REVIEW: Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival 2023

Scotland’s Crime Writing Festival opened in Stirling this year with writing team Nicci French. This husband and wife duo have written 25 novels and talked expressively about exploring the psychological world through writing together, and how this has sustained their relationship and made their lives much richer.

Nicci French’s new book The Favour follows a woman who is approached by her ex to do him one favour and, from there, her well-ordered life spirals out of control. The authors say the book is about how one decision can pull your whole life down.

The events this year sometimes featured ‘Crime in the Spotlight’ where a new writer took to the stage before the main act and read their work for a few minutes. Bloody Scotland has a couple of events which support new writers such as this one and Pitch Perfect, where people pitch their idea for a crime novel in front of an industry panel and an audience. Some of those who’ve pitched in the past have gone on to secure agents or book deals. This year the winner was Shane McGinley whose book concerns an intriguing mystery about a teacher who saves some pupils during a mass school shooting only to have the truth of events questioned decades later.

Bloody Scotland highlights this year included Lin Anderson and guests Donald Findlay KC and Dr James Grieve – this barrister and pathologist have sparred on many occasions over evidence in court and brought jocularity to the event by bantering away about their long association. On a more serious note Findlay talked about how it’s an important part of his job to hold scientists to account, since, he said, science changes and shouldn’t be used on its own to convict because that has resulted in many miscarriages of justice in the past. They were on the panel with Lin because she consults them when writing her novels.

At the Golden Lion, Catriona Ward talked perceptively about why the crime and thriller genre might be bottom of the book status pile but represent a third of all adult book sales. Her theory was that they provoke bodily emotions such as fear, and that books which provoke feelings connected to the body (romance, horror, crime), are seen as lower than intellectual or literary work. Her book Looking Glass Sound is about an author writing his last book.

A damp torchlit procession from the castle to the Albert Halls on the Friday night kickstarted the awards ceremony, where Kate Foster’s historical novel The Maiden won the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, and Callum McSorley won The McIlvanney Prize with his book about the Glasgow underworld Squeaky Clean.

Saturday morning began with a highly entertaining discussion with spy novelists Charles Cumming and James Naughtie, who were full of insider knowledge about how the secret intelligence services operate. James Naughtie’s experience as a broadcaster probably helped him a lot, and Charles spoke about the time when he tried to get into the intelligence services, but failed the exam.

Comic book writers Grant Morrison and Robbie Morrison were up later chatting about their new crime novels and the importance of superheroes in representing that part of humanity which can do anything. This time Grant has written an actual novel although he thinks it’s debatable whether it’s really a crime novel. Luda is set in a creative reimagining of Glasgow ‘Gasglow’ and features a drag queen. Robbie Morrison’s new thriller Cast a Cold Eye takes a journey back to a gritty Glasgow of the 1930s. Apparently actress Molly Weir’s memoirs was very useful in helping Robbie portray an authentic Glasgow of the past.

Other events included a panel about misogynist grooming groups online targeting young boys, the launch of an anthology of short stories by both Scottish and Bengali authors, Denise Mina and Karen Smirnoff who were given commissions to write in the footsteps of Raymond Chandler and Stieg Larsson – although neither woman seemed entirely enamoured by the authors whose shoes they were attempting to fill.

The programme also featured panels on cosy crime, serial killers, missing persons, and international thrillers, plus there was music from the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.