THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

The cast of Not Dark Yet are John Herdman’s contemporaries and friends, his students and readers.This celebration of John Herdman is witness to the strength of admiration that exists for this Scottish writer’s work, a body of writing that extends over a period of seven decades.And seven decades is impressive – especially for a man who is only just turning eighty.Published to mark John Herdman’s 80th birthday in 2021.*Writers, academics, publishers and literary figures from Britain, Europe and North America came together to celebrate Scottish novelist and critic, John Herdman.

Scottish Lion on Patrol was first published in 1950, the record of the 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiments formation, training ands service in the campaign that took them from Normandy to the Baltic. They played a key role in the liberation of Europe and the Regiment was unique in that it was in the forefront of the crossings of the Rivers Seine, Rhine and Elbe. The troops who landed in Normandy were highly trained but most of them had not experienced actual combat; however they very quickly learned the skills necessary to survive and defeat a cunning and resourceful foe. Full of eye-witness accounts, this is a true story of a real Band of Brothers, the original work being faithfully reproduced and significant new material from personal recollections which are graphic, moving and occasionally humorous.

During the Second World War a number of industries in Dundee were of importance to the war effort. The jute industry, which had previously dominated the local economy, had suffered badly during the 1930s. However, the war gave a temporary boost to the industry with as the material was in high demand for use in sandbags. The shipbuilding industry was also important, with the Caledon Yards being busy throughout the war. The yard refitted two Polish submarines at the beginning of the war and constructed a number of Castle and Loch Class frigates, as well as a number of merchant vessels.With its strategic importance it was believed that Dundee would be an obvious target for the Luftwaffe. Fortunately, however, Dundee escaped relatively unscathed and the city itself was only bombed on twenty-four occasions.Dundee also played a significant role in the war at sea, the city being home to a major Royal Navy submarine base, HMS Ambrose. Consequently, sailors came to be an important part of the wartime scene in Dundee and came not only from Britain and its Empire, but also from France and Norway.A great many Dundee men and women served in the armed forces during the war and the city suffered many casualties, but many also received decorations as a result of their bravery. Amongst them was Wing Commander Gordon Hugh Malcolm, who received the first RAF VC awarded for action in North Africa.

‘No one ever fully recovers from their past. There is no cure for it. You just learn to manage and prioritise it. I believe the second you feel you have triumphed or overcome something – an abuse, an injury to the body or the mind, an addiction, a character flaw, a habit, a person – you have merely decided to stop being vigilant and embraced denial as your modus operandi. And that is what this book is about, and for: to remind you not to buy in to the Hollywood ending.’Baggage chronicles the actor’s life in Hollywood and the ways in which work has repeatedly whisked him away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. Taking us through the highs and lows of his career, his struggle with mental health, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), every bad decision or moment of sensual joy, Cumming shows how every experience – good or bad – has shaped who he is today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage. Startlingly honest, both poignant and joyous, Baggage shines a light on how to embrace the complicated messiness of life.

‘Nobody does cosy, get-away-from-it-all romance like Jenny Colgan’Sunday ExpressEscape to a cosy festive bookshop this winter with this page-turning and magical treat.PRAISE FOR JENNY COLGANAn evocative, sweet treat’ Jojo Moyes’Gorgeous, glorious, uplifting’ Marian Keyes’A cracker – the must-read this festive season’ Sun’Irresistible’ Jill Mansell’Just lovely’ Katie Fforde’Naturally funny, warm-hearted’ Lisa Jewell’A gobble-it-all-up-in-one-sitting kind of book’ Mike Gayle_______________The brand new feel-good Christmas novel from Sunday Times top ten bestselling author, Jenny Colgan.Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh – a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house – Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.What Sofia didn’t say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can’t help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all…____________________Why readers ADORE Jenny Colgan’Jenny Colgan has a way of writing that makes me melt inside”Her books are so good I want to start over as soon as I have finished”There’s something so engaging about her characters and plots”Her books are like a big, warm blanket”Her stories are just so fabulous”She brings her settings and characters so vividly to life”The woman is just magic’

What are folk desperate for these days? A laugh, we reckon. And fortunately the readers of The Herald newspaper agree, as over the past year they have sent the newspaper’s Diary column their funniest moments, whether it’s about the daft things that happen in their office, the outrageous comments they are told in the pub, or just the eyebrow-raising observations they overhear on the train into town.They even have the occasional smile over politics, would you believe. And the very best of them are gathered in this handy volume. So if you want to know why Scotsmen still cannot understand their partners, the funniest claims made on the golf course, and the outrageous shenanigans of police officers, apprentices, shop-workers and school teachers, then look no further.

This unique guide to the where, when, how and why of wild swimming in Scotland draws upon the passion and knowledge of the wild swimming community. Here they share their hard-earned secrets, expertise and spirit of adventure to bring together over a hundred of the most invigorating and rewarding swimming spots around the country. All of which have been tried and tested by swimmers who can be found immersed there regularly, come rain or shine, ice or balmy waters.How do you get started?What do you need?Why is wild swimming so good for you?Plus … biosecurity, water access, road access, wild camping, the plastic problemFull of local knowledge, quirky tips and a spirit of adventure, The Art of Wild Swimming is a brilliant, practical guide to wild swimming in Scotland which will help you make the most of your wild swims and the wild swimming community, as well as looking after the environment.

The latest instalment from the beloved THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY series

Mma Ramotswe knows she is very lucky indeed. She has a loving family, good friends and a thriving business doing what she enjoys most: helping people. But the latest mystery she is called upon to solve is distinctly trickier than it initially appears, and, of course, there’s plenty to handle in her personal life between Charlie and his new bride and Mma Makutsi and her talking shoes.

In the end, Mma Ramotswe’s patience and common-sense will win out, and, without a doubt, all will be the better for it.

Leo Moran is not your average private detective. An avowed gourmet and wine connoisseur, he enjoys the pleasures of life to the hilt in the splendid isolation of his West End apartment. Ordinarily, his most pressing concerns involve which vintage of wine to pair with the finest organic steak, but at times he has more unsettling concerns: visions of violent crimes.

Asked by an old acquaintance to investigate a curse which is said to haunt the beautiful Scottish Isle of Sonna, Moran finds himself drawn into an extraordinary drama of envy, shame and vengeance. He investigates the events of summer 1989, when a group of high-spirited teenagers dabbled in an occult ritual… with tragic consequences. The teenagers are now in middle age, but acrimony persists over that terrible night. Death strikes again, and Leo realises that his presence on the island is not welcome, and that there are dark forces at work beyond his imagining.

Fatal Duty details those police officers killed while on duty in Scotland through acts of violence or in accidents from 1812 to 1952; and those, where known, who were responsible for their deaths ‘Cop Killers’. The time period covered by this book is one in which policing was at its most perilous: constables patrolled alone and at night with only a wooden baton for protection and a whistle to attract assistance if attacked. This is a time before police patrol cars, radio, helicopters, drones, armed response units, riot police and specialised equipment became everyday resources. The book also includes those police officers whose actions, be they accidental or murderous design, resulted in killing ‘Killer Cops’. And more…

1829 is a tough year to be a body snatcher. Burke and Hare have just been convicted of killing people to sell their bodies, to widespread outrage—but despite the bad press, doctors still need fresh corpses for medical research.

Sammy and Facey are a couple of so-called ‘resurrection men’, making a living among society’s fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.

For any medic worth his salt it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a medical curiosity and rara avis—and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But some corpses hold secrets, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.

Some Rise by Sin is a rich, authentic and absorbing historical narrative with a darker edge, a story of surviving on the outskirts of respectability. With echoes of Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White, it is meticulously researched and suffused with the dark and grimy atmosphere of Regency London, and explores what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn.

“The weirder this mystery gets,” said Grace, “the more determined I am to solve it…”

Newly qualified warden Grace Griffin is excited to be using the amazing teleport technology of the Griffin map to travel throughout Moreland fighting crime. But her first mission, investigating a series of petty thefts, is proving to be a bit of a puzzle. Who would steal a jar of jam, or a spanner, or a tin of machine oil? And why do all the reports mention the sighting of a bird at the scene of the robbery?

When the clues finally lead to a ramshackle castle on a lonely island, Grace might find more than just a thief…

The past is never far behind. If we do not leave it, if we insist on carrying it with us to the end…that end is a monster.

This stunning debut collection of dark, literary fiction drowns the reader in its themes of grief, regret, love, and hope.

A family is torn apart by tragedy and misadventure, their future creaking under the weight of judgment. Old men play at being ghosts while a young boy sees real ones wherever he turns. A wandering immortal desperately seeks an end to his pain.

Intimate, unflinching, and poignant, these eleven tales of the broken and the unmade include the two previously unpublished novellas, dragonland and This House is Not Haunted.

A dark net tightens on the tiny fishing Scottish fishing community of Kildrumna as conflicting forces loom. Tensions mount between owner of an expanding salmon farming enterprise in the pristine bay, local conservationists and the owners of a sporting lodge. When renowned millionaire environmentalist and keen diver Gunnar Larsen arrives on the scene with his beautiful new wife Ravenna, a deadly chain of events unfolds.

Detective Chief Inspector Robb, on holiday there with his troubled teenage daughter Marina, have their trout, salmon, sea fishing and diving idyll interrupted in a way they could never have imagined.

Twisting and turning like a foul-hooked fish, D.P.Hart-Davis’s latest sporting thriller highlights the tension between conservation and exploitation in Scotland’s fastest-growing food industry…

At 8am the first shots are fired.

At 1pm, the police establish the gunman has a hostage.

By 5pm, a siege is underway.

At 9pm, DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer.

One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.

The outstanding new novel from the highly acclaimed author of All the Hidden Truths and What You Pay For – both shortlisted for the CWA Golden Dagger.

If the truth’s in the shadows, get out of the light …

Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong type of people. Now he’s dead and it was no accident. Besides a distraught family and a heap of powerful friends, Carter’s left behind his share of enemies. So, who dealt the fatal blow?

DC Jack Laidlaw’s reputation precedes him. He’s not a team player, but he’s got a sixth sense for what’s happening on the streets. His boss chalks the violence up to the usual rivalries, but is it that simple? As two Glasgow gangs go to war, Laidlaw needs to find out who got Carter before the whole city explodes.

William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw’s first case. Now, Ian Rankin is back to finish what McIlvanney started. In The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw’s relentless quest for truth.

Christmas Day, 2020 and in Japan Cormac is headed for the hills. In the midst of the pandemic the bar he runs is closed, his marriage to Eri is falling apart and a phone call from his doctor could change everything.

As a teenager in late 1980s Tokyo, Eri documented the rise of a legendary female punk band. In the wake of its explosive demise, she shed her identity and ran. Now an unexpected message forces her to exhume long-buried memories and confront her past.

Over twenty-four hours, everything they’ve been repressing erupts under the pressure of a year in lockdown. In times like these, it’s hard to hold on.

FROM THE AWARD-WINNING DENISE MINA COMES A RADICAL NEW TAKE ON ONE OF THE DARKEST EPISODES IN SCOTTISH HISTORY – THE BLOODY MURDER OF DAVID RIZZIO.

This breathtakingly tense work is a tale of sex, seduction, secrets and lies, one that looks at history through a modern lens and explores the lengths that men – and women – will go to in the search for love and power.

It’s Saturday evening, 9 March 1566, and Mary, Queen of Scots, is six months pregnant. She’s hosting a supper party. Outside, Edinburgh is bustling. It’s full of the Great and the Good and the Idiot Sons of the Rich, here for a Parliament that will take Scotland by the shoulders and turn it from England to face Europe.

Mary doesn’t know that her Palace is surrounded – that, right now, an army of men is creeping upstairs to her chamber. They’re coming to murder David Rizzio, her friend and secretary, the handsome Italian man who is smiling across the table at her. Mary’s husband wants it done in front of her and he wants her to watch it done …

The extraordinary new story collection from one of Ireland’s greatest writers and bestselling author of Mindwinter Break.

Bernard MacLaverty is a consummately gifted short-story writer and novelist whose work – like that of John McGahern, William Trevor, Edna O’Brien or Colm Tóibín – is deceptively simple on the surface, but carries a turbulent undertow. Everywhere, the dark currents of violence, persecution and regret pull at his subject matter: family love, the making of art, Catholicism, the Troubles and, latterly, ageing.

Blank Pages is a collection of twelve extraordinary new stories that show the emotional range of a master. ‘Blackthorns’, for instance, tells of a poor out-of-work Catholic man who falls gravely ill in the sectarian Northern Ireland of 1942 but is brought back from the brink by an unlikely saviour. The most recently written story here is the harrowing but transcendent ‘The End of Days’, which imagines the last moments in the life of painter Egon Schiele, watching his wife dying of Spanish flu – the world’s worst pandemic, until now.

Much of what MacLaverty writes is an amalgam of sadness and joy, of circumlocution and directness. He never wastes words but neither does he ever forget to make them sing. Each story he writes creates a universe.

About to get married, Mirabelle and her fiancé retired Superintendent Alan McGregor are torn about where they will settle but when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes up to buy a secluded house on the banks of the Firth of Forth, they submit to getting permission from the local landlord. But that permission comes at a price and when a nun dies in mysterious circumstances at the Little Sisters of Gethsemane Convent nearby they are drafted to uncover what happened.