd June.
Ajay Chowdhury wins Harvill Secker/Bloody Scotland BAME competition
We're delighted to reveal that tech founder Ajay Chowdhury has won the inaugural Harvill Secker and Bloody Scotland competition with Arvon to find a new crime writer from a BAME (black, Asian, minority ethnic) background with his detective-turned-waiter murder mystery.
Chowdhury’s debut novel will be published in 2020. Disgraced detective Kamil moves from Calcutta to London to start afresh as a waiter in a Brick Lane Indian restaurant but after catering a party for his boss’s friend, he becomes embroiled in an investigation with his boss’s daughter Anjoli when the host is found dead in his swimming pool.
The competition was judged by Bloody Scotland board member Abir Mukherjee, creator of the Shetland and Vera series Ann Cleeves and co-founder of BAME in Publishing, former Bookseller web editor and editor-at-large at Little Tiger Sarah Shaffi along with Harvill Secker editorial director Jade Chandler.
The prize will see Chowdhury have his debut published under the Harvill Secker imprint in a publishing deal with an advance of £5,000. Other perks include a panel appearance at the Bloody Scotland festival in 2019 and a series of three one-to-one mentoring sessions with Mukherjee. Arvon is offering the winner the chance to attend any one of their creative writing courses or writing retreats in 2019, with all expenses paid.
Chowdhury said: "As a teenager I devoured Holmes, Poirot and Inspector Ghote and never dreamed that I might one day have my own novel published, so it was a wonderful surprise to hear I’d won the Harvill Secker BAME crime writing competition. I was thrilled that the judges liked the character I created, because I had so much fun discovering him as I wrote.”
Congratulations, Ajay!
