‘Into the Badlands’ by John L. Williams

Published by Oldcastle Books,
16 April 2026.
ISBN: 978-0-85730626-5 (PB)

Back in 1991, as John L. Williams, writes in his introduction to this 2025 reissue, crime writing was seen as a disreputable backwater, ‘a lawless place where writers could do what they liked as long as they remembered to include a plot and a murder or two.’ As a huge fan of American crime, he decided to do a tour of the places used in the novels of writers like George V. Higgins, Ellmore Leonard and many others, and interview as many of them as he could. The result is this riotous, atmospheric snapshot of American crime writers and crime places. 

He  starts off the south-east, in Miami, where he stays in a crack-dealers hotel on South Beach, interviews Carl Hiaasen and James Hall, and eyeballs a ‘gator in the Everglades. Next up is Southern Louisiana, where he goes searching for zydeco music at an unpleasantly racist American fair and a downtown bar in Opelousas, and is treated with generous hospitality by James Lee Burke. He meets Tony Hillmore in Alburquerque, New Mexico, and is sent by him to Isleta Pueblo, authentic Indigenous American country. In Los Angeles he recalls meeting James Ellroy, drives down Sunset Boulevard and interviews Black writer Gar Haywood. Continuing up the Pacific coast to San Francisco, he asks genuine PI turned novelist Joe Gores about writing the script for Hammett and using real cases in his novels, and misses the up-and-coming Sue Grafton, still only at F is for Fugitive, who’s busy being photographed for People magazine. In Missoula, Montana, he gets very drunk with Joe Crumley and Police Officer Bob Reid and meets Denis Macmillan; in Chicago he’s driven round by Sara Paretsky and meets Eugene Izzi. Detroit is Elmore Leonard, Boston is George V Higgins, New York is Joseph Koenig, Nick Tosches and Andrew Vachss. This lightly-revised edition ends with an interview with John L. Williams by David Peace, reflecting on how things have changed.

My one gripe is that my American geography is hazy, and I’d really have loved a map. 

This fascinating book is a crime must-read. Williams is a sympathetic journalist who gets the best out of even the most interview-weary writer, his place descriptions are are so vivid you can see the mean streets he’s driving down (’Lock your car door,’ Andrew Vaschss insisted, as they visited the less salubrious parts of New York), and some of the antics he gets up to with the writers he’s in theory interviewing are downright hilarious. They come across as a great bunch. The book ends with a selection of the books of each of the authors he met, which is good for trying out new authors. Highly recommended – I loved it.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor 

John L Williams was born in Cardiff and now lives in London. He's written more than a dozen books, ranging from his Cardiff Trilogy of novels to biographies of characters as diverse as Michael X and Shirley Bassey. His latest book, Heatwave, is a history of the long, hot summer of 1976. He also writes crime fiction under the name John Lincoln. His journalism has appeared everywhere from the NME to the Financial Times. He co-organises the riotous Laugharne Weekend festival in West Wales. 

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.   

Click on the title to read a review of her recent book
Death in a Shetland Family

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk

‘The Crossroads’ by C.J. Box

Published by Head of Zeus,
5 March 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-0359881--2 (HB).

Joe Pickett, Montana Game and Fish Warden, has been shot in the head while out on his rounds in his pick-up. While doctors fight to save his life, with his wife Maybeth waiting anxiously in the hospital, the local Sheriff and Joe’s three daughters try to find out who his assailants were, before they try to finish the job. 

I’m not sure how well-known C J Box is in the UK. I’d not come across him before having the pleasure of hearing him as the National Guest of Honour at Bouchercon, Toronto, 2017 – a big, expansive personality with a soft drawl and a Stetson. This book, the 16^th in the Joe Pickett series, clearly shows why he’s such a favourite with readers: great characters, a vivid sense of place and page-turning plotting. There are frequent backward glances to earlier books, but no spoilers and their backstories add a sense of reality to the characters. 

The three-strand plot is deftly woven. There’s Joe and Marybeth’s presence, in the hospital; there are chapters of Joe’s recent past, showing his activities in the days before the ambush, and there’s the investigation by his three redoubtable daughters: Sheridan, who’s the manager of a bird abatement firm, and who’s attracted to the new Sheriff, Steve Sondergard, spiky April, now working as a PI, and Lucy, just returned to University after a semester in France. They divvy up the suspects between them, the owners of the three ranches whose roads branch off from the crossroads of the ambush, and a suspicious bunch they are too. Sheridan draws the Bucholz Cattle Company, where she spots John and Shelby Bucholz with digging trucks and finds John’s Uncle Hank imprisoned. Lucy heads for the Double Diamond Ranch, and its rich, unpleasant owner, Michael Thompson, recently involved in financial scandals. April draws the McElwee sisters, Lisa and Lainie, a pair of hard-bitten ranchers who’ve been behind several scams. Naturally there’s trouble a-plenty before the final, satisfying conclusion. 

A huge treat for Joe Pickett’s many fans, and an excellent taster for new readers. If you want to go back to the beginning, the first novel in the series is Open Season.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

C J Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he owned an international tourism marketing firm with his wife Laurie. In 2008, Box was awarded the "BIG WYO" Award from the state tourism industry. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He served on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. They have three daughters. He lives in Wyoming.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  

Click on the title to read a review of her recent book
Death in a Shetland Family

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk 

Bloody Scotland Newsletter Six Weeks to Go

Hello! Can you believe it's only six weeks now until we return to beautiful Stirling to celebrate the very best of crime fiction? Excitement levels are hitting fever pitch here at Bloody Scotland HQ. To help us  countdown the days and prepare for our beloved festival, we're switching over to weekly newsletters. 

In this edition we've got an exciting announcement about a brand new digital event on offer. We'll also be announcing the winners of our book giveaway and advising you on ways in which you can travel sustainably to Bloody Scotland this year. 

First Time Visitors to Scotland.

Our Guest Programmer, Denise Mina with this year's programme.

At Bloody Scotland, we're committed to programming the best crime fiction events possible for you every year, and that includes authors who haven't visited the festival previously. This year our team and Guest Programmer, Denise Mina, have invited 50 authors who are completely new to Bloody Scotland: including: AE Goldin, Foluso Agbaje, Kristen Perrin, Edel Coffey, Michael Wood, Andi Osho and Ørjan Karlsson. 

We hope you'll join us in giving them a very warm welcome to Stirling.

Stop Press!
Dept Q Available to Watch Digitally

We are absolutely thrilled to tell you that our Dept Q event will now be available to watch digitally! If you can't make it along to Stirling to see the stellar cast of the hit Netflix series storm the Albert Halls stage, you'll now be able to do it from the comfort of your home instead. 

Joining us will be showrunner Scott Frank and stars Matthew Goode (DCI Carl Morck), Kate Dickie (Chief Superintendent Moira Jacobson), Alexej Manvelov (Akram Salim) and Leah Byrne (DC Rose Dickson) . Together, they will discuss how the show has achieved such cult status amongst fans and reveal behind-the-scenes secrets as they take a break from filming Series 2. This is definitely not to be missed!

All of Bloody Scotland's Digital Events are available to watch live as they happen and then also on catch up until the end of September 2026. You can purchase a digital pass to watch all 17 events for £60.75 or purchase digital events singly for £6.75 each.

To view all of our Digital Events, visit:
https://bloodyscotland.com/whats-on/
and search for the term 'online' in the search box.

To give you a flavour of our other offerings, we've picked out three of our favourite 2026 online events below. 

Denise Mina presents Lee Child (online)

Streamed live on 18th of September at 6.45pm
 and available on catch up until the 30th of September.

Just because the in-person event for Lee Child is sold out, doesn't mean you can't get your Reacher fix!

We welcome back a legend of the genre and the creator of possibly the most iconic protagonist in thriller fiction. Lee Child has many imitators, but he and Jack Reacher remain the gold standard to which they all aspire. Travelling with just the clothes on his back and a toothbrush, Reacher is a hero for the ages.

Over the course of 30 pulsating novels, Lee has sold an incredible 100 million books which have been adapted into two movies starring Tom Cruise and a hit TV series. He will look back on an extraordinary career with guest programmer Denise Mina.

Denise Mina Presents Lee Chiild (online)

In Conversation: Chris Brookmyre & Abir Mukherjee (Online)

Streamed live on Friday 18th September - 1.30pm
and available on catch up until the 30th of September.

Grab your ticket for an unmissable hour in the company of two of Scotland’s finest crime writers.

It is 30 years since crime fiction’s most infamous mantlepiece featured in Chris Brookmyre’s debut novel Quite Ugly One Morning. Now, three
decades later his irrepressible investigative journalist Jack Parlabane
returns in the ingenious Quite Ugly One Evening. Abir Mukherjee follows his award-winning bestseller Hunted with the equally action-packed and thought-provoking thriller The Pinnacle which sees murder strike on the 65th floor of Mumbai’s grandest luxury skyscraper. Chris and Abir will be chaired by broadcaster Nicola Meighan.

Chris Brookmyre & Abir Mukherjee (Online)

Denise Mina presents Jane Harper
& Jane Casey (online)

Streamed live on Saturday 19th September - 3.00pm
and available on catch up until the 30th of September.

It’s a case of Double Jane-pardy (sorry!) as two fabulous storytellers
from opposite ends of the world get together to discuss their work.

Jane Harper is the queen of rural Australian noir and an international
bestseller. Her global smash The Dry was made into a major movie. Jane’s new novel, Last One Out, is a deeply atmospheric small town mystery.  Jane Casey is a number one bestseller but Everything She Didn’t Say is her first book set in her native Ireland. It’s a riveting mystery about female friendship, betrayal and survival. Jane and Jane will be interviewed by Denise Mina.

Book Jane Harper & Jane Casey (0nline)

Announcing the Winners of our
The Hollow Boys Giveaway

We're delighted to announce the winners of our recent book giveaway to win a copy of Tariq Ashkanani's thrilling book The Hollow Boys. Congratulations to: Lesley Mcauliffe, Mary Macdonald, Amanda Newall, Periklis Theologidis and Ken Mounser. Happy reading! 

Bloody Scotland 2026 Whisky

We wanted to do something special to mark our 2026 festival and thankfully our pals at Fib Whisky had just the thing in mind. Fib has created the official dram for this year's Bloody Scotland for the second year running, with a limited edition bottling created especially for us. Drawn from a single Oloroso sherry barrique and bottled at natural cask strength, this whisky is completely unfiltered - just as nature intended.

There are only 100 bottles to be had - so if you'd like some, you'd better quick. 

Find out more about our Bloody Scotland whisky and pre-order your bottle below.
 Over 18s only. Please drink responsibly. 

Bloody Scotland 2026 Whisky

Go Green for Bloody Scotland,

This year at Bloody Scotland, we're asking our festival goers to paint the town green instead of our usual red! Bloody Scotland is committed to being part of a greener arts sector, and we'd love it if you could help us by getting to the festival using a sustainable form of travel.

All of our venues are 10 minutes walk or less from Stirling's railway and bus stations, so why not leave the car at home and travel sustainably instead? Stirling is only 35 minutes from Glasgow and 50 minutes from Edinburgh by train. Train operator Lumo has also now launched a direct London Euston to Stirling service. You can find out more information about the service over at: lumo.co.uk

That's all from us this issue. See you back here next week.
For more information about Bloody Scotland and to view our upcoming events, visit: www.bloodyscotland.com

‘The Trad Wife’ by Carrie Hughes

Published by Hera,
7 May 2026. 
ISBN: 978-1-83598354-6 (PB)

Melissa Fairbrock was born in England but now lives in a small New York City apartment where she is bringing up her young daughter, Willow.  The thirty-year old professional works as a content creator and is good at her job but is beginning to find juggling parental and work responsibilities exhausting.  She would like bigger accommodation for her growing child and has recently begun to feel under pressure from her younger, competitive colleagues.  These tensions are further compounded by Melissa’s obsession with the online videos posted by self-confessed TradWife Faith Everson. 

Faith’s slick posts from The Lavender Ranch ooze with joy and celebrate the family life she shares with handsome husband Marty and their six children.  Her videos stand in stark contrast to Melissa’s far less polished, but painfully honest, podcasts, Mom’s Real Tea, which focus on the challenges of life as a single parent holding down a pressurised job.  The Lavender Ranch is part of a Mormon community in Utah and, whilst Melissa is disdainful of the TradWife subculture, she admires the quality of Faith’s online output.  She would love to have a similarly successful online presence and, gradually, finds herself yearning for the simplicity and peace the influencer promises.  

Prompted by more difficulties at work, Melissa decides to see whether Lavender Ranch is for real; she contacts Faith and asks whether she will be willing to be a subject in one of her podcasts.  When Faith agrees, mother and daughter set off for a visit including overnight accommodation within the community.  Melissa’s decision has profound consequences for both her and Willow, and it’s one she will quickly regret. 

Melissa’s internal monologue explores the difficulties she experiences as a young woman in a world of ever-changing norms and expectations.  It’s easy to empathise with her desire to step off the relentlessly accelerating treadmill that seems to characterise our second millennium, and easy to see how turning back time might not be a bad thing.  But, as L.P. Hartley reminds us, “The past is a foreign country…” a truism that becomes apparent when a second, malevolent, voice begins punctuates Melissa’s narrative.  The author uses this technique sparingly, which adds to the tension it creates. 

This is a thoroughly modern novel and explores the dangers inherent in social media.  The writer perfectly captures the language and mindset of cyberspace which, as we now know, can be both deceptive and dangerous as well as addictive.  Melissa’s desire to explore a lifestyle of which she is deeply suspicious is understandable, the decision to take her daughter along is indefensible. 

Crisply written, carefully plotted and terrifyingly relevant – a great read and recommended.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent

Carrie Hughes lives in West Sussex, where she is a copywriter and guest lecturer in creative writing. She can often be found dreaming up stories, communing with dogs and visiting the dark side. She is the author of The Trad Wife and The Woman from Bookclub.

Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.  She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues.  Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.  

‘Faculty of Liars’ by R L Heber

Published by Point Blank,
6 August 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-83643-177-0 (PB0)

Elizabeth Harker is in love – and not with her husband. She and her lover have taken great care to cover their tracks, and when it's announced that her husband will be the next president of the prestigious American university they all work for, she decides to end the relationship despite her feelings. 

Then her lover is brutally murdered, and Elizabeth begins to wonder if she is in some way responsible. She is desperate to hide her grief and give nothing away, since it is made very clear that protecting the university's reputation is of paramount importance. But something is going on under the surface. At first, she has no more than vague suspicions, but gradually she begins to piece together shreds of information. 

The novel's great strength lies in the way the various characters are depicted. Jeff, Elizabeth's husband, is immersed in his new role, and keen that she should become as involved as possible on a social and practical level – or is he just trying to keep her occupied? Lavinia, a moving force in the governing body, is kind, but has a wily side. Lieutenant Newton, who is running the murder investigation, doesn't seem to be getting anywhere – but social media posts appear which subtly suggest a link between Elizabeth and the murder, then disappear just as quickly. And holding all the reins is Abraham, the university's communications manager, and it soon becomes clear that he knows far more than he is telling, and is a master manipulator, both of people and of information. Even Nicola, her dead lover's ex-wife, is absorbed into the university's elite very quickly. Elizabeth slowly starts to question who she can trust. 

The carefully controlled and slightly claustrophobic environment of the university comes across loud and clear. The image is everything, and unearthing threats to it can only be dangerous. Nevertheless, Elizabeth unearths enough to make her keep on digging, even when it puts her husband's position and her own at risk. 

Why was Elizabeth's lover murdered? Was it because of their affair, or was there some other reason? She has no family nearby, and none to speak of elsewhere; is there anyone she can trust enough to confide in? When secrets finally emerge and she puts together the full picture, what will she do with it? And will she dare? 

This is one of those slow-burn mysteries, with a great deal going on under a glossy surface but stay with it to the explosive ending. It may destroy your faith in mankind – or it may just restore it.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

R L Heber is a journalist and author of three previous novels and has been selected as a WHSmith Fresh Talent. She has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Prospect, Sunday People, the Irish Times, and London Standard amongst others, and has reported from Kosovo, and the Middle East. She has also led on comms and runs her own business. She lives in London. 

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.

‘The Mermaid's Cry’ by Kate Rhodes

Published by Orenda,
16 July 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-917764-32-2 (PB)

Inspector Ben Kitto of the Scilly Islands police force is in mourning for his wife, who died in a tragic accident a few months before this book begins. He has tried to escape painful memories by taking a year's leave from the police and moving to Penzance on the mainland with his small son Noah and his faithful wolfhound Shadow.

But crime dogs Ben's footsteps. Taking a sleepless Noah for a walk one night, he sees a figure snatch a baby from its stroller and throw it into the sea. He dives in and rescues the infant, who has a narrow escape but survives. He finds himself acclaimed as a hero, much against his will, and is invited by Penzance's head of detectives DCI Lynne Farraday to become SIO of the investigation. After another child is thrown into water and is put on life support, he reluctantly gives up his carpentry job and accepts. 

There's a clear connection with an old Cornish myth, the Mermaid of Zennor; small plaster mermaids and charms keep appearing, near where the children were snatched and in other locations. The investigation becomes entangled with the Burning Sky Festival, a major tourist attraction which has events taking place a few miles away in Zennor. Ben's first task as SIO is to narrow down the list of suspects, who all appear to be connected in some way with the festival. 

As devotees of this highly visual series have come to expect, there are plenty of well-realized characters to enjoy, some familiar, most new. From the Scillies, Ben Kitto's childhood friend and confidante Zoe is headlining the Burning Sky Festival and arrives a few days in advance; and his taciturn uncle Ray, who taught him the carpentry skills he is using, comes for a visit. 

Ben has made friends in Penzance: motherly Caitlin Freer and her more intense daughter Ruth, who run the day nursery Noah attends when Ben is working; his obliging and good-natured neighbour Jim Kernow; amiable Denny, his boss at the carpentry shop, and his generous wife Sarah; Mick, his songwriter colleague; and DCI Farraday, who has hidden depths. There's mysterious Arthur Goss, who makes musical boxes; Shannon, the almost-drowned baby's mother, and her own mother, well-organized Pauline. Less friendly are unscrupulous Luke Pascoe, local reporter who doesn't care who he tramples on to get a story, and resentful DS Carnforth, who dislikes his boss's people-friendly approach. Flamboyant and persistent Freya Lennox is a leading light in the festival. 

The locations in Penzance come to almost cinematic life too: Ben's shabby rented house which Ray takes in hand; the Freers' nursery, filled with colour and enthusiasm; the carpentry workshop, and Arthur Goss's cluttered but well organised shed; the down-at-heel estate where Shannon lives with her baby. And of course, Penzance itself, bursting with noisy summer holidaymakers. 

Regular readers may be glad to see Ben Kitto return home to his comfort zone, as it's hinted, he will, but a brief foray into previously uncharted territory is no bad thing, especially in Kate Rhodes's more than capable hands. The Mermaid's Cry will certainly gain her new readers alongside the many, like me, who are already hooked on the series.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Kate Rhodes was born in London. She has a PhD in modern American literature and has taught English at British and American universities. She spent several years working in the southern states of America, first in Texas, then at a liberal arts college in Florida. Kate’s first collection of poems Reversal was published in 2005, her second collection, The Alice Trap was published in 2008. The Guardian described her poems as “pared back and fast-moving, the short lines full of an energetic lightness of touch”. Kate has been awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship, and her poems have been shortlisted and won prizes in a number of competitions including the Bridport Prize and the Forward Prize. Crossbones Yard was Kate’s first crime novel. Hell Bay is the first of a new series featuring DI Ben Kitto. There are now nine books in this series. Kate is currently writing full-time and lives in Cambridge with her husband Dave Pescod, a writer and film maker.

www.katerhodesbooks.co.uk  

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction. 

‘A Deadly Summer’ by Claire Back

Published by Cranthorpe Milner Publishers,
30 June 2026.
ISBN: ‏978-1803783802 (PB)

A Deadly Summer is an impressively assured debut by Claire Back, a longtime book club member and professed crime fiction and TV drama fan who recently was moved to try to write a murder mystery of her own. The result is a resounding success. Set in the author’s beloved Wales, it incorporates locations in Pembrokeshire where the author was born and raised.    

The story has two interlinking timelines—1984 and 2015—with Back impressively conveying the unique atmosphere and customs characterising these two periods. The novel begins with a brief prologue in the mid-eighties describing an unnamed man disposing of a corpse in a sinkhole on the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and continues thirty years later—and only a short distance from the secret burial site—in the fictional seafront town of Penroth, where DS Nia Tremeyrick must identity a body found in an abandoned building and determine the manner of death. 

The High Cliff has fallen on hard times. Once the busiest and grandest of Penroth’s hotels, by 2015 it had been empty and derelict for decades. But recently it has come into the possession of a construction firm tasked with its renovation. The plan is to make it into expensive apartments. In clearing out the rubbish, workers find a corpse in the attic.    

Nia Tremeyrick is the typical flawed but endearing crime fiction protagonist. She feels unappreciated and undervalued by her colleagues in the police. Her ageing parents, struggling to survive in their isolated farm on the coast, rely heavily on Nia’s elder sister Jen, who resents all the responsibility for their care falling on her shoulders. Nia and her husband—who wanted children while she didn’t—are divorced. She hopes solving the case of the mysterious corpse will revive her career and bring her a measure of happiness. 

Back in the summer of 1984, we meet a different cast of characters who have links to the High Cliff Hotel. Cerys Pritchard is a bookish teenager who lives with her parents in the Victorian guesthouse they run in Penroth, one of twenty on its Promenade. Cerys does her best to help her parents with the backbreaking round of chores related to accommodating guests during the busy holiday season, when its eight double rooms are fully booked. All is going well until the cook, Mrs Bowen, must have a hip operation. She asks her niece to step in to help while she convalesces, having no idea of Kay Abbot’s true nature. The flirtatious and callous Kay encourages Cerys to join her in attending illicit parties at the derelict High Cliff Hotel, with tragic results.    

Early in the novel, preparing for her imminent departure for university, Cerys reads a Thomas Hardy novel, and The Deadly Summer can resemble that author in depicting the pitilessness of fate and how the best of intentions can result in the worst of outcomes. Back’s characters are convincingly drawn, the story’s plot is plausible, and the author expertly weaves together the past and present narratives in creating an unputdownable mystery. Back is sufficiently skilled to make us care about the cast of the story—and to regret the misfortunes that befall them—but her novel is a compelling and enjoyable read.
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Reviewer: Wendy Jones Nakanishi/aka Lea O’Harra.

Claire Back was born and raised in Pembrokeshire. Claire has always felt a deep connection to this part of the Welsh coastline. After a successful career in finance, she retrained to work in Early Years education and is currently writing her second novel - another mystery set in wartime Wales. A keen walker and gardener, she lives with her husband and two spaniels in Wrexham

 

Lea O’Harra.  An American by birth, did her postgraduate work in Britain – an MA in Lancaster and a doctorate at Edinburgh – and worked full-time for 36 years at a Japanese university. Since retiring in March 2020, she has spent part of each year in Lancaster and part in Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, her second home, with occasional visits to the States to see family and friends. An avid reader of crime fiction since childhood, as a university professor she wrote academic articles on it as a literary genre and then decided to try her hand at composing such stories herself, publishing the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue mystery series’ comprising three murder mysteries set in rural, contemporary Japan. The fourth and final book of this series will appear in spring 2026. She has also published two standalone crime fiction novels. 

‘Bad Chemistry’ by Nora Kelly

Published by Galileo Publishing,
15 May 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-91754343-9

The book is set in the early 1990s when history professor Gillian Adams has come from Vancouver to visit Cambridge, where she studied as an undergraduate. She is looking forward to revisiting old haunts and catching up with old friends, and hopefully to spend some time in a place she has fond memories of with her long-distance lover, Detective Chief Inspector Edward Gisborne, a detective at Scotland Yard. Gillian knows that Edward is currently involved in a murder investigation in London and respects that this must take priority, but she is pleased when he solves the difficult case in time to join her. 

Unfortunately, crime does not confine itself to London, and when Edward is visiting an old colleague and friend, Detective Chief Superintendent Reynard ‘Fox’ Hardy, who is a detective in the Cambridge police force, news comes in of a suspicious death at the university Chemistry Building.

Edward accompanies Hardy to visit the scene of crime and it soon becomes evident that death is not only suspicious but is almost certainly murder. The victim is Wendy Fowler, a talented, hard-working and fiercely ambitious young researcher, who is found in the building’s cold room, frozen and with a head wound. Because the investigation involves the university and is that of an attractive young woman, it is high profile, and Hardy is eager for Edward to assist him in solving it. Gillian is disappointed that her special time with Edward is curtailed, but she too has a personal reason for wanting the murder solved, because Wendy had been a friend of some of her friends and a fellow volunteer with them at the Pregnancy Information Service, which is part of the Cambridge Counselling Centre. 

There are a confusingly large number of potential motives and possible murderers. In the Chemistry department there are the academics whose offices were situated beneath Wendy’s: they had been flooded three times by water coming from Wendy’s office, and most people blamed this on her carelessness. There is also a great deal of professional jealousy about a rising star in the research world. Also, in a department where the senior academics are predominantly male, there is deep rooted resentment that a young woman is getting research funding and achieving such original and exciting work.

However, it is equally possible that the murder was linked to Wendy’s personal life, which is also complicated and may have given cause for jealousy. Or it may be linked to her work with the Pregnancy Information Service, which provides a valuable service to many desperate women, but which is condemned by the ‘pro life’ fanatics and by domineering and misogynistic men. As the detectives attempt to unravel the strands of Wendy’s life and try to decide which of them led to her murder, another death is discovered and the investigation takes on a different direction and a more urgent and far more dangerous aspect. 

Bad Chemistry is the third book in the series featuring Gillian Adams. It is an interesting book that describes attitudes prevailing thirty-five years ago, when women were fighting for equal opportunities and respect in an extremely male-oriented world, and it is full of lively and often eccentric characters. Gillian and Edward are engaging protagonists and the plot is complex and well paced. This is an enjoyable read which I recommend for readers who enjoy books set in an academic setting in the recent past.
---------
Reviewer: Carol Westron

Nora Hickson Kelly was born in the United States in 1945. She grew up in Jersey and spent summers on Cape Cod. She now divides her time between Cambridge and Vancouver. She teaches part-time and is at work on her new novel. She had one son. She has written five crime novels featuring Gillian Adams.

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with The Fragility of Poppies. Her most recent books is The Apples of Sodom.

 www.carolwestron.com 

The latest from Bloody Scotland: 18 - 20 September 2026

Crime in the Spotlight 2026

Crime in the Spotlight is such an important part of our festival. The initiative gives new and emerging authors the chance to read a sample of their work out before one of Bloody Scotland's packed Albert Halls sessions. Our Spotlighters also get the opportunity to sign their novels alongside the session's main act afterwards.

Here's a list of our Spotlighters and the events they will appear at... 

Friday 18th September

Pat McTaggart will read at Death on the Island

Kevan Christie will read at In Conversation: Chris Brookmyre & Abir Mukherjee

Colette Lewis will read at Denise Mina Presents Lucy Foley

Ryan MacDonald will read at The Kill Switch: Robert Peston

NJ Hatton will read at Denise Mina presents Lee Child (sold out)

Victoria West will read at Richard Osman in conversation with Mark Billingham (sold out)

Saturday 19th September
Emilie Castore & Eve Goodfellow will read at Nice and Cosy
Wes Browne will read at Denise Mina presents SA Cosby 
Angela Clegg will read at Femmes Fatales
Jen L Crow will read at Denise Mina presents Jane Harper & Jane Casey
Kelly Mancaruso will read at In Conversation: Steve Cavanagh & Nadine Matheson
Elspeth Latimer will read at Denise Mina presents Tana French
Alys Cummins will read at Jeremy Vine & Matthew Sweet

Sunday 20th September
Chris Lerpiniere will read at In Conversation: Cai Jun & Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Ruth Knafo Setton will read at In Conversation: Gregg Hurwitz & Robert Bryndza 
Kathryn Sharman will read at Denise Mina Presents Ardal O'Hanlon
Alison Aitchison will read at Dept Q
Sam Dounis will read at A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders Robert Parker will read at In Conversation: Val McDermid & Denise Mina

Crime in the Spotlight is sponsored by The Open University. You can read more about this year's Crime in the Spotlight over on our Blog. 

In Conversation: Cai Jun and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Sunday 20th September - 10:30am

Bloody Scotland are proud to welcome one of Asia’s most

prolific and popular crime authors to Stirling. Cai Jun is the leading

crime and horror writer in China – their answer to Stephen King – and

his books have sold an incredible 14 million copies worldwide.

Alongside Cai Jun will be the Queen of Icelandic Noir, the wonderful Yrsa Sigurðardóttir whose multi-award-winning books have been translated into more than 30 languages. She too leans to the darker side of crime with a tinge of horror thrown in. Cai Jun and Yrsa will be interviewed by Craig Sisterson.

Evil Under the Sun
Friday 18th September - 20:15pm

Glamour, luxury and exotic locations are at the heart of three red-hot
thrillers all rich in intrigue while being fabulously glitzy and
gripping.

A sun-drenched Tuscan villa is the setting for simmering tension and family intrigue in Kate Gray’s sizzling novel Welcome to the Family. Scandal and secrets threaten to destroy a glittering birthday party in Foluso Agbaje’s hugely suspenseful family drama, The Talk of the Party. Wild, opulent parties under the scorching Greek summer sun lead to resentment and murder in the pulsating Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant. This event will be chaired by Arusa Qureshi..

Murder at the Edge of the World:
Saturday 19th September - 21:45pm

Meet three authors who have skilfully harnessed wild locations at
opposite extremes of the world to create vivid and atmospheric crime
thrillers.

A mutilated body rises from the icy waters of Norway’s unforgiving Arctic north, in Ørjan Karlsson’s chilling thriller Into the Dark. Malcolm Kempt’s haunting debut A Gift Before Dying sees a disgraced Arctic Circle cop seek justice for a murdered girl. A cabin deep in the woods of New Zealand holds the secrets to murder in The Vanishing Place, the astonishing debut from Zoë Rankin. This event will be chaired by author Shane McGinley.

Helsinki Noir
Saturday 19th September - 20:15pm

As part of a collaboration with the Helsinki Noir festival, we are
delighted to welcome three of Finland’s leading crime writers to
Stirling.

The Winter Job is a darkly humorous slice of Finnish Noir about friendship, love and death from festival favourite Antti Tuomainen. A journalist uncovers evidence of a serial killer stalking Helsinki’s streets in Martta Kaukonen’s breathless Meet Me in the Darkness. International bestseller Satu Rämö is the creator of “Nordic Blue”, a warmer hue of Scandi Noir, and her latest is The Secrets from the Deep. This event will be chaired by Reetta Miettinen.

Interview with James Oswald

This month, we caught up with crime novelist and farmer, James Oswald, to find out more about his latest novel, The Violent Hour. 

Can you tell us about The Violent Hour and your inspiration for the book? 

The story opens with the discovery of a violent murder, or the body parts left behind after a violent murder in Edinburgh. The problem is that even though the police have got all the body parts, they can't identify the victim, which makes everything quite difficult. There's a lot of pressure to solve the case because it's festival season and the city is full of tourists - so there's a huge pressure on the police. The reason nobody knows who this person is is because the victim's birth was never registered, so, he's a mysterious character for that reason.

I can't say much more without giving too much away but I will say that it's a typical Inspector McLean book, so nothing in this case is straightforward! 

This is the 15th book in the Inspector McLean series, which blends crime and the supernatural together. Can you tell us how the series came about? 

I wrote a comic script back in the early 90s. It wasn't really a police story, but it had a police officer in it who could see the ghosts - and that was Tony McLean.

I used to live in Aberdeen and knew the author Stuart McBride very well. When he first got published he got in touch with me and said, crime fiction's where it's at - you should write that. That's when I thought, well, I've got this police character and his unique selling point is that even though he's reluctant to believe in ghosts and the supernatural - he sees it, so he has that kind of built-in conflict. I tried him out in a few short stories, one of which was called Natural Causes. I ended up expanding that short story into the novel of the same name. 

Edinburgh is very much a character in these books. Do you enjoy writing about the city?

I find it quite increasingly difficult because I don't get out much. Most of my memories of Edinburgh are from the turn of the century. I used to work in various jobs around the city and a lot of the references and locations in the books are places near where I worked because I'd go out and walk around during my lunch hour. Edinburgh has changed so much since then, so every so often I go down and have a wander around and think, oh, that building's not there any more. I have been very rude about one of the hotels a couple of times. Tony McLean is not a fan!

You'll be joining us at Bloody Scotland again this year as part of our Call the Polis event. What is it about the festival that makes it so special? 

I've been to every Bloody Scotland since it started, and the second festival was my first one as a published author, so I do feel a certain attachment to it. It's such a friendly festival and they always seem to manage to come up with a really good programme, year after year. I love Crime in the Spotlight too - it's such a big opportunity for new authors. 

It also helps that it's only three quarters an hour down the road from me, so it's nice and local!

The Violent Hour by James Oswald

is published by Wildfire and is out now. You can purchase a copy, here: https://linktr.ee/ViolentHour

James will appear on stage as part of our
Call the Polis panel on
Saturday the 19th of September at 11.30am, alongside,

 Caro Ramsay and Andrew James Greig

Fib Whisky

This year, we’ll be toasting Bloody Scotland with something very special. Our friends over at Fib Whisky have made us our very own whisky for the second year running – and it’s a very special bottle indeed! 

We caught up with Fib’s Director, Iain Mundy to find out more about this perfect pairing.

“We’re delighted to provide the official festival dram again for this year's Bloody Scotland Festival! We buy casks from all kinds of distilleries around Scotland. The one we've used this year for Bloody Scotland is from Glen Spey Distillery and it's 11 years old. It's one that a lot of people don't get to try normally because it's predominantly used for blending. It’s a single malt, but they'll usually stick it in blends like Johnny Walker, so it's only through independent companies like us, and other independent bottlers, that people actually get the chance to try it as a single malt which is really cool because it's a really nice whisky.

Fib was the brainchild of two passionate whisky fans, the late Aedan Burt and Iain Mundy, who were long-time friends and whisky enthusiasts. The independent bottlers buy whisky from many different distilleries, then carry out finishing and occasionally blending experiments to create something new and exciting.

"We've had the Bloody Scotland whisky in Oloroso Sherry for about six months. We haven't bottled the full cask. We've only made a hundred exclusive bottles and they're all numbered from one to a hundred. Once the cask runs out, that will be it done and there won't be another cask that's exactly like it - so when it's gone, it's gone! Usually when you see whisky in the supermarket, it will be diluted down to 40, 43 or 46%. But this time we haven't bothered -  it was just really nice as it was. It's completely natural, unfiltered and it's coming in at natural strength, which is 58.3 %. So it has a proper punch this time!"

You can sample a dram of Bloody Scotland's official whisky at Bloody Scotland Prizes and Drinks Reception at the Church of the Holy Rude on Friday the 18th of September. 

View the Bloody Scotland programme, here