The Sunday Round-Up on a Sunday? How novel.

First of all, this weekend's film viewing. We saw THE FIGHTER with the always excellent Christian Bale. Really good film. Then it was a film that was so horrible that I don't even want to mention its name. I didn't watch most of it. Instead, at one point, I rushed out of the room saying "I can't watch this" and went and lay down on the bed and had a good cry. Silly cow, but it was truly horrible. After that, I needed a cinematic scouring brush to scrub my brain clean of that one, so we saw the quirky and touching GET LOW with Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.

I also spent some very pleasant kindle time with the lovely boys and girls from Radgepacket. I read volumes 1 and 2 while travelling on trains over the weekend and most excellent they were too. Reviews to follow. In the meantime, they are both over at Amazon for less than a quid.

And now, on to the Scottish crime fiction news.

The Mutant Bookshelf reviews Philip Kerr's FIELD GREY. And a review of the audio version of Charles Cumming's THE TRINITY SIX .

Congratulations to Alex Gray on her new book deal, and to Doctor Val McDermid.

Chris Ewan's audiobook narrator talks about the Good Thief series.

An interview with Jason Isaacs about his role as Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie.

Finally, a plea - if anyone has any suggestions for either writing exercises or groupwork exercises for both teenagers (from age 15-ish) and adults, please e-mail me! I'm looking for things which are fun and interesting and not too heavy.

Pre-Weekend Peregrinations

An excellent article on Scottish actor Martin Compston (who I would love to have play Duncan or Raymie from OLD DOGS), who's going to be in Irvine Welsh's FILTH which is being filmed in October.

A review of Charles Cumming's TYPHOON, the Morning Star with a reviewlet of Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, a review of Alexander McCall Smith's CORDUROY MANSIONS, The Guardian enjoyed Christopher Brookmyre's WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED, and reviewingtheevidence on Quintin Jardine's GRIEVOUS ANGEL.

Talking of Quintin Jardine, he was able to scatter his uncle, thanks to Kinky Friedman.

Two radio plays from the BBC Radio Crimes series have been released on CD - David Ashton's SERVANT OF THE CROWN and THE PICTURE OF INNOCENCE, and Val McDermid's CLEAN BREAK.

Alexander McCall Smith on Edinburgh's nightmare tram situation (warning - the audio starts automatically).

See Chris Ewan in Salt Lake City on August 13th.

The Washington Independent Review of Books has an audio interview with Kate Atkinson.

A short story by Campbell Armstrong (aka Campbell Black).

Think of me this weekend. I'm babysitting ten 13-year olds. At a pyjama party.

An Opulence of Opportunities

A My Life In Books: Crime Fiction Special at the wonderful Glasgow Women's Library from 6 until 7.30pm on Tuesday 26th July. Your humble blogger will be asking Helen Fitzgerald and Karen Campbell about the influence books have had throughout their lives.

Further away (in all senses) Chris Ewan and Anne Zourodi are appearing at Murder By The Book in Houston on Monday 19th September. Do, however, note that it's not our Chris Ewan playing the drums in the video below the article! It reminds me of the time when Dexys Midnight Runners were on Top of The Pops singing Jackie Wilson Said (about soul singer Jackie Wilson) and the picture that was shown in the background was of darts player Jocky Wilson.

Whilst the Reading Festival of Crime Fiction doesn't yet have the programme up on the website, the events (or some of them) can be seen here.

This looks brilliant - Noir Nation: International Journal of Crime Fiction. You can become a supporter here. The first issue is due to be launched in September. They are also looking for submissions (short stories, graphic crime stories and non-fiction pieces) and they pay $100 per piece! I'm looking forward to reading the first issue and seeing what else they come up with.

A review of Helen Fitzgerald's THE DONOR. And here's Helen with advice on what not to read in prison.

Did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle steal the plot for THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.

An interview with Alexander McCall Smith at CBS News' Author Talk.

Publishers Weekly on Nicola Upson's Josephine Tey mystery TWO FOR SORROW.

And, finally, Val McDermid, Stuart MacBride and other crime writers buy a morgue. And anyone can donate. By donating, you get to vote for your favourite participating crime writer and they get...errrrr...they get a morgue named after them.

News, Reviews and Battling Grannies

An interview with Allan Guthrie. And one with Quintin Jardine.

More Quintin Jardine in The Afterword.

Alexander McCall Smith and the 107 moments that made Scotland. In other AMS news: a review of CORDUROY MANSIONS, and here he talks about his favourite books.

Ian Rankin, on why the Edinburgh Book Festival is special.

A review of Charles Cummings' THE TRINITY SIX, one of Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON and a brilliant one of Ray Banks' GUN.

Hot off the press - Douglas Lindsay smells like a Polynesian Goddess.

And, finally, this is why I love writing about elderly people. And if you don't read all of it, you should, at the very least, watch this video of SuperGranny foiling some robbers.

Edinburgh Book Festival - Crime Fiction Related Events

The Edinburgh Book Festival Programme has just been launched - and rather excellent it looks too. From a look through - here are the events which may be of interest to crime fiction fans. I've searched in four different ways, but probably still missed some, so let me know! And please excuse any formatting problems - this post has been a bloody nightmare and I have lost the will to live.

Saturday 13 August 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Alexander McCall Smith
AGE 7 - 9

Saturday 13 August 4:30pm - 5:30pm
T C Boyle
NATURE IS JUST AS MURDEROUS AS HUMAN BEINGS

Saturday 13 August 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Alexander McCall Smith
AN HOUR WITH ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST CHARMING AUTHORS

Saturday 13 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Lin Anderson & Tony Black
CRIME AND THE FABRIC OF EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW

Sunday 14 August 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Megan Abbott & Kathleen Winter with Maggie O'Farrell
TEENAGERS IN TROUBLE

Sunday 14 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
R J Ellory
INTENSE, COMPULSIVE, GUT-WRENCHING FICTION

Monday 15 August 11:30am - 12:30pm
William McIlvanney
ACCLAIMED SCOTTISH WRITER RETURNS

Monday 15 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Judith Flanders
WHEN MURDER WAS AN HONOURABLE PRACTICE

Tuesday 16 August 11:00am - 12:30pm
Writing Workshop
CREATING A WEB OF CHARACTERS

Tuesday 16 August 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Tim Bowler & Mike Lancaster
AGE 10 - 14

Tuesday 16 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
David Ashton
THE ACTOR GIVES VOICE TO INSPECTOR MCLEVY

Tuesday 16 August 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Christopher Brookmyre
A FICTIONAL JOURNEY INTO GLASGOW’S GANGLAND

Thursday 18 August 11:30am - 12:30pm
Jasper Fforde
THE COMIC CRIME FANTASY GENRE IS IN SAFE HANDS

Thursday 18 August 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Val McDermid
WILL A DOTCOM MILLIONAIRE'S PAST COME BACK TO HAUNT HER?

Thursday 18 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Gavin Knight & Leif G W Persson
WHICH IS THE TRUE CRIME?

Friday 19 August 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Carol Ann Lee
WHAT TURNED MYRA HINDLEY INTO A KILLER?

Friday 19 August 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Quintin Jardine
CROSSING THE GLOBE IN SEARCH OF STARK TRUTHS

Friday 19 August 3:30pm - 4:30pm
The Baker Street Irregulars with Dan Boultwood & Tony Lee
AGE 10 - 14

Friday 19 August 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Stella Rimington
FORMER SPY BOSS TURNED THRILLER WRITER - AND JUDGE

Friday 19 August 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Alexander McCall Smith
THE SERIALLY-TALENTED EDINBURGH WRITER IS BACK


Saturday 20 August 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Alexander McCall Smith
AN AUDIENCE WITH ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST CHARMING AUTHORS

Saturday 20 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Karen Campbell & G J Moffat
STEPPING DOWN THE MEAN STREETS

Monday 22 August 8:30pm - 9:30pm
Edward Docx & Andrew Miller
PASSION, AMBITION AND UNEXPLAINED EVENTS

Tuesday 23 August 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Ian Rankin
MEET THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Wednesday 24 August 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Jo Nesbø
ROARING INTO THE CRIME FICTION SUPERLEAGUE

Wednesday 24 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Gordon Ferris & Craig Russell
GLASGOW'S MEAN STREETS

Wednesday 24 August 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Ian Rankin
LIFE AFTER REBUS KEEPS GETTING BETTER

Thursday 25 August 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Gillian Philip
AGE 12 - 15

Thursday 25 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Louise Welsh
NAMINGS AND HAUNTINGS

Thursday 25 August 8:30pm - 9:30pm
David Leslie & Alexander Shannon
FROM GANG WARS TO ARMED CONFLICT

Friday 26 August 5:00pm - 6:00pm
The Western Mysteries with Caroline Lawrence
AGE 9 - 12

Friday 26 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Alex Gray & Stuart MacBride
SCOTTISH CRIME GETS A SHOT IN THE ARM

Friday 26 August 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Alan Bissett & Doug Johnstone
FIGHTING TALK

Saturday 27 August 4:00pm - 5:00pm
James Yorkston with Ian Rankin
ON THE ROAD WITH A SCOTTISH FOLK HERO

Saturday 27 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm
Denise Mina
TWO DEATHS CONNECTED BY A HANGING ROPE

Sunday 28 August 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Mark Billingham
THORNY ENCOUNTER WITH A HOSTAGE-TAKER

Sunday 28 August 5:00pm - 6:00pm
The New Scottish Writing
HOW FACT AND FICTION INFLUENCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES

Sunday 28 August 9:30pm - 10:30pm
Eoin Colfer with Mark Billingham
CRIME THRILLER TO GET THE PULSE THUMPING

Monday 29 August 11:00am - 12:30pm
Writing Workshop
DRIVING THE PLOT

Monday 29 August 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Caro Ramsay & Craig Robertson
SNAPSHOTS OF GLASGOW

Wednesday Allsorts

Chris Ewan guest blogs over at Martin Edwards' place. And here, Martin talks about Paul Johnston. Lovely man that Martin Edwards (as well as being supremely knowledgeable about crime fiction).

Fifty Edinburgh Book Festival short stories. (Most of them are from last year's festival). Stories by Scottish crime fiction authors are from Gillian Philip, Karen Campbell, Denise Mina, Doug Johnstone, Louise Welsh,

A review of Craig Robertson's SNAPSHOT at Eurocrime.

If you're near Middlesbrough tomorrow, why not spend An Evening With Val McDermid? Or, if you're in Aberdeen on Sunday, you can see Stuart MacBride tossing a caber. Or talking about books. I'm not quite sure which. A bit further in advance, how about Christopher Brookmyre in North Berwick on August 9th?

The Telegraph offers audio chapters of Alexander McCall Smith's A CONSPIRACY OF FRIENDS read by Andrew Sachs.

BookDagger has an interview with Quintin Jardine.

You'll Thank Me...

First of all, some delicious treats for you. Those lovely Radgepacket boys and girls have put Radgepacket 1 and Radgepacket 2 online for the kindle for a few pennies. How good is that? And if that's not good enough, how about a freebie? Mulholland Books (always impressive and this is no exception) have got a short story collection called L.A. NOIRE to go along with the video game of the same name. And, for a short while, it's free. And if you're in the UK, it's also free. Still not happy? Then how about the new Crimefactory 6? Well, that's my reading schedule sorted out for the rest of June, anyway.

The Tucson Citizen reviews Morag Joss' AMONG THE MISSING.

Douglas Lindsay - comedy genius. Two for the price of one - cats and Cameron.

Looks like Toronto's International Festival of Authors is being taken over by the Scots - Rankin, MacBride and Mina. Nice one.

Val McDermid talks to Virtual Granny.

Lin Anderson has a new blog all about eBooks.

Finally, your humble blogger is looking for help. If anyone has any ideas for creative writing exercises which are fun/work well for a) young people, b) adult literacy learners, or c) in prisons please let me know!

Thursday Mish-Mash

The programme for the Edinburgh Book Festival will be revealed next week. And news that the Festival is to be sponsored by The Guardian. As part of the Fringe, Alexander McCall Smith's 44 SCOTLAND STREET is to be brought to the stage.

Meanwhile, the Fringe By The Sea festival is shaping up too - no book events on the actual site as yet; however, tickets are available for an event with Alex Gray and Karen Campbell on 12 August.

And a couple more events - Gillian Galbraith at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum on 18th June, and Tony Black at the Carnegie Library in Ayr on June 14th.

Val McDermid talks about A PLACE OF EXECUTION on the BBC World Service.

Harper Collins are to publish two digital exclusives from Stuart MacBride.

Reviews of Christopher Brookmyre's WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED and Denise Mina's END OF THE WASP SEASON. And one of Pat McIntosh's THE COUNTERFEIT MADAM.

Ian Rankin is not happy with Radiohead.

An interview with Jason Isaacs - star of Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES.

A lost Conan Doyle novel is set to be published.

And Helen Fitzgerald's Rules For Writers on The Release.

Happy Monday

Tony Black interviews Doug Johnstone over at Pulp Pusher. And one at The Scotsman with Iain Banks.

Tara Moss recommends WIRE IN THE BLOOD by Val McDermid. And here Val talks about A PLACE OF EXECUTION on the BBC's World Book Club.

Listen to Craig Russell's LENNOX on Radio 4. For some reason, I can only find episode 3.

More on the Ayot Festival, where Alexander McCall Smith will be appearing.

A reviewlet of Kate Atkinson's STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG. And Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES had its first airing on TV last night. I haven't watched it yet - did anyone see it?

Quintin Jardine talks about sitting by his pool reading his Kindle. Envious, moi?

The Washington Times reviews Philip Kerr's FIELD GRAY.

£8000 to spare. How about buying one of Robert Louis Stevenson's letters?

And if you live in Paisley watch out that you don't fall down drain holes. I don't know, you can't leave anything lying around. I once had my washing nicked off the line - apparently, it's called 'getting snowdropped'. It wasn't even fancy underwear - it was tea towels and an old duvet cover.

Flights of Fancy

My lovely agent rang me today to tell me that Somebody Important in Hollywood likes OLD DOGS and is going to pass it to two Very Important Actresses and a Very Important Director. As you can imagine, I am full of glee. I am sure that nothing will come of it, but in the meantime it's lovely to dream. Even better, when I told my Mum she said "Very Important Actress and Very Important Actress? Maybe I'll read it after all, our Donna." And then she headed off to scan the Kays Catalogue for a new outfit for the Oscars where she's apparently going to be sitting next to Steven Spielberg. (I'm afraid she's been star-struck ever since she came home from CrimeFest, where she accosted one of the Heartbeat actors as he tucked into his bacon and eggs. Or, as she refers to the event "That time I chatted to my friend Bernie Scripps.") Actually, I can just picture her making sure Mr Spielberg doesn't get big-headed - "Eeee, our Steven - what is it with all the dinosaurs and aliens? Why can't you direct a nice film?"

Even if nothing ever comes of it, what really warms my cockles is that somebody enjoyed the book and that it made them laugh. That's a lovely thing to know.

Anyway, on to the proper news.

A number of new reviews from the always excellent Crimesquad, including one of Tony Black's TRUTH LIES BLEEDING.

An interview with Ken McClure.

A review of Morag Joss' AMONG THE MISSING, one of Denise Mina's FIELD OF BLOOD. And one of Christopher Brookmyre's WHERE THE BODIES ARE BURIED.

Peter May on the research trip from hell.

The role of Edinburgh in the television version of Kate Atkinson's CASE HISTORIES.

Ian Rankin posted on Twitter his appearance in an Oor Willie cartoon.

And, finally, good job it wasn't Buckfast. They would have had to call in the army.

Back to Normal post CrimeFest

Dear Reader - it's taken me a while to get back to normal after the wonderful CrimeFest weekend, and things have been really hectic here in Badsville. Apologies.

A couple of excellent interviews with Christopher Brookmyre.

And one with Doug Johnstone who has a number of events coming up. And check out the multi-talented Mr Johnstone's music here.

Hear M C Beaton's Agatha Raisin on the radio (only available for the next couple of days).

A review of Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON. And James McAvoy is Mina's first choice for the role of the Tommy Sheridan-like character in her forthcoming novel, GODS AND BEASTS.

Val McDermid at the Lambda Literary Awards.

Alexander McCall Smith on Gabarone, Botswana.

A review of Catriona McPherson's DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS.

Here's a treat - a new Barney Thompson short story from the lovely Douglas Lindsay.