We hope that you have been getting out and about and enjoying this distinctly un-Scottish weather that we’ve been having for the past couple of weeks. What a July it’s been!

This week we’ve been inspired to look at some of the exotic, far-away locations which some of our Bloody Scotland authors call home, from Spain to New York, the sunny South to the Emerald Isle…

This weather has been inspiring such great cheer, and what better way to keep it going well into September than by grabbing yourself a ticket for our Irish event Good Craic! Join us for a craic-filled event with Colin Bateman and Eoin Colfer. Fans of Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or the Artemis Fowl series will no doubt be familiar with Colfer – this is a great opportunity to hear about his foray into crime fiction. Bateman is an accomplished novelist and screenwriter, gaining accolades for his work on Murphy’s Law and Rebus TV series. This is shaping up to be a great event with some literary heavyweights!

Some of our authors can’t get enough of the Bloody Scotland audiences: not only is Quintin Jardine opening the festival on Friday 13 September, he will also be appearing alongside Jason Webster for our Foreign Bodies event. This event focuses on crime fiction set or written abroad. How much does location affect writing? Quintin (a Scot living in Spain) and Anglo-American Webster will be offering their insight into writing from foreign spaces.

We have a number of friends from the South visiting this year. We are especially excited about Thrilling Tales and Psychological Twists which will welcome Zoë Sharp and Julia Crouch to the MacLaren Suite. Both authors are adept at creating complex characters in their fiction and know how to shock their readers with twists in the tale. Come to hear the secrets behind the characters in their thrilling fiction.