Poison pen
by Jackie McLean
“Is it true?”
The question took me by surprise. Not just the noise springing suddenly out of the silence but the tone of it, and coming from Mrs Sillars, too.
Now, let me tell you a thing or two about Mrs Sillars. She would come into the library most days, and she had pretty much taken up residence there by that time. … Read the rest
Stamp collecting is one of my favourite ways of finding space and tranquility in the clamour of everyday life. Lately I’ve been working on the Arabian Nights as a topic, partly because the stamps are lovely to look at, and partly because the history of the tales as a body of literature is fascinating.… Read the rest
Welcome to my new look newsletter! Download it here:
It’s got a selection of the month’s new crime fiction book releases, as well my current and next reads to inspire you. September sees the release of some amazing books, like The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin.… Read the rest
Welcome to the monthly round-up of new crime releases and events. There’s plenty to keep you busy during June, from the release of the latest Chemical Detective book to the fantastic Blood Brothers’ Big Book Blowout, and loads more in between!
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Welcome to the round-up of criminal goodies for the month of May. This month, we’re going around the world with crime fiction. We’re excited to feature Barbara Nadel‘s Inspector Çetin Ikman series, set in Turkey, with its 23rd book (Forfeit) released on 13th May.
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We also can’t wait to read UK-set The Nurse, China-set City of Ice and Iceland-set Girls Who Lie.… Read the rest
Welcome to this month’s round-up of crime fiction book releases and events.
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There’s plenty to keep us busy, and lots to get involved with. We feature Margaret Kirk‘s DI Lukas Mahler series on the front cover, with the latest book due out this month, and we’ve also selected Roses for the Dead by Chris McDonald as our top read.… Read the rest
This weekend I’m taking part in a couple of events, discussing crime fiction:
As part of the Southside Fringe, I’m joining a diverse lineup of local arts talent, and I’ll be talking all things writing and crime fiction (with some tips for new writers). Watch here from Saturday evening. Look out, too, for the highly entertaining Four Blokes in Search of a Plot.… Read the rest
This weekend sees the Reading Between the Lines online book festival, featuring a raft of superb crime writers. And it’s free!
I’ll be taking part on Sunday, along with Caro Ramsay and Mark J. Newman. Our session comes at the end of the programme, so join us and bring a beer (we’re certainly having one).… Read the rest
Here’s my third video on how to use Scrivener. In this one, I’ll show you how to customise your screen, which is how you’ll really get the best out of the software.
The first video shows you how I like my screen to be set up when I’m working on a book, and the second one shows you the basics of how to get started.… Read the rest
Welcome to the round-up of criminal goodies for the month of March. With the tantalising prospect of lockdown restrictions coming to an end soon, it can be a frustrating wait. However, with plenty to keep us occupied on the crime fiction front, maybe we won’t be in too much of a hurry to go out…
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This month, we have the thrilling Anthrax Island by DL Marshall, and top reads from favourites Rob Parker, Mel Sherratt and Alex Gray.… Read the rest
Here’s the second video in my mini series on how to use Scrivener. In the previous video I showed you how it’s set up for my current work in progress, so you can see what it can do. In this second video, I’ll show you how to get started with Scrivener – how to set up the files you’ll probably need when you’re writing a book.… Read the rest
