Thursday 4 June 2009

B is for...

Bill Kirkton - Bill Kirkton is originally from Plymouth, but has lived in Aberdeen since 1968. He has had a varied career writing plays for stage and radio as well as novels. He's also been a university lecturer, actor, director andTV presenter. His police procedural series featuring DCI Jack Carston is set in a fictional town near Aberdeen.
"be prepared to be manipulated and have your moral compass reset by this master storyteller. This book is clever, tightly constructed, immensely satisfying and peopled with a cast of completely believable characters" Dumfries and Galloway Standard

Bill Knox
- Bill Knox was a crime reporter for a Glasgow newspaper. He began writing crime novels in the 1950s and wrote over 50 novels - many of them published under pseudonyms such as Michael Kirk, Robert MacLeod and Noah Webster. He wrote 24 novels featuring Glasgow detectives Thane and Moss between 1957 and 1997. After his death in 1999, Martin Edwards completed the 25th in the series - THE LAZARUS WIDOW. Knox also presented a true crime show on Scottish television, asking for the public's help in solving crimes.

"The expertise is interesting, the invention good and the writing literate and lively." The Sunday Times

Bill Liversidge - Bill Liversidge has published his crime thriller A HALF LIFE OF ONE on the internet. It's about a man who gets into serious financial difficulties. His creditors are chasing him, and his wife is considering leaving him, so he decides to kidnap a celebrity businesswoman as a means of solving his problems.
"
Events rush ahead at a furious pace in this energetic novel, carrying the reader along. Nick's bluster and self-delusion are realistically portrayed" Maxine Clarke, Eurocrime.

Bruce Durie - born in Kirkcaldy in Fife, Bruce Durie is a genealogist and historian
He has an interest in Victorian crime and recreated the books of J E P Muddock, who wrote stories about Dick Donovan, Glasgow Detective during the late 19th and early 20th century, (as well as Russian Secret Service agent Michael Danevitch, Vincent Trill of the Detective Service, private detective Tyler Tatlock and early forensic criminologist Fabian Field). Durie then created his own Victorian detective - war hero Captain David McArdle of the Black Watch. Supposedly the first in the series, THE MURDER OF YOUNG TOM MORRIS was set in St Andrews in the 1870s and is, apparently, taken from the writings of a Chief Constable of the time. It doesn't look to be available and I can't find any sign of a second!
"...prosaic, practical touch that notes detail and if some of the stories require a certain leap of faith, it simply adds to the fun." Scottish Review of Books

5 comments:

  1. How many letters in the Scottish alphabet? This could go on for weeks.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    “Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  2. Well, unless anyone can come up with Scottish crime writers whose first names begin with E, N, O, U, X, Y and Z, there are 19 letters in the Scottish alphabet :o)

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  3. You are like my address book, Donna, organised by first names. Can get confusing over the years as people acquire fellow addressees, I have found (eg when some child's schoolfriend has always been in as "Mohammed" under M, then they go off somwhere so you and the parents are in contact over logistics, do you file under M or H (if the mother is called Hepsibah)? That kind of thing.

    I actually dropped in to write something different but got distracted! Bill Liversidge has/has a very funny blog which has been silent for far too long He's just suddenly posted again, about the editing process, so I dropped him a comment about your blog and this listing. See http://pundyhouse.blogspot.com/2009/06/does-editing-work.html. A Half Life of One is a neat little chiller, I recommend it- will not take long to read as it is short.

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  4. Maxine - I have no idea why it seemed easier but it did! I will definitely look out for A Half Life Of One - thank you!

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  5. Hi Donna

    Interesting blog - looks like you've put a lot of hard work into this. Thanks for the mention - much appreciated.

    Good luck with your future posting.

    Bill Liversidge

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