Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 4

G J Moffat - FALLOUT
Publisher: Hachette Books Scotland
Date: April 2010
From Amazon: 'Logan Finch has made a new life for himself with his daughter Ellie. But a blossoming relationship with DC Rebecca Irvine is about to be put to the test when Irvine's old flame, drug-addicted rock star Roddy Hale, enters her life again. And there's a small matter of a professional killer following her every move. Alex Cahill, close-protection operative and ex-US army special-forces soldier, hates babysitting celebrities. Maybe this time will be different. Kara Priest is a Scots girl about to break into Hollywood and is back in Scotland for the premiere of a low-budget film as a favour for a friend. She is the target of a disturbed stalker and needs Cahill and his team to watch her back. As the clouds roll in to blanket the sky at the end of an Indian summer, violence erupts all round, putting everyone at risk. For Logan, there are impossible choices to be made: between his best friend and the woman he loves. Between who lives and who dies.' I still haven't read the first one, but this looks good.

Craig Robertson - RANDOM
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Date: April 2010
A debut novel. This from the publisher: 'Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the police baffled. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the killings; no kind of pattern or motive; an entirely different method of murder each time, and nothing that connects the victims except for the fact that the little fingers of their right hands have been severed. If DS Rachel Narey could only work out the key to the seemingly random murders, how and why the killer selects his victims, she would be well on her way to catching him. But as the police, the press and a threatening figure from Glasgow's underworld begin to close in on The Cutter, his carefully-laid plans threaten to unravel - with horrifying consequences.'

Manda Scott - THE FIRE OF ROME
Publisher: Bantam Press Date:
January 2010
From the Random House website: 'AD 34: Sebastos Pantera is twelve. Training for the time when he too will be a soldier of Rome, he follows his father to a garden tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem where he watches him greet two men and a heavily pregnant woman. In a moment that changes his life forever, he sees a wounded revolutionary being brought out of the tomb alive . . .Twenty years later, Pantera returns from five years undercover in Britannia as assassin and spy for the Legions. He is sick of spying, but a deadly combination of old loyalties and a sense of unfinished business combine to lure him homeward to the city of Rome where, his former mentor and spymaster, the Machiavellian Seneca the Younger, charges him with rooting out the revolutionaries responsible for the city’s seething unrest. Pantera discovers that the main troublemaker is none other than his closest friend, Saulos, a recent convert to the new religion of Christianity, and Saulos is planning the biggest single act of terrorism the Roman Empire has known. Spying, forbidden secrets, an ancient manuscript and an apocalyptic fire combine in a gripping thriller that will change the way we think about the ancient world.'

Alexander McCall Smith - THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
Publisher: Little Brown Date:
March 2010
Eleventh in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. From Amazon uk 'Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are called to a safari lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest. The Okavango makes Precious appreciate once again the beauty of her homeland: it is a paradise of teeming wildlife, majestic grasslands and sparkling water. However, it is also home to rival safari operators, fearsome crocodiles and disgruntled hippopotamuses. What's more, Mma Makutsi still does not have a date for her wedding to Phuti Radiphuti and is feeling rather tetchy herself. But Precious knows that with a little patience, just as the wide river will gently make its way round any obstacle, so will everything work out for the best in the end ...'

Aline Templeton - THE ROAD TO NOWHERE
Publisher: Hodder
Date: May 2010
From Hodder's catalogue: 'A young woman has been wrongly accused of murder - or is she devious and deadly? When a landslide crushes the cottage she has been living in, she becomes engulfed in events she struggles to understand, and DI Marjorie Fleming herself is drawn into a nightmare of danger and death.'

Peter Turnbull - DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Publisher: Severn House
Date: April 2010
The nineteenth in the Hennessy and Yellich police procedural series and another one I can't find anything about other than that.

Louise Welsh - NAMING THE BONES
Publisher: Canongate Books
Date: March 2010
From Amazon 'Some secrets are best left buried - Knee-deep in the mud of an ancient burial ground, a winter storm raging around him, and at least one person intent on his death: how did Murray Watson end up here? His quiet life in university libraries researching the lives of writers seems a world away, and yet it is because of the mysterious writer, Archie Lunan, dead for thirty years, that Murray now finds himself scrabbling in the dirt on the remote island of Lismore. Loaded with Welsh's trademark wit, insight and gothic charisma, this adventure novel weaves the lives of Murray and Archie together in a tale of literature, obsession and dark magic.'

Internationally Flavoured Sunday Summary

Posh people can be neds too.

More on the Mma Ramotswe Cookbook.

Un orage dans une tasse de thé? And, continuing the European theme, I think this article about the filming of Craig Russell's book BROTHERS GRIMM - or Wolfsfährte in German - says that Craig Russell leaves his corpses in Hamburg. Or maybe not. My German is slightly rusty.

David Ashton has written a screenplay about Shah Jahan, which is being filmed with Ben Kingsley.

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh visits an Edinburgh project which helps to get people off drink and drugs.

Guest Blogger - My Dad

Since I am busy this weekend, I am handing over today's blog post to my Dad. It all started when he rang me up last week (not like him, as my regular reader will know - it's usually "Hello Dad," "I'll pass you over to your mother.") Anyway, this is how the conversation went.

"Donna, I'm reading a book by Charles Cumming."

Now, all well and good, but somehow, underneath the seemingly innocuous words, I could hear an accusatory tone. "Are you, Dad?" I said.

"Yes, I am." Again, the slightly clipped and accusing tone.

"And...errrrr...is it good?"

"He was born in Scotland, you know." Ah, here it was.

"Oh, was he?"

"Yes, but he's not on your list of Scottish authors." I could actually hear the italics.

"Oh dear, I'd better sort that out then, hadn't I, Dad?"

"Yes." That word conveyed so much. That's all he said but what he meant was "Yes, young lady, because right now you are, most definitely, the world's worst blogger of Scottish crime fiction. I am convinced the stork dropped you on your head from a great height."

"Then you can write me a review, right?"

"Yes." That one was chock full of smugness.

"So, how would you like to do a guest blog for me?"

"What about?"

"Anything you like?"

"Really?"

OK, so that was a mistake. "Well, no, within limits."

"Maps?"

"No, Dad. Stuff you read."

"I read maps."

Sometimes it's tough, dear reader. "OK Dad, point taken. But I was thinking more books and things."

"I'll have a think about it. I probably won't do it. But I'll have a think. Not promising anything, mind."

"And remember, pater, it can't all be about Lord Of The Rings."

"Pearls before swine" said my Dad, before the phone was slammed down.

Ten minutes later, this appeared in my inbox. Obviously, I have been forgiven. Although, given the amount of digs...maybe not. It was accompanied by a little note that said "Please do not take anything out." As in "Please leave in the bits where I have been horrible to my only daughter."


That lazy little blogger's been at it again. She phones to say "Dad will you write something for my blog." I think she must have a mental block, or maybe just mental.

She disturbs me as I was reading a novel by Caro Ramsay. there were no Elves, Orcs or damn great Spiders, only that DCI Quinn who seems a bit of an ogress. When I asked what I was to write about she suggested one or two things which at the time did not appeal, and said to write about anything.

My liking for books covers many subjects and authors, spy novels, mystery stories and general fiction, books that grip my imagination from the beginning or tell of social issues. In the past I have read Hemingway, Dickens, Steinbeck, Robert Ludlum and Colin Forbes. My bookcase has a book by Donna Moore, plus others by authors you may actually have heard of, such as a complete set by Stephen Booth.*

Yes,the book I am reading at the moment is by Caro Ramsay. SINGING TO THE DEAD. I have only got to page 218 so I will probably give the verdict at a later date. This is the second one by this author that I have managed to obtain from our local library, the first one I enjoyed a few weeks ago. The library I speak of is part of Cambridgeshire Libraries and has a good selection of both fiction and non fiction with a section for crime novels which are mostly paperback, some of those authors I even know or have met.**

I think that all habits form when one is young, such as reading habits, I try to read books by an author in sequence, a habit formed many years ago when I read books by W E Johns. I think as a lad with scabbed knees I read most of his books, along with the Beano, Dandy and Eagle comics.There was no television in those days, just the radio and reading to pass the time, if we heard a doodlebug pass over, and we heard a bang it was OK to carry on reading. When Donna was smaller (yes she was smaller***) I would tell her stories, usually Enid Blyton or fairy stories that I could remember, she was quite happy if I had forgotten and made it up as I went along.

So much for trying to think of something to write, now that bit that Winnie the Pooh had a little of, is beginning to hurt, so goodnight till it be the morrow (with apologies to Bill Shakespeare).

* I shall ignore the slight and just mention that the set of Stephen Booth books actually belongs to my Mum, if we're being picky here.

** My Mum and Dad both loved their visit to Crimefest in Bristol earlier this year. They were so thrilled that 'proper authors' (as in, 'not our Donna') actually took the time to chat to them.

*** Everyone's a critic. I AM BIG BONED, ok?

Bad Sex and Nymphomaniac Nuns

Alex Gray's play about domestic abuse, IN MEMORIAM, staged at Paisley's Outrage Conference.

The Australian Independent Weekly calls Philip Kerr's IF THE DEAD RISE NOT 'hypnotic'. And, talking of Philip Kerr, more on the Literary Review's bad sex award (at the bottom, right after the piece on how easy it is to abscond from an open prison (really? I'm shocked)),

A pretty good showing from Scotland in Amazon.uk's best of 2009 list.

The serial novel - apparently, Alexander McCall Smith was 'put up to it' by Armistead Maupin. And finally, on the topic of Alexander McCall Smith, apparently he is being stalked by a man who's written a book called 'When The Beer Runs Out', about a man stranded on a ship crewed by nymphomaniac nuns. I just have one question - why is the guy worried about beer? Sorry, it's from the Mail Online and there's two thirds of a page of rubbish to wade through before you get to this bit.

Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 3

Stuart MacBride - DARK BLOOD
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date: April 2010
6th in the Aberdeen set police procedural series featuring Logan McRae. From Harper Collins' website: 'Martin Knox has served his time, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he’s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He’s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police – the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years – supposedly here to ‘keep an eye on things’.Only things are about to go very, very wrong.Edinburgh gangster Malk the Knife wants a slice of the development boom Donald Trump’s golf course is bringing to the Granite City, whether local crime lord Wee Hamish Mowat likes it or not. Three heavies from Newcastle want a ‘quiet word’ with DSI Danby about a missing mob accountant. And Martin Knox’s dark past isn’t done with him yet…'

Charles Maclean - NIGHT
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Date: February 2010
A psychological suspense thriller apparently. And that's all I can find out about it- sorry.

Shona Maclean - A GAME OF SORROWS
Publisher: Quercus
Date: March 2010
From Amazon's website: 'It is 1628, and Seaton's happily settled life as a university teacher in Aberdeen is shattered by the arrival in town of a stranger carrying a plea for help from his dead mother's family in Ireland. The family has been placed under a poet's curse, elements of which have begun to come true. Reluctantly answering the call, Alexander travels to Ulster, to find himself among a family riven by secrets and long-standing resentments. In the course of seeking out the author of the curse, Alexander becomes increasingly entangled with both sides in the conflict - fugitive priests, displaced poets, rebellious plotters and agents of the king. His life and liberty are threatened as he is confronted with murder within his own family, and he finds the lines between superstition and faith, duty and loyalty blurred to the extent that he begins to question his own identity, and is forced to face up to the destructive power of love.'

Ken McClure - A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Eighth in the series featuring Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate. From Amazon: 'John Motram, a cell biologist at Newcastle University firmly believes that Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague but by an unknown virus. He is excited when Oxford University tell him that they have come into possession of information suggesting there might be preserved bodies of victims from the time of Black Death hidden under Dryburgh Abbey. Motram sees this as an opportunity to settle the argument once and for all. An excavation is mounted but comes to a disastrous end when Motram apparently loses his mind after entering the secret tomb. Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate is sent to investigate fearing that a new killer virus has been let loose.'

Pat McIntosh - A PIG OF COLD POISON
Publisher: Soho Constable
Date: July 2010
Seventh in the series set in medieval Glasgow, featuring the Archbishop's investigator, Gil Cunningham. From BooksFromScotland.com: 'Danny Gibson and Nanty Bothwell, rivals for the affections of Agnes Renfrew, the apothecary's pretty daughter, are also good friends. When they both take part in the festive play at the house of Gil's sister Kate, it ends in Danny's death, apparently by poison from his friend's flask. But was it deliberate?'

Shirley McKay - LINES OF INQUIRY
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Second in the Hew Cullan series set in late 16th century St Andrews. From the Fantastic Fiction website: 'The year is 1581, and the young St Andrews academic Hew Cullan is unhappy with his life and disillusioned with the law. After his father's death, he is invited by the advocate Richard Cunningham to complete his legal education in Edinburgh as Richard's pupil at the bar. Hew resists, but, later, as he looks through his father's things, he finds a manuscript entitled 'In Defence of the Law'.With it is the promise of publication from the Edinburgh printer, Christian Hall. Hew resolves to deliver the manuscript, and takes up Richard's offer. He is surprised to find Christian Hall is a young widow, the mother of a small child. Hew is attracted to Christian, but as they grow close it becomes apparent that the relationship is fraught with danger. Christian is under attack, culminating in the brutal killing of her nursemaid and the disappearance of her child. As Hew begins a frantic bid to find Christian's son, he suspects links with the murder of a young girl in St Andrews. The truth lies much closer to home.'

Good Reviews, Bad Reviews

Gravetapping with a most excellent review of Allan Guthrie's SLAMMER, calling it "a fine example of the new noir".

And the Glasgow Herald pronounces Helen Fitzgerald "a writer to be reckoned with" in a review of the marvellous BLOODY WOMEN.

Sam Marlowe at the Times Online reviews the latest play by Glenn Chandler, creator of Taggart, and really doesn't like it very much.

And finally, he's not Scottish, and he's probably never even eaten a deep fried Mars Bar, but, dear reader (I know that's just you, pater) do yourself a favour and go and check out Colin Cotterill over at the International Crime Authors blog. He's a very, very funny man.

Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 2

Following on from my earlier post here are the next seven Scottish crime fiction books due out in 2010.

Alex Gray - FIVE WAYS TO KILL A MAN
Publisher: Sphere
Date: May 2010
Seventh in the Glasgow set police procedural series. From Amazon: 'As DCI Lorimer sees in the New Year, an unpredictable killer is loose on the streets of Glasgow . Hood up, suddenly appearing out of the shadows, this dark figure is experimenting with murder, again and again. Faced with a string of seemingly unconnected victims, and picking up the case of a horrific fire that murdered a wealthy couple, Lorimer turns to psychologist and friend Solly Brightman for his insights. As the killer comes to closer to Lorimer himself and his family, can he unmask the serial murderer before the next victim is found too close to home?'

Allan Guthrie - BYE BYE BABY
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Date: July 2010
According to the lovely Mr Guthrie this is 'a detective novella (loosely based on the short story in SHATTERED) about the disappearance of a young boy, in which the investigating officers find out that nothing is quite what it seems...' Since that story was one of my favourites from SHATTERED, I am most chuffed to hear this.

Gerald Hammond - SILENT INTRUDER
Publisher: Severn House
Date: February 2010
From BooksFromScotland.com: 'When Michael McGinnis and Hilda Gilmour return from holiday to find two plain clothes police officers waiting for them it marks the start of a terrifying journey. The police have had an anonymous tip-off about child pornography being stored on Michael's computer. It's easy to prove his innocence but who would do such a thing?'

Quintin Jardine - BLOOD RED
Publisher: Headline
Date: January 2010
From Amazon (although I have deleted some bits because I think it spoils previous books from the look of it): 'Primavera is enjoying the quiet life in an idyllic village on the Catalan coast of Spain. ... But her close friendship with the parish priest has eyebrows rising and tongues wagging. Then a dispute explodes with a powerful councillor who refuses to allow the village wine fair to go ahead. When his body is found, head caved in, some ominous questions are asked...'

Alanna Knight - QUEST FOR A KILLER
Publisher: Allison and Busby
Date: January 2010
Sixth in the Rose McQuinn series set in Victorian Edinburgh. From the Books From Scotland website: 'It's 1899 and strange things are happening in Edinburgh. The arrival of a circus, seems to set in train a terrible series of events: the death of a clerk during a bank robbery and the suicides of two girls within mere hours of one another. Could the deaths be related?'

Peter May - FREEZE FRAME

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date: May 2010
Fourth in the Enzo Files series, which features half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo Macleod, a former forensic scientist who now lives in France and works as a university professor in Toulouse. From the Fantastic Fiction site: 'A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder--but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.'

Peter May - VIRTUALLY DEAD

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date: January 2010
From the Fantastic Fiction site: 'Crime-scene photographer Michael Kapinsky is a man whose first life is in a mess. But his second life is about to get a whole lot messier. Staggering under the financial burden left by his recently deceased wife, Michael struggles to come to terms with her death - until his psychologist persuades him to enter a virtual world called Second Life to participate in a new kind of group therapy. Once there, his persona, Chas Chesnokov, discovers that victims whose crime scenes Michael has attended in the wealthy Southern California resort of Newport Beach have had their avatars clinically executed in the virtual world. Co-opted into the Twist of Fate Detective Agency, Chas embarks on an investigation with an exotic dancer and escort girl. They uncover a series of killings and a financial scam that is netting the murderer millions of dollars. And when Michael is tempted by money that mysteriously appears in Chas's Second Life account, both his real and his virtual lives are in danger.'

Deep Frying The Evidence

Digital pirates now moving in to the high seas of the book world.

A report on the Genomics Forum's forensic science and crime fiction event with Lin Anderson and Ian Rankin. And one on The Edinburgh Bookshop's event with Aly Monroe.

Taggart v Rebus on Friday night's Children In Need. "I'll keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't deep fry the evidence." Good stuff.

Scotland's most prestigious book award shunning crime fiction writers?

Val McDermid in the Irish Independent, talking about that spat, crime writing, and football.

Irvine Welsh backs minimum alcohol pricing.

And, finally, this is the reason I don't write sex scenes (plus, my Mum would never speak to me again.) Serendipitously, a reminder in an interesting column in the Sunday Independent by D J Taylor that Scottish crime fiction author Philip Kerr won the award in 1995 for a passage in his science fiction novel GRIDIRON and slagged off the judges in his acceptance speech (I particularly like the reaction of the Frenchwoman to Philip Hook's telling her that he had won the Bad Sex Award).

Allan Guthrie Says I'm Crap

Well, not really of course, but I liked the idea...

A short post today as I am not home this weekend. (And I've just had a cab ride with the world's scariest taxi-driver). So just a few links this evening. More on Sunday.

In a fascinating and funny interview over at Hardboiled Wonderland, "If it's not Scottish, it's crap," says Allan Guthrie (who are you calling crap, Al?)

Crimeficreader reviews M C Beaton's latest Agatha Raisin, THERE GOES THE BRIDE.

The LA Times with an in depth article on Alexander McCall Smith's Macbeth opera-with-baboons.

A rather tepid review of Ian Rankin's DARK ENTRIES comic (still looks good to me though). And author Peter Robinson talks about doing an event with Ian Rankin.

Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 1

I have spent a wee while going through my list of 'Scottish' authors over to the right (and you'll note the inverted commas, since I have sometimes stretched the definition of Scottish to within a nanomillimeter of snapping). By my reckoning, twenty-three of them have books coming out next year. How brilliant is that? I have not included new paperbacks where the hardback is already published.

Over the next week or so I will post a little bit about each of the books. Here are the first six authors. I shall be posting them in alphabetical order, so if anyone spots I have missed any out, please let me know.

Kate Atkinson - STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG
Publisher: Doubleday
Date: June 2010
The title, if I am not mistaken, is from an Emily Dickinson poem. The book is the fourth novel in the bestselling sequence that started with CASE HISTORIES, and featuring former detective Jackson Brodie. Other than that, I can find absolutely nothing about it.

M C Beaton - DEATH OF A VALENTINE
Publisher: Constable and Robinson
Date: January 2010
From Constable and Robinson's website: 'Amazing news is spreading like wildfire across the Scottish countryside: the most famous of all Highland bachelors, police sergeant Hamish Macbeth, is planning to marry at last! Everyone in the village of Lochdubh adores Josie McSween, Hamish's newest constable and blushing bride-to-be. While locals think she is quite a catch, Hamish has a severe case of pre-nuptial jitters...after all, if it wasn't for the recent murder of a beautiful woman in a neighbouring village there wouldn't be a wedding in the first place. For it was a mysterious Valentine's Day card - delivered to the victim before her death - which initially drew Hamish and Josie together in the investigation. And now, as they work side by side, they soon discover that the woman's list of admirers was endless - confirming Hamish's suspicion that love can be deaf, blind ...and deadly.'

Sean Black - LOCK UP
Publisher: Bantam
Date: July 2010
From the author's website: 'The job facing Ryan Lock and his partner Ty Johnson should be straightforward enough: keeping one man alive for one week. But when that man is an inmate serving life without possibility of parole at Pelican Bay Supermax prison, who's about to testify against the leaders of America's most violent prison gang, Lock finds himself plunged into a deadly world where nothing is at it seems...'

Tony Black - LOSS
Publisher: Preface
Date: January 2010
From Random House website: 'Gus Dury is a changed man. He is off the Edinburgh streets and back with estranged wife, Debs. He has promised her that he won't get involved in any more dodgy cases which the police can't or won't solve. And above all, he's off the drink. In his pocket at all times is a half bottle of scotch, but although the label is worn to shreds, he has never so much as loosened the cap. Then his brother Michael is found dead with a bullet in his heart and Gus' life begins to unravel all over again. How can he keep the promises he has made and still avenge his brother's murder? Loss, Tony Black's third novel about washed-up hack turned private investigator Gus Dury, is absolutely gripping - a labyrinth of violence, secrets and emotion. This is a true rollercoaster of a read.' Ooooooh - how wonderful. I'm really looking forward to this one Gus Dury is a fantastic character.

Karen Campbell - FADE TO GREY or possibly SHADOWPLAY
Publisher: Hodder
Date: June 2010
When researching this one, it appears to be referred to under different titles in different places. This is the third in the series featuring Glasgow policewoman Anna Cameron. From Amazon: 'You are a police officer. This is what you do. You speak for the dead, and the desperate living. When Anna Cameron is promoted to Chief Inspector and moved to a new division, it should be a turning point for her. But if she thought having a female boss would make things easier, she'd reckoned without the fearsome 'JC' Hamilton. Then her mother goes into a coma in a foreign country and an old woman disappears from a Glasgow care home under suspicious circumstances, and Anna's career and personal life both threaten to implode. The gang-related murder of a young Asian boy and an assault on one of her officers only serve to turn the screws tighter - can Anna be both a good cop and a good person?' This is another one that I'm really looking forward to after reading her first book earlier this year.

Chris Ewan - THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO LAS VEGAS
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date: April 2010
Isn't 2010 looking brilliant? Needless to say, this one's a must for me. From Amazon: 'During a brief trip to Vegas, Charlie Howard - mystery writer and professional thief - is nonplussed to find his agent, Victoria, being charmed by a stage illusionist at a high stakes roulette table. It doesn't help that the illusionist, Josh Masters, has invited Victoria to his sell-out show, nor that he seems to be doing very well at roulette. Still, Charlie's not one to hold a grudge, least of all when he could be holding Masters' wallet. Breaking into the conjurer's hotel room and making off with a pile of casino chips would seem to be adequate compensation. Matters are complicated however when Charlie discovers the trussed-up corpse of Masters' beautiful assistant lying in the bath. When Masters disappears and Charlie is caught with his stolen haul of high denomination chips, his problems have only just begun. Ordered to reimburse the casino for every dollar Masters made off with, it seems to Charlie there's only one way out: break into as many hotel rooms as he can, steal as much as he is able to, and just hope that Victoria can summon lady luck to the gaming table of her choice.' Excellent. Can't wait (although I guess I will have to).

Helen FitzGerald - HOT FLUSH
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Date: Autumn 2010

Part of Barrington Stoke's 'Most Wanted' series for adult reluctant readers (they also published Allan Guthrie's KILL CLOCK and Stuart MacBride's SAWBONES. From Helen's website: 'Menopausal Probation Officer Eileen has never taken any risks. Unlike her car thieving client, Jim, she's boring and inconsequential. Boring, that is, until a hot flush induced epiphany causes her to steal a pair of jeans at lunch time, spiralling her into the world of her client. A world that is a lot more fun.' Oh, doesn't that sound brilliant? My cup runneth over.

Helen FitzGerald - AMELIA O'DONOHUE IS SO NOT A VIRGIN
Publisher: Source Books
Date: Autumn 2010
Teen fiction, and only loosely crime fiction. From the PR company: 'What do you do if you find a new-born baby in the cupboard in the school sick bay? Does it belong to one of the other students, or could it be one of the nuns? Some pretty funny things happen under those habits...Helen FitzGerald's first Young Adult novel tackles sex, lies and disguised pregnancy head-on in a fast, funny and scary ride through late adolescence.'

R Is For...

It's been a long time since I've done an alphabet post, so time to pick them up again. OK, and there's one Q too...

Quintin Jardine - Jardine is the author of the Skinner series (in which there are currently 18 books with a 19th on the way) featuring Edinburgh policeman Bob Skinner, and the Blackstone series (9 books in that one) featuring movie actor/private enquiry agent Oz Blackstone. There's also a book featuring Oz' wife Primavera. "This gritty, fast-paced mystery will pin even the most squeamish reader to the page" - Publishers Weekly (about Thursday Legends).

Ray Banks - Ray Banks has been on my "wow, this writer is excellent" list since I read his first book THE BIG BLIND a few years ago. A great first novel about a man who makes some bad decisions. Following on from that he has published four books in the Manchester based Cal Innes series - each of them is better than the last. Cal is a sort of PI, a man usually in great turmoil and with many flaws, but great heart. Fierce, harsh, stylish and great wit and humour, despite the darkness. If a series could be classed as noir (which, by my definition of noir, it can't) this one would be the one. "Banks is part of the post-Rankin generation for whom hardboiled is not just a state of mind but a reality. Tough-guy colloquial prose and a pace fast enough to skin a rabbit, at the service of a tale of down-and-dirty realism: this is fiery stuff." - The Guardian.

Reg McKay - Primarily a writer of true crime (some in collaboration with various Glasgow gangsters...sorry, EX-gangsters, tales of gangland bosses, killers and...errrr...footballers, Reg McKay also wrote two novels. One of his novels, DANCING WITH DEATH, is a fictionalised account of Glasgow's most notorious serial killer, Bible John. Sadly, Reg McKay died of cancer last month."Villains is another success for this writing team and I recommend it to fellow readers who lap up these racy, psychology-free, true crime confessions." - Books From Scotland

Robert Louis Stevenson - no explanation necessary, methinks.

Ross Robertson - Ross Robertson's debut novel A YEARNING FOR JACOB'S SON is a political thriller set in Scotland and involving "high-powered leaders of industry, a Washington based private equity firm, the Security Services, the aristocracy and an ancient Masonic brotherhood." Sorry - I can't find any reviews for this one.

Russel D McLean - Dundee PI McNee features in Russel's two books - THE GOOD SON and THE LOST SISTER. The writing is atmospheric, sparse and tight, whilst losing nothing of character development or plotting. McNee is a fascinating character, and the plots are gripping, original and dark, but shot through with a mordant Scottish humour. Wonderful stuff. "THE GOOD SON is the most exciting, and gripping, Scottish crime fiction debut of recent years. Stylish and atmospheric, it marks the arrival of a exceptional talent." John Connolly

Reviews By MPs and Innocent Bystanders

Innocent Bystander reviews Chris Ewan's GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM calling it "a refreshing burst of fresh air." And it is, indeed.

Labour MEP Mary Honeyball says that Ian Rankin's THE COMPLAINTS is "an absolute must of a book", while the Toronto Star has an interesting article comparing Fox to Rebus.

The Scotsman reports on the Lennoxlove Book Festival.

The Hindu looks at Arthur Conan Doyle's real life inspirations. Whilst Warner Brothers and VisitBritain join forces to to "invite tourists to discover Sherlock Holmes' Britain - Past and Present." Although I'm not sure Sherlock Holmes ever stayed at a Radisson.

Some Well-Deserved Good Words

A rather spiffing review of Helen FitzGerald's BLOODY WOMEN which says, in part "So this novel has it all – thriller, drama, whodunit, comedy, great characters and good humour."

And Brian over at BSC Review reviews Allan Guthrie's SLAMMER, saying "When we speak of those on the forefront of dark fiction; those whose work scares people at a fundamental level; and those whose work we are hard pressed to try to define and pigeon hole, but can’t, Guthrie’s name is near the top of the list, and Slammer proves why." Niiiiiiiiiiiice.

And more reviews - Alexander McCall Smith's THE LOST ART OF GRATITUDE in the Winston-Salem Journal and Iain Banks TRANSITION at Cultural Pilgrim.

In other news - Tony Black - one of my favourite authors - on one of his big influences, (another favourite of mine) Ken Bruen over at the always excellent blog of Paul Brazill. "It wasn't, for me, the story, - not the story alone, anyway - but the sheer power of the writing. It was like being engulfed by a tsunami of talent - a writer with so many skills that the pages, every one of them, contained moments of breathtaking beauty, flights of linguistic gymnastics and...real heart." Totally agree Tony old fruit.

Ian Rankin chooses his 'best books'.

Russel McLean and GJ Moffatt in pictures.

Dodgy Tummies and Saucy Slippers

Well, what a lovely weekend. First of all Friday spent with the gorgeous (on all levels) Christa Faust. The day included a bus tour on an open-topped bus (Glasgow, November - need I say more?), a trip to Glasgow's wonderful Necropolis, the weirdest and least scary horror exhibition in the world (I am probably the only person who has ever screamed there, and that's only because Christa came up behind me when I wasn't expecting it). The scariest thing about it was that it was located in a street the taxi driver didn't want to go down - we practically had to jump out of the taxi while he was still driving.

And I really wasn't trying to get my own back on Christa for making me walk 40 miles in Indianapolis in high heels. There was also an evening of good friends (big hugs to Christa, Charles, Kieran and Ewan), great chat, and good food.

Christa, sadly, was not able to appreciate the food as she was feeling slightly dodgy following a vegetarian meal the night before with the World's Most Dangerous Vegetarian, Allan Guthrie.

I always knew lettuce was bad for you. Christa should have stuck to deep fried pizza and haggis. As the pharmacist said when we went into Boots The Chemist to get her some medicine "Remember, Edinburgh made you sick, Glasgow made you better." Ah, Scotland's east/west rivalry is a marvellous thing.

Christa was a real trouper. She was great company and great fun despite feeling really rough.

And Christa knows me too well. This was her gift to me. Delicious.

Then last night we went to see the film Up which was wonderful. Funny, touching and totally delightful.

And now, a wee round up of some Scottish crime fiction news.

First of all, the Telegraph rounds up the 100 books which have defined the noughties (for better or worse), including a fair smattering of crime fiction and a couple of Scots.

Sherlock Holmes movie blog launched.

A review of Sue Walker's THE BURNING in Bookmunch.

A catch up of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 SCOTLAND STREET in The Scotsman (for Barbara).

Iain Banks on the question of legalising drugs.

And finally, to celebrate Robert Louis Stevenson's birthday, an online archive of all his works, plus "extracts of little-known poetry, letters, rarely seen family photographs and his observations on friends, family and favourite authors."

Review - BLOODY WOMEN - Helen FitzGerald

BLOODY WOMEN - Helen FitzGerald
Publisher: Polygon
Published: October 2009

First Lines: "I just need you to say if this is him," the man in the white coat said, lifting the sheet that covered the lump beneath.

I looked down at the metal bench.

"Take your time," the man said, which I was already doing. I looked long and hard, holding back the tears, moving my head left to right, closer, further away, and then said, "Yes, that's Ahmed."

When Catriona Marsden is called in to identify an ex-boyfriend's severed penis, her reaction is to giggle. Needless to say, that does not look good, and she's promptly arrested for the murder of not one, but three ex-boyfriends. As she puts it "I was no longer viewed as the bereaved ex-lover of three men, but was accused of shagging, mutilating and murdering them, not necessarily in that order." And that takes us to the top of page two of this very dark, very funny book.

Cat is getting married and, like most brides, she has the pre-wedding jitters. However, unlike most brides, she decides that the way to put those jitters to bed is to meet up with each of her ex-boyfriends, and sleep with them. So now she's in jail, and the woman who is writing her biography has...well...she's put her own particular spin on things. And that looks as though it could send Cat over the edge.

BLOODY WOMEN is delicious, ingenious, inventive and mordantly funny. Helen FitzGerald has a real skill for making the totally absurd and goofy, thoroughly logical and reasonable. She serves up plot twists and severed penises (penii?) alike with the same relish and glee as Bette Davis serving Joan Crawford a rat on a silver salver in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane.

This is a book where at any given moment you think you know what's happening, but do you really? Helen FitzGerald amuses, entertains, enthralls and shocks in equal measure. She manages to make the reader care about characters who are, on the surface, pretty unlikeable. Excellent stuff. Warped, funny, and very well told.

Having now read a couple of her books, Helen Fitzgerald has firmly claimed a place on my list of favourite authors.

There's Been A Murrrrrrrrrderrrrrrrrrrrrrr

What fun this will be - Edinburgh's Rebus and Glasgow's Taggart will investigate a murder at Harthill (on the border between West Lothian and North Lanarkshire, half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh) in a one-off spoof for Children In Need on 20th November.

As Botswana becomes a tourist destination thanks to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, British Columbia's Tri-City news looks at fictional Africa, including Alexander McCall Smith. And McCall Smith talks about the inspiration for Mma Ramotswe in Otto Penzler's THE LINEUP, in which "the world's greatest crime writers tell the inside story of their greatest detectives."

Carol Anne Davis on anti-social behaviour.

I've mentioned this before but if you like crime fiction and forensic science this is the event for you.

Reviews, Interviews and Bad News

Off out to a gig tonight to see The Enemy so here, hopefully, is an automatically posting...errrr...post.

Frederic Lindsay and Ken McClure visit East Lothian's libraries.

Audio reviews of Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride, with downloadable audio clips. And, talking of Stuart MacBride, the lovely Russel McLean reviews the SF/crime concoction HALFHEAD and finds it most excellent.

Amongst many other books, PW reviews M C Beaton and Alexander McCall Smith.

An interview with Val McDermid on Women and Hollywood. And one with Sherlock Holmes aficionado and all round top bloke Rafe McGregor on The Tainted Archive.

And finally, he's not Scottish, but he's the inspiration for this blog because of all the great stuff he does on Irish crime fiction, he's a mate, he's an all round top bloke, and he's one of my favourite writers. So I am very saddened to see Declan Burke post this. I understand and respect his decision, and his little daughter is one hell of a lucky girl to have such a great Dad, but I hope that Dec keeps writing fiction - because he's brilliant at it and his books brighten my days. I read his first book EIGHT BALL BOOGIE back when it first came out in 2003 and absolutely loved it. I kept checking for more books by him so it was marvellous to get to know him a few years later and find out that he had a new book coming out. I have multiple copies of THE BIG O, and I've been lucky enough to read both manuscripts he currently has out in the market. He has great talent and his fiction is funny, thrilling, smart and touching with great characters and full of life. All the best Dec, whatever you do, but I'm crossing everything that fiction plays a big part - if not right now, then in the (near) future.

Authors Talking - Here, There and Everywhere

Aly Monroe on answering questions, publishing and reviews.

Advance warning of Ian Rankin at The Edinburgh Bookshop on 11 January 2010, talking about "the books that made me."

M C Beaton in...errrrr...somewhere they publish The Southern Daily Echo on November 24th (probably Winchester, having done a bit of Miss Marpl-ish sleuthing).

Philip Kerr recycles a speech from better times.

A very interesting article on Waterstone's, and the future of publishing, including this bit:
"Hamilton cites the example of the crime novelist Ian Rankin: "Rankin was selling nothing at all for the first few novels he wrote, but publishers knew he would take off and so they kept with him. The opportunity isn't there to do that any more because sales are so low that you lose too much money initially, even if you make money later. That old, very successful business model doesn't make sense any more. Thanks to the prevailing way in which books are sold there would be no new Rankin."

Yum Yum, What A Haul

Isn't it a lovely feeling when you get a whole new book haul? So here's my latest. Some bought, some ARCs, some given.

BLOODY WOMEN - Helen Fitzgerald
Published: October 2009 - Polygon
Yippee - I've been looking forward to this one for a while.
Cover/online copy: Returning to Scotland to organise her wedding, Catriona is overcome with the jitters. She decides to tie up loose ends before settling permanently in Tuscany, and seeks out her ex-boyfriends. Only problem is, they're all dead.
First Lines: '"I just need you to say if this is him," the man in the white coat said, lifting the sheet that covered the lump beneath.'

CROSS COUNTRY MURDER SONG - Philip Wilding
Published: February 2010 - Jonathan Cape
Oooooh this one looks dark and brilliant.
Cover/online copy: On a journey from the Jersey Shore to the Pacific Ocean the driver crosses an America twisted beyond all recognition, as if in a fevered dream. He is pursued by ghosts of his traumatic past and the police, who have discovered the disturbing secret in his basement.
First Lines:'Tell me about the box they kept you in, he said.'

BURIAL - Neil Cross
Published: August 2009 - Pocket Books
Cover/online copy: Can your guiltiest secret ever be buried? Nathan has never been able to forget the worst night of his life: the party that led to the sudden, shocking death of a young woman. Only he and Bob, an untrustworthy old acquaintance, know what really happened and they have resolved to keep it that way. But one rainy night, years later, Bob appears at Nathan's door with terrifying news, and old wounds are suddenly reopened, threatening to tear Nathan's whole world apart. Because Nathan has his own secrets now. Secrets that could destroy everything he has fought to build. And maybe Bob doesn't realise just how far Nathan will go to protect them...
First Lines: 'The doorbell rang. Nathan had a feeling - but he dismissed it, muted the TV and went to the door. There stood Bob; hunched over, grinning in the darkness and rain. Saying:'Hello, mate."'

LUSH LIFE - Richard Price
Published: July 2009 - Bloomsbury Publishing
Cover/online copy: Whenever people asked him what he was planning to do with his life, Eric Cash used to have a dozen answers. Now he's thirty-five, still in the restaurant business and still serving the people he wanted to be. Not like Ike Marcus. Ike is young, good-looking, charismatic. He's going places - until two street kids step up to him and Eric one night and pull a gun. At least, that's Eric's version...
First Lines: 'The Quality of Life Task Force: four sweatshirts in a bogus taxi set up on the corner of Clinton Street alongside the Williamsburg Bridge off-ramp to profile the incoming salmon run; their mantra: Dope, guns, overtime; their motto: Everyone's got something to lose.'

THE CORONER - M R Hall
Published: September 2009 - Pan
Cover/online copy: Perhaps she had been too swift to imagine a conspiracy, too easily swept up in the emotion of a teenager's shocking death. Snapping her briefcase shut, she made a decision to go about her investigation in as detached and professional a manner as she could. She was the coroner, an impartial, clear-headed, determined investigator of the truth...
First Lines: 'The first dead body Jenny ever saw was her grandfather's.'

THE DAY OF THE JACK RUSSELL - Bateman
Published: November 2009 - Headline
Cover/online copy: The Small Shop Keeper With No Name is back. Hired to find the vandals responsible for spraying graffiti on an aspiring insurance magnate's advertising hoarding, he soon finds himself up to his ears in intrigue and battling to solve murders which echo in the corridors of power. With MI5 getting involved and everyone on the hunt for a missing Jack Russell, can Our Man Behind the Counter stay alive as well as keep his world renowned but criminally ignored No Alibis mystery bookshop afloat?
First Lines: 'It was the Tuesday before Christmas Day when the Case of the Cock-Headed Man walked into No Alibis, the finest mystery bookstore in all of, um, Belfast.'

THE TWELVE - Stuart Neville
Published: July 2009 - Harvill Secker
Cover/online copy:Former paramilitary killer Gerry Fegan is haunted by his victims, twelve souls who shadow his every waking day and scream through every drunken night. Just as he reaches the edge of sanity they reveal their desire: vengeance on those who engineered their deaths. From the greedy politicians to the corrupt security forces, the street thugs to the complacent bystanders who let it happen, all must pay the price. When Fegan's vendetta threatens to derail Northern Ireland's peace process and destabilise its fledgling government, old comrades and enemies alike want him gone. David Campbell, a double agent lost between the forces of law and terror, takes the job. But he has his own reasons for eliminating Fegan; the secrets of a dirty war should stay buried, even if its ghosts do not.
First Lines:'Maybe if he had one more drink they'd leave him alone.'

THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD - Adrian McKinty
Published: July 2009 - Serpent's Tail
Cover/online copy:Michael Forsythe might be, as one of his assailants puts it, 'un-fucking-killable', but that doesn't seem to deter people from trying. He's living in Lima, reasonably well-hidden by the FBI's Witness Protection Program, but Bridget Callaghan, whose fiance he murdered twelve years ago, has an enduring wish to see him dead. So when her two goon assassins pass him the phone to speak to her before they kill him, Michael thinks she just wants to relish the moment. In fact, out of desperation, she is giving him a chance to redeem himself. All he has to do is return to Ireland and find her missing daughter. Before midnight. Tenacious and brutal, with the hunted man's instinct for trouble, Forsythe leaves a trail of mayhem as he tries to end the bloody feud once and for all. The Bloomsday Dead pulsates with break-neck action and wry literary references; McKinty's distinctly Irish voice packs a ferocious punch.
First Lines:'"State LY Plum P Buck Mulligan." Hector handed me this message on the cliffs at Miraflores.'

DAISY CHAIN - G J Moffat
Published: March 2009 - Hachette Scotland
Cover/online copy:Logan Finch has just about everything he ever wanted, including a penthouse apartment and a shot at making partner in one of Scotland's largest law firms. But there's something missing from his life: he still pines for the woman he thought was 'the one' and who left him without a word of explanation over twelve years ago. Alex Cahill is one of Logan's clients, and probably his best friend. The profane, gregarious American owns a successful security business but has a shadowy past and a capacity for violence. Detective Constable Rebecca Irvine, newly promoted to Strathclyde Police's CID, is stuck in a failing marriage. On her first day in the new job she is called to a murder scene in the affluent Southside of Glasgow. The victim is Penny Grant, Logan's former girlfriend. And her eleven-year-old daughter is missing. Against the backdrop of Glasgow city and its surroundings, GJ Moffat creates a taut thriller, a group of characters you would want to meet again and a gang of characters you most definitely wouldn't.
First Lines:'Her vision blurred red. He hit her again.'

THE LIE - Petra Hammesfahr
Published: October 2009 - Bitter Lemon Press
Cover/online copy:Nadia and Susanne have just met. They look uncannily alike, but one is filthy rich and has both a husband and a lover while the other is dirt poor and single. So, when Nadia asks Susanne to spend a weekend with her husband, how can she refuse the outrageous fee on offer? So Susanne changes her hairstyle and clothes and, one Friday afternoon, drives Nadia's wine-red Alfa to her beautiful suburban villa. However, what appears at first to be a harmless game quickly turns into a deadly web of lies.
First Lines:'It was a horrible sight, even for the boy who, at fourteen, had already witnessed much barbarity, though not in this country.'

Now, which one to read first?

Sunday Sinning and Afternoon Tea

Last night we went through to Edinburgh to the theatre to see an adaptation of James Hogg's 1824 novel THE PRIVATE MEMOIRS AND CONFESSIONS OF A JUSTIFIED SINNER which is all about a man who is raised by his ultra-pious mother and her ...ahem...'spiritual adviser' - the Reverend Wringhim - to believe that he is one of 'the elect' and, as such, that he is predestined for salvation - no matter what he does. Egged on by a mysterious stranger called Gil-Martin - who can change his appearance at will - he tests out the idea that "a justified person can do no wrong." An excellent tale of good and evil, and a wonderful production.

Alexander McCall Smith supports a new tea with an original short story in each pack. And Mma Ramotswe relaxes with one of my favourites - rooibos tea.

Three days left to listen to Christopher Brookmyre on BBC Radio Scotland.

TV for Tuesday has a one-off mockumentary drama, set in the exciting world of darts, co-written and directed by Irvine Welsh. And, talking of Irvine Welsh, he will be appearing in Australia at Adelaide Writers' Week from February 28th 2010.

Jason Pinter blogs at The Huffington Post on the state of the crime novel. Mentions of Scottish authors, plus several of the wonderful Busted Flush Press.

And Philip Kerr hates the Olymic Games (bottom of article).

maXcrime; or... How Lucky Am I?

I've received a catalogue for Maxim Jakubowski's new crime imprint maXcrime (of which I am very, very chuffed and excited to be a part). It looks wonderful, so I hope you will allow me a little bit of glee and self-indulgence as I post about it. You can click on each of the pages for a bigger version.

First of all, Maxim on the new imprint: "As well as being wonderfully good reads and page turners, the books we are publishing in 2010 also provide a fascinating glimpse into the sheer diversity of crime and mystery writing today. Here you will find gritty London family sagas, hardboiled serial killer tales, dark and violent comedy, erotic thrillers, gothic Hitchcockian mysteries from Italy, historical enigmas going back to Nazi Germany, sinister conspiracies, fast and slick female private eyes from Down Under and old ladies that give conmen a bad name." Woohoo! That's me, that last one :o) Maxim also says "Amongst our first class team we have Australia's leading crime writer and also in all likelihood the most glamorous author in the business (that one's not me by the way), the legendary film director of Get Carter with his debut novel, one of the UK's best horror writers with his first visit to the crime genre, and leading Italian, Canadian, American, Scottish and English authors."

In March 2010 is Tara Moss with HIT - "She's streetwise, stunning, and hoping to leave her troubled past behind her." Woman's Day magazine called it "A thriller packed with sex, suspense and suspicion. Hold on tight!"

Also in March 2010 WATCHING THE WHEELS COME OFF by Mike Hodges who directed Get Carter, Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, amongst others. I'm really looking forward to this one - it's described as "a delicious dark slice of black crime comedy" and is a day in the life of a failed conman when everything goes from bad to worse.

In April 2010, another one I'm really looking forward to - Mark Timlin's GUNS OF BRIXTON. Apart from the fact that it's got the same title as one of my favourite songs by The Clash, how can I resist this: "Once upon a time is south London, three young men without a future decided to invent their own. The Sixties are starting to swing and Jimmy, John and Billy want it all: the clothes, the pills, the music and the women. Through drugs, protection and armed robbery, they start building their crime empire, everything they've always dreamed about is within their grasp. But then Billy changes sides and becomes a cop..."

And the other one for April is this OLD DOGS. Am I lucky or what?

For May, two excellent looking ones. THE GIRL WITH THE CRYSTAL EYES by Barbara Baraldi "an unforgettable gothic journey through the dark streets of Bologna." A serial killer novel with a femme fatale. And what a gorgeous cover that is.

The second one for May is HITLER'S ANGEL by Kris Rusch. It's about a young American doctoral student who visits Munich in 1972 to research her dissertation. But the police detective she is interviewing insists on discussing the supposed 1931 suicide of Geli Raubal, the teenage niece and alleged lover of Adolf Hitler. Through a series of flashbacks, the detective tells the tale of his investigation, which is hindered by forces outside the police right from the start.

And, for the future, a dark crime novel by horror writer Conrad Williams, called BLONDE ON A STICK - "a gritty, hardboiled and memorable book", I WAS WAITING FOR YOU - the "harrowing story of a writer in search of a missing daughter" by Maxim Jakubowski, and THE WOMEN'S CLUB - a sinister urban thriller by Canadians Michael Crawley and Laurie Clayton.

Wonderful stuff. I'm sort of excited to bursting...

Link Miscellany While Drinking a Dirty Martini

So please excuse any typos...

Craig Sisterson interviews Liam McIlvanney in New Zealand's Weekend Herald.

Tony Black on his excellent Gus Dury series in the Inverness Courier.

This looks fascinating - a joint forensic science and crime fiction event in Edinburgh on 18th November talking about how genetic science is used by contemporary crime writers.

A case of true crime from the Scottish Highlands, with a foreword by Val McDermid.

More of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 SCOTLAND STREET in The Scotsman.

Bookhugger interviews Aly Monroe amongst others.

Rob Kitchin reviews Philip Kerr's IF THE DEAD RISE NOT. As does The Telegraph.