Nina Allan
A multi-award-winning novelist and critic, Nina was listed by The Guardian in 2018 as one of its Fresh Voices: 50 Writers You Should Read Now. A recipient of the British Science Fiction Award, the Kitschies Red Tentacle and France’s Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. Her 2025 novel, A Granite Silence, is a historical true-crime mystery that visits Aberdeen and Stonehaven. Known for: A Granite Silence. The Good Neighbours. The Rift. The Dollmaker. The Silver Wind.
Julie Adams
Arbroath writer Julie Adams began her fiction career after many years in teaching and now writes crime and mystery novels set across the Scottish Highlands. Her debut novel Malbister (2020), a road-trip mystery set on the North Coast 500, introduced readers to her storytelling style exploring family, community and hidden secrets. Her more recent novel Fenagill follows disgraced art historian Cally James as she uncovers a mystery involving missing people, stolen art and a cursed castle. Known for: Malbister. Fenagill. Highland-set crime and mystery fiction.
Tariq Ashkanani
Tariq won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2025 with his novel The Midnight King, awarded at the Bloody Scotland crimewriting festival. His debut novel Welcome to Cooper (2021) won the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and was also nominated for the Capital Crime Fingerprint Award and the CWA New Blood Dagger. Tariq, an Edinburgh-based solicitor, also hosts the Page One Podcast. Known for: The Midnight King; 2025 McIlvanney Prize winner. Welcome to Cooper; Bloody Scotland Debut Prize winner. Follow Me to the Edge. The Cooper series.
Rachel Bremner
Rachel Bremner writes Scottish coastal crime fiction set in Stonehaven, exploring the secrets people keep, the histories they inherit and the tensions that surface when something goes wrong. Her debut novel The Crimson Keep draws on the dramatic landscapes and legends of the north-east coast. Rachel Bremner is the crime-writing pen name of bestselling women’s fiction and domestic suspense author Emma Dhesi. Known for: The Crimson Keep.
Mark Bridgeman
Mark Bridgeman
Mark’s books explore true crime, historical mysteries and unsolved cases from Scotland and beyond. Since publishing his first book in 2019 he has written more than a dozen bestselling titles, with his work appearing on ITV, Channel 5, Discovery+, the History Channel and the BBC. The Violet Charlesworth Story was shortlisted for The Guardian’s Top 20 non-fiction books of 2025. Known for: Perthshire’s Pound of Flesh. The Scottish Murder Book. The Dark Side of the Dales. Unsolved cases and True crime investigations.
Lexie Conyngham
Lexie Conyngham is a historian based in north-east Scotland whose historical crime novels draw on a life spent among Scotland’s old cities, ancient universities and hidden aristocratic estates. Her series include the Murray of Letho and Hippolyta Napier mysteries set in Georgian Scotland, the Robert Wilson series set in eighteenth-century Europe, the Alec Cattanach series set in wartime Aberdeen, and the Orkneyinga Murders set in Viking-age Orkney. Known for: Series – Orkneyinga Murders; Murray of Letho; Hippolyta Napier; Alec Cattanach.
Elizabeth Highfield
Elizabeth Highfield, the pen name of Janet Tibble, writes atmospheric crime fiction inspired by Scotland’s landscapes and rural communities. Her debut novel Murder in the Forest was inspired by walks in Fetteresso Forest between Stonehaven and Banchory, which she reimagined as Kilkarnie Forest in the book. Originally from Yorkshire, she moved to Scotland in 1993 and began writing fiction after retiring. Known for: Murder in the Forest.
Nancy Jardine
Nancy is an Aberdeenshire author whose novels explore Scotland’s past through historical fiction, mystery and time-travel adventures. Her popular Celtic Fervour series brings the drama of Roman Britain vividly to life through richly-researched stories set in ancient Scotland. Alongside her historical novels she has also written contemporary mystery thrillers, including Topaz Eyes. Nancy regularly gives presentations on her writing and on the history of Roman Scotland. Known for: Celtic Fervour historical series. The Beltane Choice. Topaz Eyes. Tailored Truths.
Catriona Keith
Catriona Keith writes dark, character-driven fiction set in north-east Scotland. Her novel The Devil and Daniel Singer is a piece of tartan noir set in a Scottish fishing town where crime, secrecy and the strict religious world of the Plymouth Brethren collide. Alongside her crime writing she also writes MM romance, including English and History. A native of the north-east, Catriona lives in the region with her family. Known for: The Devil and Daniel Singer. English and History. Tartan noir set in north-east Scotland.
Chris Longmuir
Chris is the winner of the prestigious Dundee International Book Prize for her debut novel Dead Wood, the first in her Dundee Crime Series. She has since written a number of crime and historical novels including the Kirsty Campbell Mysteries and a new Suffragette Mystery series. A former social worker with postgraduate qualifications in criminology, she now writes and publishes from her home in Angus on Scotland’s east coast. Known for: Dundee Crime Series.
Allan Martin
Allan is the author of the Inspector Angus Blue crime series, which began with The Peat Dead, shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year debut prize at Bloody Scotland in 2019. The series continues with The Dead of Jura, The Dead of Appin, The Dead of Oban and The Dead of Mull. Allan has also written historical crime novels set in 1930s Estonia featuring Chief Inspector Juri Hallmets. A former teacher, teacher-trainer and university lecturer, he lives in Glasgow. Known for: The Peat Dead. Inspector Angus Blue series.
Deborah Masson
Aberdeen-born crime writer Deborah Masson is the author of the bestselling DI Eve Hunter series, which began with her debut novel Hold Your Tongue. Her latest thriller, I’ll Be Watching You, a dark and gripping tale of obsession, power and control set in Aberdeen, has generated major buzz on publication, with thriller writer Peter James calling Masson “a true rising star.” Her novel From The Ashes was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Novel. Known for: DI Eve Hunter series. Hold Your Tongue. From The Ashes. I’ll Be Watching You.
Rob McInroy
Rob writes historical crime fiction set in Perthshire during the 1930s and 1940s. His debut novel Cuddies Strip, praised by Val McDermid as “highly recommended”, introduces Bob and Annie Kelty and draws on true crimes in 1930s Perth. The series continues with Barossa Street, Moot and Barvick Falls, following the characters through wartime Scotland. Rob is a creative writing tutor with an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in American literature. Known for: Bob and Annie Kelty historical crime series.
A. M. Nicol
In his true crime novel Sheila Garvie: Mastermind or Victim, A. M. Nicol explores a sensational 1968 murder case in Kincardineshire whose lurid details, involving aristocracy, drugs, alcohol, fast cars and notorious parties, gripped Scotland. Through new perspectives and careful examination of the evidence, the book seeks to uncover the truth behind the killing of Maxwell Robert Garvie and the role of his enigmatic wife Sheila. Writing under the name A. M. Nicol, Allan MacKenzie Nicol served as a Procurator Fiscal Depute and Advocate Depute prosecuting High Court cases. Known for: Sheila Garvie: Mastermind or Victim.
Manuel: Scotland’s First Serial Killer. The Monster Butler: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer.
Marion Todd
Dundee-born crime writer Marion Todd is the author of the bestselling DI Clare Mackay series, which has sold more than half a million copies. Her debut novel See Them Run was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year award, launching a hugely popular Tartan Noir series set in St Andrews and the surrounding area. She lives in north-east Fife overlooking the River Tay. Known for: DI Clare Mackay series. See Them Run. A Blind Eye. Watch Them Fall.
Ewan Wallace
After 34 years as a GP in Aberdeen, Ewan Wallace turned to crime fiction and published his debut novel The Coldest Dish in 2023. His second novel, Death Between The Rivers (2025), continues the DI Lily Bankhurst series set in
north-east Scotland. He lives in Aberdeen with his wife Julia. Known for: DI Lily Bankhurst series. The Coldest Dish. Death Between The Rivers.
Witches of Scotland — Claire Mitchell KC & Zoe Venditozzi
Described by The Times as “two of Scotland’s most vivid storytellers”, Claire Mitchell KC and Zoe Venditozzi founded the Witches of Scotland campaign, seeking justice for the nearly 4,000 people, predominantly women, accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563 and 1736. Their book How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy became a Sunday Times bestseller, won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award and was named Blackwell’s Scottish Book of the Year. Drawing on historical records, expert testimony and stories of the accused, it examines why the patriarchy went to such lengths to silence women and asks: could it happen again? Known for: The Witches of Scotland campaign. How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy. The Witches of Scotland podcast. The Witches of Scotland tartan.
Douglas Skelton
Douglas Skelton is the author of ten crime thrillers and twelve non-fiction books, and has been longlisted three times for the McIlvanney Prize, most recently in 2022. His acclaimed historical crime series features Jonas Flynt – gambler, thief, killer and reluctant spy – beginning with An Honourable Thief and continuing with Ship of Thieves, a high-seas adventure that brings Flynt face to face with the legendary pirate Blackbeard. Alongside his fiction, Skelton has enjoyed a varied career including roles as a reporter, investigator and newspaper editor. Known for: Jonas Flynt series. An Honourable Thief. Ship of Thieves.
Ellen Dunne
Ellen Dunne is an award-winning crime writer whose Patsy Logan series has received major recognition across Europe, including the Fine Crime Award in 2024 and the Friedrich Glauser Prize in 2023 for Boom Town Blues. Her novel The Lost Son is a literary thriller exploring identity and the pull of the past across Ireland and Vienna. Born near Salzburg and now based in Dublin, she brings an international perspective to her work. Known for: Patsy Logan crime series. Boom Town Blues. Harte Landung. The Lost Son.
Heather Critchlow
Heather Critchlow grew up in rural Aberdeenshire, drawing on its landscapes and communities to shape her atmospheric crime fiction. Her debut novel Unsolved was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year in 2023, introducing crime podcaster Cal Lovett and launching a compelling Scottish series. Her latest novel, The Tomorrow Project, has received critical acclaim Known for: Cal Lovett series. Unsolved.
Heart of Stone Festival 