McIlvanney Prize longlist 2021 announced!
Five years ago the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney. This year sees the publication of his final book, The Dark Remains which was completed with the help of Ian Rankin. In this special year, we're delighted to announce the longlist for the McIlvanney Prize for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The McIlvanney Prize recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, and includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.
With thanks to The Glencairn Glass, the World’s Favourite Whisky Glass and the Official Glass for Whisky for sponsoring the prize this year.
Watch as the Bloody Scotland team and board announce the longlist:
The Cut, Chris Brookmyre (Little,Brown)
The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
Before the Storm, Alex Gray (Little, Brown)
Dead Man’s Grave, Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins, HQ)
The Coffinmaker’s Garden, Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
Still Life, Val McDermid (Little,Brown)
Bad Debt, William McIntyre (Sandstone)
The Less Dead, Denise Mina (Vintage)
How To Survive Everything, Ewan Morrison (Saraband)
Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
The April Dead, Alan Parks (Canongate)
Hyde, Craig Russell (Constable)
Waking the Tiger, Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)
Congratulations to all!
The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by 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.
We have also revealed our Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2021.
You can find out more about each longlisted book here.
Bloody Scotland Book Club
In March, we launched our Bloody Scotland Book Club and we've been delighted with the response!
Our virtual book club hosts an exclusive discussion with a variety of journalists, bloggers, podcasters and booksellers each month. Our guests hand-pick a selection of crime novels, from exciting new works to old favourites, and invite you to tune in live. Our Facebook group also encourages all crime literature chat throughout the month.
Not on Facebook or can't tune in live? We've made a Youtube playlist where we'll be posting all the recordings from our live events. These events are virtual roundtables, and include exclusive readings from the authors to accompany our discussion.
Bloody Scotland presents Michael Connelly and Ian Rankin
On Monday the 16th of November at 7.30pm GMT, Bloody Scotland will be hosting an evening with Michael Connelly and Ian Rankin, which is on the opening night of Book Week Scotland!
Just like during the 2020 festival, the live event will be aired on bloodyscotland.com/watch.
One With The Glass
When Glencairn Crystal Studio asked if it was possible, as part of their sponsorship of both the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Book of the Year and the McIlvanney Prize for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year for a short story to be created the four shortlisted authors for the debut prize were approached. Along with Gordon Brown (Morgan Cry), author and one of the Bloody Scotland founding directors, the challenge to all five was simple – write a crime short story. After a quick Zoom meeting it was decided the best way to do this was for one writer, Marion, to kick off and once she had written a thousand or so words she passed it to Deborah and like a very slow relay race the baton was passed to Francine, Stephen and finally to Gordon. With a little spit and polish and the editorial help of Noor Sufi (Commissioning Editor of Crime & Thrillers at Hodder & Stoughton) and Laura Jones (Bloody Scotland board member and co-founder of award winning publishing house 404 Ink), One With the Glass was born. Sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with match funding from Culture & Business Fund Scotland - we hope you enjoy it.
Read the story on the website here or download via the buttons below.
Desert Island Crooks 2020 choices
In case you missed it and would like just a few more books to add to your to-be-read pile, here are the titles recommended by the Desert Island Crooks panel!
Chris Brookmyre
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Ruth Ware:
My Cousin Rachel by daphne Du Maurier
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Talented Mr Ripley or the Secret History
Harriet Tyce:
In A Lonely Place by Dorothy B Hughes
Endless Night by Agatha Christie
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Liz Nugent:
The Collector by John Fowles
The Book of Evidence by John Banville
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Read the exclusive first chapter of What Will Burn by James Oswald
We are very excited to be able to share with you, exclusively, the first chapter of James Oswald's much anticipated What Will Burn, coming in February 2021. If you're a keen bean, you can pre-order it right now!
She always knew she would die like this.
They come in the night, crashing through the undergrowth and pushing through the trees. They don’t use the path that meanders up the slope from the road; that would be too easy. Neither do they come in one band, but surround her cottage as if she might slip away round the back while they hammer on her door at the front. She could no more slip away than stand, but that makes no difference to them. A mob knows no reason, and this is most surely a mob.
She glances towards the unlit fire, the cat lying hopefully in front of it. ‘You should go. While you can. Find a safe home.’
It looks at her with wary eyes, ears cocked at the sound coming closer, ever closer. That stare is knowing, calculating. A moment’s hesitation, and then it rises, stretches, nods its head once, and disappears. She is relieved. Her time may have come, but the cat still has many lives left to live.
The sound of breaking glass comes a few minutes later. Stupid, really. The door wasn’t locked. Someone curses loudly as they climb in through the back window, and she catches a whiff of blood on the breeze before it is overwhelmed by the stench of men. Where before they were loud coming through the trees, now they are silent. Not stealthy, but not speaking either. She doesn’t know how many of them there are, although it feels like a multitude. Fit, strong, young. Angry. They swarm into her small room like cockroaches, start smashing things before they’ve even realised she is there waiting for them. Perhaps they thought she’d be in her bed.
She doesn’t resist when they grab her; that would only encourage them. And besides, she is old and weak. Utterly at the mercy they so obviously lack. Her passivity only angers them more. She thought she was prepared, but nothing really prepares you for this. She hasn’t many of her own teeth left now, but they knock them out anyway. Arthritis has swollen her knuckles, and the pain when they break her fingers makes her scream. With the sound, their bloodlust grows, their animal instincts taking over. Except that no animal would do what they are doing. Not to one of their own. She folds in under their savage fury.
‘Don’t kill her, boys. We need her still breathing.’
There’s a familiar edge to that voice, but she’s not sure whether she recognises it or simply the obedience it demands. She can taste blood in her mouth, feel the broken bones in her hands, her legs, the slide of fractured ribs that threaten with every breath to puncture a lung. It’s nearly over now, but there is one last thing to do before the end.
‘With my dying breath I curse thee.’
The words come out as a mixture of whisper and bloody gurgle. She had meant to look up at her killers, but she is too old, too weak, too broken. A rough hand grabs her hair, pulls her head back in a yanking motion that sends a bolt of pain down her spine.
‘You say something, old crone?’
He is very young, the one who holds her. Not much more than a boy. Shaven head, tank top straining to contain his gym and steroid muscles. There’s scarcely a spark of anything in his eyes, certainly not intelligence.
‘With my dying breath.’ She gasps in a lungful of pain. ‘I curse thee.’
‘Aye, well yer right about one thing.’
The hand releases its grip on her hair, throwing her back as it does so. To some unspoken order, the men step away. Something wet splashes her arm, and for a moment she thinks they’re pissing on her. Then it hits her face, soaks into her clothes. Fumes reach the bloody broken mess of her nose, and she realises it is something far worse than piss.
She barely has the strength left to lift her head. Petrol stings her eyes as she blinks to see the blurred figure standing in front of her. The leader. He has something in his hands, although she can’t see what it is. No need to see; she knows well enough.
‘With my dying breath …’ As she wheezes out the words, something flares in the man’s hand. She traces its passage as he flicks it towards her, a tiny flame on the end of a matchstick, tumbling over and over in impossibly slow motion.
She always knew she would die like this.
After all, she’s done it many times before.
Announcing our 2020 prize winners Francine Toon and Deborah Masson!
Congratulations to Deborah Masson for winning the Debut Prize with Hold Your Tongue!
The judges described Hold Your Tongue as:
‘A well written, fast paced and gritty thriller with a strong female protagonist, who will stop at nothing to find the killer.'
Congratulations to Francine Toon for winning the McIlvanney Prize with Pine!
The judges described Pine as:
‘An extraordinary novel which stood out because of the sheer quality of the writing and the dark brooding atmosphere of the remote rural Scottish village in which it is set. The book merges the supernatural with real crime in a very memorable way and brings an exciting new talent to Scottish crime writing.’
With thanks to The Glencairn Glass, the World’s Favourite Whisky Glass and the Official Glass for Whisky for sponsoring the prize this year, and to Culture & Business Fund Scotland who have generously matched the funding.
Kicking off Bloody Scotland 2020 online!
Due to incredible demand, we're able to make Bloody Scotland 2020 online available to watch for free on our website, all weekend!
Want to see Jeffery Deaver, Sue Black, Ann Cleeves, Peter May, Attica Locke, Linwood Barclay, Lawrence Block, Denise Mina, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Lee Child, S.A. Cosby, Katherine Ramsland, John Connolly and so many more in your living room? Now you can!
Just go to bloodyscotland.com/watch, sit back and relax! 
And here's the full programme at a glance:
Revealing the McIlvanney Prize 2020 shortlist!
Congratulations to Andrew James Greig, Doug Johnstone, Ambrose Parry and Francine Toon for making it to the 2020 McIlvanney Prize shortlist for Scottish Crime Book of the Year!
We'll be revealing the winner on Friday 18th September (you can view the announcement live by getting your tickets to the Friday's events here) but for now, let's learn a little more about our shortlist and what the judges had to say:
Whirligig by Andrew James Greig
Just outside a sleepy Highland town, a gamekeeper is found hanging lifeless from a tree. The local police investigate an apparent suicide, only to find he’s been snared as efficiently as the rabbit suspended beside him.
As the body count rises, the desperate hunt is on to find the murderer before any more people die. But the town doesn’t give up its secrets easily, and who makes the intricate clockwork mechanisms carved from bone and wood found at each crime?
The judges say: ‘ambitious, innovative concept and the most intricate modus operandi for killing the victims of any book this year...a real page turner’
A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone
Three generations of women from the Skelfs family take over the family funeral-home and PI businesses in the first book of a taut, page-turning and darkly funny new series.
Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators… When patriarch Jim dies, it’s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.
The judges say: ‘a brilliant idea, a heartwarming portrait of a family with three generations of women set in an undertakers. A confident, entertaining novel with dark humour, pace and energy.’
The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry
Edinburgh, 1850.
Despite being at the forefront of modern medicine, hordes of patients are dying all across the city, with doctors finding their remedies powerless. But it is not just the deaths that dismay the esteemed Dr James Simpson – a whispering campaign seeks to blame him for the death of a patient in suspicious circumstances.
Simpson’s protege Will Raven and former housemaid Sarah Fisher are determined to clear their patron’s name. But with Raven battling against the dark side of his own nature, and Sarah endeavouring to expand her own medical knowledge beyond what society deems acceptable for a woman, the pair struggle to understand the cause of the deaths.
Will and Sarah must unite and plunge into Edinburgh’s deadliest streets to clear Simpson’s name. But soon they discover that the true cause of these deaths has evaded suspicion purely because it is so unthinkable.
The judges say: The judges loved the ‘original setting in Victorian Edinburgh’ and praised the ‘fascinating medical research’ and the ‘implicit love affair building between the two main characters – the medically trained man, and the untrained women (who is clearly the smarter of the two).’
Pine by Francine Toon
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she’s gone.
In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren’s mother a decade ago. Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father’s turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it’s no longer clear who she can trust.
The judges say: ‘an impressive and atmospheric novel, with a portrait of remote rural Scotland, bringing in issues of school bullying, mental health and alcoholism. Very readable and engaging, It's also beautifully written.’
Announcing the 2020 Crime in the Spotlight lineup!
It's not Bloody Scotland without showcasing new crime writing talent in the Crime in the Spotlight slots and 2020 is no different, even online.
We welcome this year's spotlighters, who will be reading a little from their latest books ahead of some of our events this year.
With thanks to the Open University Scotland for sponsoring Crime in the Spotlight.
Please welcome...
Karen Hamilton
Karen will be reading from The Last Wife.
She will be supporting Jeffery Deaver at 8pm, Friday 18th September
Kate Simants
Kate will be reading from A Ruined Girl.
She will be supporting The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers at 9:25pm, Friday 18th September
Sam Lloyd
Sam will be reading from The Memory Wood.
He will be supporting Professor Dame Sue Black at 12pm, Saturday 19th September
Leela Soma
Leela will be reading from Murder at the Mela.
She will be supporting Ann Cleeves and Peter May at 1pm, Saturday 19th September
Helen Sedgwick
Helen will be reading from When the Dead Come Calling.
She will be supporting High Concept Thrills at 2pm, Saturday 19th September
Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
Dugald will be reading from The Lizard.
He will be supporting Five Continents of Crime at 3pm, Saturday 19th September
Stephanie Wrobel
Stephanie will be reading from The Recovery of Rose Gold.
She will be supporting As if Real Life Isn't Scary Enough at 4pm, Saturday 19th September
D. V. Bishop
D. V. will be reading from City of Vengeance.
He will be supporting Scene to Screen at 5pm, Saturday 19th September
Amer Anwar
Amer will be reading from Stone Cold Trouble.
He will be supporting Ian Rankin and Lawrence Block at 6pm, Saturday 19th September
Emma Christie
Emma will be reading from The Silent Daughter.
She will be supporting the Never-Ending Panel at 11am, Sunday 20th September
Chris McDonald
Chris will be reading from A Wash of Black.
He will be supporting Desert Island Crooks at 3pm, Sunday 20th September
AJ Park
AJ will be reading from The First Lie.
He will be supporting Keep Them Safe at 4pm, Sunday 20th September
Rosie Walker
Rosie will be reading from Secrets of a Serial Killer.
She will be supporting Katherine Ramsland at 5pm, Sunday 20th September
Jenny Quintana
Jenny will be reading from Our Dark Secret.
She will be supporting Step Back in Crime at 6pm, Sunday 20th September
Russ Thomas
Russ will be reading from Firewatching.
He will be supporting Val McDermid and Lee Child at 7pm, Sunday 20th September