THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

Discover the wonderful world of birdwatching with wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin – winner of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing 2022 and presenter of BBC documentary Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey

‘Birds have been with me my entire life – from the colourful weaver birds on the banks of the Nile in Sudan to the magpies of Newcastle, from the roosting peregrine falcons near my parents’ house in Northampton to the white-tailed eagles on the west coast of Scotland. I love them. If you take the time to stop and listen, you’ll see the world through different eyes. It’s all out there, waiting for you to find it. And it might just bring you as much joy as it’s brought me.’

Journey along with Hamza in Be a Birder as he recounts stories of his birding adventures, and shares tips and tricks to help you get started in birdwatching.

In this beautifully illustrated guide featuring fifty of Hamza’s favourite birds, you will learn how to start identifying birds, understand their behaviour and movements, and find even more exciting birds, wherever you are. Starting with the goldfinch in your garden, to tawny owls in woodlands, to the elusive kingfisher near rivers and marshes, you will build your birdwatching confidence and push yourself further afield to find new feathered wonders.

Encouraging us all to stop, step outside and listen, Be a Birder is both a practical guide and a joyous celebration of these incredible creatures. Once you start looking for them, and with Hamza as your guide, your world will be forever changed.

Robbie and Jenn are meant to be. They’ve finally reconciled after eight months spent apart and both know that, this time, it’s forever.

But forever might not be as long as they think.

As a truck hurtles towards their car on their way home, Robbie is thrown back into Jenn’s past and he finds himself spectator in the most important moments of her life: golden moments from her childhood and heart-breaking ones from her teenage years; her exhausting time at med school and just where she’s been for the last eight months. But he may find more than he bargained for…

Can Robbie right the wrongs in their past? Can he get to the bottom of what drove Jenn away eight months ago? Most importantly, can he change their present in order to save their future?

The Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger Winning Author

A religious serial killer is haunting Florence and only Cesare Aldo can stop them. A Divine Fury is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Italy.

‘Fast becoming a serious rival to C. J. Sansom and S. J. Parris’ – Historical Novel Society

Florence. Autumn, 1539.

Cesare Aldo was once an officer for the city’s most feared criminal court. Following a period of exile, he is back – but demoted to night patrol, when only the drunk and the dangerous roam the streets.

Chasing a suspect in the rain, Aldo discovers a horrifying scene beneath Michelangelo’s statue of David. Lifeless eyes gaze from the face of a man whose body has been posed as if crucified. It’s clear the killer had religious motives.

When more bodies appear, Aldo believes an unholy murderer is stalking the citizens of Florence. Watching. Hunting. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike again . . .

A Divine Fury is the fourth Cesare Aldo mystery, preceded by City of Vengeance, The Darkest Sin and Ritual of Fire.

‘I genuinely could not put this down’ – Stacey Halls, author of Mrs England
‘A tour de force of a gothic thriller. I devoured it’ – Gillian McAllister, author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time
‘Taut, propulsive, beautifully done’ – Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora

From Elizabeth Macneal, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is a spellbinding Gothic thriller about murder and manipulation.

London, 1839. With the cemeteries full and money to be made in death, tricksters Crawford and Bonnie survive on wicked schemes and ill-gotten coin. But one blistering evening, their fortunes flip. A man lies in a pool of blood at Bonnie’s feet and now she needs to disappear.

Crawford secures her a position as lady’s maid in a grand house on the Thames. As Bonnie comes to understand the family – the eccentric Mr Moncrieff, obsessively drawing mausoleums for his dead wife, and their peculiar daughter Cissie, scribbling imaginary love letters to herself – she begins to question what secrets are lying behind the house’s paper-thin walls and whether her own presence here was planned from the beginning.

Because Crawford is watching, and perhaps he is plotting his greatest trick yet . . .

Two lonely strangers. One chance encounter. Six winning numbers.

Dot is a lonely pensioner. Max is a young offender. But a chance meeting in their local park changes everything for this unlikely duo. They soon find they share a wicked sense of humour and a penchant for petty crime.

When Dot wins the lottery, Max helps her make a bucket list of all the things she’s always wanted to do but never had the chance.

The pair gradually realise that it’s not just expensive gadgets, fast cars and fun fairs that make them happy. And that the secret to living a rich life isn’t money . . .

Readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Keeper of Lost Things will love this book.

‘Rarely does one read a novel that so nourishes the soul and completely restores one’s faith in the inherent goodness of mankind. Jones is an exceptional writer’ – Tendai Huchu, author of The Hairdresser of Harare

Contradictions (both real and apparent), oppositions, enigmas, provocations, challenges – this is the kind of material that makes a life, and is the kind of material that, in fiction, one is never quite sure of. With Pretty Ugly, Kirsty Gunn reminds us again that she is a master of just such material, presenting ambiguity and complication as the essence of the storyteller’s endeavour.

The sheer force of life that Gunn is able to load these stories up with is both testament to her unrivalled skill and an exercise in what she describes as ‘reading and writing ugly’, in order to pursue the deeper truths that lie at the heart of both the human imagination and human rationality.

So here we have all the strange and seemingly impossible dualities that make up real life-and pretty ugly it can be, as well as beautiful, hopeful, bleak, difficult, exhilarating. But never, ever dull.

Dream deeply. Rise up strong. Change is coming…

‘Instantly immersive and compelling, rich and strange, human and humane, and most of all inspiring … an extraordinary story.’ Lee Child

From the bestselling author of mythic, page-turning, world-building thrillers comes this present-day story of three generations thrown to the forefront of a political crisis and the uprising that follows. Virtual and real violence stalk the family’s every move, yet between them their skills include digital mastery, political edge and roots sunk deep into the old, wild myths of the land. In the combination of these they might just find the key to the transformation they yearn for…

As Lan lies dying, she makes a promise that binds her long into the beyond. Fifteen years later, her teenage granddaughter, Kaitlyn, triggers an international storm of outrage that unleashes the rage of a whole betrayed generation. For one shining fragment of time, the world is with her. But then the backlash begins and soon she and those closest to her find themselves facing the wrath of the old establishment, who will use every dirty trick in the book to fight them off. Watching over the growing chaos is Lan, who taught them all to think independently, approach power sceptically and dream with clear intent. She knows more than one generation’s hopes are on the line. Nothing less than the future of humanity stands in the balance.

Grand in scope, rich in courageous characters who breathe new life into ancient wisdom, here is a dream of a better future: the story of a world we’d be proud to leave to our children and their children and on, generations down the line.

“This is a novel filled with love―not only Keedie’s love for Addie but McNicoll’s for young neurodivergent people everywhere, and the brilliant and brave Keedie will inspire those children to be proud of who they are.” The Bookseller

Set in Juniper five years before A Kind of Spark comes a powerful coming-of-age story from award-winning author Elle McNicoll.

As Keedie and her twin Nina approach their fourteenth birthday, they seem to only be growing further apart. Keedie instead feels drawn to, and fiercely protective of, their quiet younger sister Addie – who on the surface is the opposite of loud and fiery Keedie, but in fact they have more in common than anyone knows.

“A brilliant story of kindness, justice and just a little bit of revenge. Brash, bold and furious, just like Keedie herself.” Lizzie Huxley-Jones

In a fractured dystopic future, the child Rue finds solace in the garden of a mysterious community. Rue has lost identity, family, home and people to war. Too much has happened for Rue to trust others, but connection with the rest of the living world is not lost. Adulthood requires a courageous journey through a landscape of despair, yet ultimately Rue finds hope of regeneration from unexpected sources.

I realised that the struggle in Indonesia was very important as it concerned the destiny of over 70 million people. I knew that if the struggle for Independence failed, the western world would be equally to blame. Tom Atkinson

Merdeka (Indonesian; Malaysian): ‘independent’ or ‘free’. ‘Merdeka’ became Indonesia’s national battle-cry and salute during its fight for independence from the Dutch Empire in the 1940s.

Indonesia: a state formed of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia was under Dutch control for nearly 200 years until it declared independence in 1945 under President Sukarno.

In this book Chris Moorhouse recounts the extraordinary, previously unwritten saga of Tom Atkinson – a soldier, political speechwriter, farmer, hotelier, and publisher. At the heart of Indonesia’s 1940s struggle for independence, Tom played an important role in spreading the truth of what was happening in Indonesia around the world, helping to liberate the nation from centuries of colonial rule. Stationed in Indonesia immediately after World War II with the raf, he founded the Indonesian Information Bulletin, paving the way for his tenure as President Sukarno’s speechwriter for over a decade.

Merdeka weaves a poignant narrative, merging political commentary and a captivating love story, shedding fresh perspectives on a nation’s genesis.

When evil stalks the land, who can you trust?

Francis Hilton is distraught at the death of his father. They weren’t close, but now Fran must face the consequences of Andrew Hilton’s decision to bring his daughter up as a son. Torn between her desire to be herself and the freedom and power he has as a man, Fran feels desperately alone.

But he has more to worry about as the north of England braces itself for the arrival of Scottish raiders in the aftermath of the battle of Bannockburn. Dread turns to horror, however, when a monstrous figure is seen in the hills above Hilton and a grotesque offering is left in Warcop, three miles away. As violence and murder soon follow, it seems that Adam Fotheringill – a local man killed escaping from Bannockburn – has returned from the dead to wreak revenge. But for what?

With the threat from the Scots a priority for the authorities, Fran, Will Warcop, the local priest, and a motley band of Hilton’s young people set out to deal with the Revenant. As they move closer to the truth, Fran finds friendship and even love. But when the truth is finally revealed, it threatens to tear them all apart.

‘Jenni Daiches has astonishingly re-created a lost world… I wept and laughed and wished I had written it.’ MIRIAM MARGOLYES

About the book

Rosa Roshkin is five years old when her family are murdered in a pogrom and she is forced to leave behind everything she knows with only a suitcase of clothes and her father’s violin.

An epic generational novel about womanhood and Judaeo-Scottish experience across two World Wars, the creation of Israel and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jenni Daiches’s Somewhere Else explores today’s most difficult and urgent questions, not least of which: how to find identity in displacement.

When evil stalks the land, who can you trust?

Francis Hilton is distraught at the death of his father. They weren’t close, but now Fran must face the consequences of Andrew Hilton’s decision to bring his daughter up as a son. Torn between her desire to be herself and the freedom and power he has as a man, Fran feels desperately alone.

But he has more to worry about as the north of England braces itself for the arrival of Scottish raiders in the aftermath of the battle of Bannockburn. Dread turns to horror, however, when a monstrous figure is seen in the hills above Hilton and a grotesque offering is left in Warcop, three miles away. As violence and murder soon follow, it seems that Adam Fotheringill – a local man killed escaping from Bannockburn – has returned from the dead to wreak revenge. But for what?

With the threat from the Scots a priority for the authorities, Fran, Will Warcop, the local priest, and a motley band of Hilton’s young people set out to deal with the Revenant. As they move closer to the truth, Fran finds friendship and even love. But when the truth is finally revealed, it threatens to tear them all apart.

Joshua dies on his birthday.

Joshua dies the day he is born.

Joshua lives for three hours.

Joshua is alive.

Rodge Glass’s nephew Joshua died the same day he was born, from a blood condition they both share.

This book charts the five years around Joshua’s life and death to tell the story of Rodge’s attempts to make sense of this loss. Having spent a lifetime using reading and writing to both hide from and face the world, Joshua in the Sky serves as a kind of reckoning, asking the questions: whose life deserves to be remembered? And how?

Brought to you by Penguin.

In his most exhilarating novel yet, Britain’s greatest storyteller transports you from the vibrant streets of sixties London to the sun-soaked cobbles of Cadiz and the frosty squares of Warsaw, as an accidental spy is drawn into the shadows of espionage and obsession.

Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a tragedy: every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes in the grip of the Cold War. When he’s offered the chance to interview a political figure, his ambition leads him unwittingly into a web of duplicities and betrayals.

As Gabriel’s reluctant initiation takes hold, he is drawn deeper into the shadows. Falling under the spell of Faith Green, an enigmatic and ruthless MI6 handler, he becomes ‘her spy’, unable to resist her demands. But amid the peril, paranoia and passion consuming Gabriel’s new covert life, it will be the revelations closer to home that change the rest of his story. . .

‘Sheer, truly brilliant storytelling. He has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries’ Daily Telegraph

‘If it’s true escapism you’re after, William Boyd can always be relied upon to transport the reader from reality’ Vogue

‘A master storyteller’ Observer

© William Boyd 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Winner 2014 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize

Longlisted: International Dublin Literary Award 2016

Sunday Herald Book of the Year 2014

Elderly, Egypt-mad twins Isis and Osiris find their neglected English lives disturbed to catastrophic effect by the arrival of American Anarchist, Spike

New from Lesley Glaister, winner of the Somerset Maugham, Betty Trask and Yorkshire Post Author of the Year prizes

‘This tale of imprisonment and neglect explores our passion for nostalgia, with hints of Dodie Smith’s darker side. An excellent read that pulls at the heart as well as the head.’ – Victoria Clark, The Lady

‘Eerily atmospheric Little Egypt, made me shudder; certain passages were read through half-closed eyes, the way you watch grisly scenes in a film – desperate to know what happens, but not wanting to disturbing images imprinted on your mind.’ – Rosemary Goring, The Herald

Little Egypt was once a well-to-do country house in the north of England. Now it’s derelict and trapped on a small island of land between a railway, a dual carriageway and a superstore, and although it looks deserted it isn’t. Nonagenarian twins, Isis and Osiris, still live in the home they were born in, and from which in the 1920s their obsessive Egyptologist parents left them to search for the fabled tomb of Herihor – a search from which they never returned. Isis and Osiris have stayed in the house, guarding a terrible secret, for all their long lives until chance meeting between Isis and young American anarchist Spike, sparks an unlikely friendship and proves a catalyst for change.

‘I was gripped by the story from start to finish, finding it a perturbing, poignant and, in places, a darkly humorous read.’ – Amazon.co.uk

This enormously accomplished novel took twenty years to come to fruition: it is well worth the wait – buy your copy now.

He left for university… and never came back

Arran went missing in Edinburgh twenty years ago. The last time his parents saw him he was withdrawn and on edge where he’d once been happy and carefree. Still searching for their son, they turn to their last hope, true crime podcaster Cal Lovett.

Cal begins looking for answers, but is distracted by his sister’s murder trial. He’s so close to getting the justice Margot deserves. Can he finally leave the past – and Margot – behind?

As Cal unearths disturbing evidence about Arran’s fate, he suspects the young man’s close-knit group of university friends are keeping secrets to protect each other. It seems old loyalties don’t die easily. But they can’t all stay silent forever?

An unputdownable crime thriller perfect for fans of Jane Casey, Cara Hunter and Neil Lancaster.

Occupying the southernmost part of the largest of the Western Isles, Harris boasts some of the most ruggedly beautiful and unspoilt landscape in Scotland.

In this book, Bill Lawson, who has lived on Harris for many years, not only introduces the reader to the events that have shaped the island’s history, but also dips into the local legends, traditions and tales, as well as his own personal reminiscences. The result is a unique insight into Harris and the life and industry of its people through the ages.

‘There is no greater authority on the history of Harris and Lewis alive than Bill Lawson’ – The Herald

Set in 1960s Glasgow, The Dear Green Place is an absorbing portrait of the struggles and conflicts of a young working-class hero and would-be novelist Mat Craig whose desire to define himself as an artist creates social and family tensions.

This classic of Scottish twentieth-century literature is an absorbing and moving story, with vivid descriptions of the city around Mat; it remains as authentic and relevant nearly fifty years on.

Hannah Lavery’s Unwritten Woman is a bold and lavish call for us to see the woman in the stories we read and tell ourselves.From her search for the story, in her home city, Edinburgh, through her chilling re-telling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll & Hyde, elevating the women in that classic tale from being written between the lines, to the woman of colour, shouting from the sidelines of our cultural landscape.