THE BEST OF SCOTTISH BOOKS

War is hovering on the horizon, and Lady Dandy Gilver wants nothing more than to keep her friends and family close. But then a call in the night places her oldest friend Daisy at the centre of a murder investigation. With her friend’s future on the line, Dandy and her fellow sleuth Alec Osbourne must race to prove her innocence.

But when they reach the idyllic Scottish village of Dirleton, residents confirm a woman was seen at the crime scene – an ancient stone called the louping stane, still spattered with the victim’s blood. And the longer the detectives spend in the village the more they question Daisy’s involvement. They’re not getting the answers they need, but are they asking the right questions? . . .

War is hovering on the horizon, and Lady Dandy Gilver wants nothing more than to keep her friends and family close. But then a call in the night places her oldest friend Daisy at the centre of a murder investigation. With her friend’s future on the line, Dandy and her fellow sleuth Alec Osbourne must race to prove her innocence.

But when they reach the idyllic Scottish village of Dirleton, residents confirm a woman was seen at the crime scene – an ancient stone called the louping stane, still spattered with the victim’s blood. And the longer the detectives spend in the village the more they question Daisy’s involvement. They’re not getting the answers they need, but are they asking the right questions? . . .

The Tunnel Tigers were an elite group of construction workers who specialised in a lucrative but hazardous profession – blasting tunnels through mountains and under rivers, in dangerous conditions few men could endure.

Alice Larkin, the headstrong daughter of a millionaire and former news reporter, claims her lover, a Tunnel Tiger, died in mysterious circumstances many years ago, and she wants journalist Rebecca Connolly to investigate.

Intrigued, Rebecca throws herself into investigating the story, but she soon comes face to face with an old adversary. Family legacies and influential reputations are at stake – and danger is shockingly close to home.

‘[A] warm and witty exploration of our hidden vulnerabilities’ – Catherine Simpson

Ellis’s life has crumbled without warning. Her boyfriend has fallen in love with someone else, her job’s insecure, her bank account’s empty and she has a mouthful of unreliable teeth. Forced back to her childhood home, there is little in the way of comfort. Her mum is dating a younger man (a dentist, no less) and is talking of selling the house, her sister, Lana, is furious all the time, and a distant cousin has now arrived from the States to stay with them.

During a long, hot Edinburgh summer, Ellis’s world spins out of control. She’s dogged by toothache, her ex won’t compensate her for the flat and somehow she’s found herself stalking his new lover on Facebook.

Will Ellis realise before it’s too late that the bite she was born with is worth preserving?

‘There’s a huge emotional punch packed into this deceptively light novel’ – Sally Morris, Daily Mail

For fans of Sally Rooney, Meg Mason and Marian Keyes.

The Tunnel Tigers were an elite group of construction workers who specialised in a lucrative but hazardous profession – blasting tunnels through mountains and under rivers, in dangerous conditions few men could endure.

Alice Larkin, the headstrong daughter of a millionaire and former news reporter, claims her lover, a Tunnel Tiger, died in mysterious circumstances many years ago, and she wants journalist Rebecca Connolly to investigate.

Intrigued, Rebecca throws herself into investigating the story, but she soon comes face to face with an old adversary. Family legacies and influential reputations are at stake ? and danger is shockingly close to home.

This humourous, accessible collection explores a diverse range of themes: death, infidelity, politics, homesickness, racism, humanity as well as every day life. The topics, found within the lines of this book, are portrayed with such humour and warmth they will delight, shock and amuse readers in equal measure. Reading this collection has been described as, ‘feeling like I was at a book festival, stand-up comedy night and therapy session all at once. Every poem is an event.’ Kevin MacNeil, author of The Brilliant & Forever, A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde and The Stornoway Way.

Raw, beautiful and completely devoid of pretension, Ali Whitelock’s poems will speak to anyone who’s ever messed up, been confused or wished they’d done things differently.

With the announcement of ‘Lockdown’ in March 2020, all notions of ‘normal life’ were shattered, affecting everyone nationwide. Among rural folk in Highland Perthshire, where fireside visits were a way of life, suddenly it all changed: no visiting, not even a wee ceilidh by the fire.

This book records a ‘pandemic project’ that was devised so that folk in the glens and villages of Strathearn could still enjoy sharing stories, information, news and laughter without breaking ‘lockdown’ rules. Through these ordinary conversations we meet some extraordinary people; discover part of Scotland’s history; learn about traditions that sustained a way of life, and listen to stories that might otherwise be forgotten.

‘In the heart of Scotland, in the grip of a pandemic, Margaret Benne created a virtual hearthside to counter isolation and depression. This wonderful book is the result. It is a unique record of rural life, a distillation of shared humanity, and a vivid demonstration of how stories and memories can leap across the generations to connect past and present. If you put Margaret Bennett in solitary confinement, somehow she would still start up a ceilidh!’ A note by Donald Smith, Director, Scottish International Storytelling Festival

A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three bosom companions – a healer, a weaver and a seer. If the men hunting her find them, they will kill her because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth.

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as power-hungry murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.

As the net closes in on the queen, we discover a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it, one strong charismatic woman who survived loss and jeopardy to finally outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and ambitious men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.

The island of Scarp lies off the west coast of North Harris in the Outer Hebrides and was populated for more than 400 years until 1971, when the last of the native population left.  This magnificent account of Scarp describes an island community and a way of life now all but forgotten. It includes the harvests of the land and the sea; children’s games and pastimes; long traditional folktales told around the peat-fire; social customs and occasions; and some of the notable characters of the day. It fills a long-felt gap, for the story of Scarp – unlike its westerly neighbour St Kilda – has not been told in this way before.

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, millions of lives changed in an instant.

Millions of people were suddenly on the move. In this great flow of people was a reporter from the north of Scotland. Jen Stout left Moscow abruptly, ending up on a border post in southeast Romania, from where she began to cover the human cost of Russian aggression. Her first-hand, vivid reporting brought the war home to readers in Scotland as she reported from front lines and cities across Ukraine. Stories from the night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers: stories from the ground, from a writer with a deep sense of empathy, always seeking to understand the bigger picture, the big questions of identity, history, hopes and fears in this war in Europe.

Night Train to Odesa begins in Russia and continues to focus on people, relationships and individuals in Ukraine. It is the account of a young female reporter with no institutional backup or security. Both in language and themes, it is accessible and highly readable.

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, millions of lives changed in an instant.

Millions of people were suddenly on the move. In this great flow of people was a reporter from the north of Scotland. Jen Stout left Moscow abruptly, ending up on a border post in southeast Romania, from where she began to cover the human cost of Russian aggression. Her first-hand, vivid reporting brought the war home to readers in Scotland as she reported from front lines and cities across Ukraine. Stories from the night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers: stories from the ground, from a writer with a deep sense of empathy, always seeking to understand the bigger picture, the big questions of identity, history, hopes and fears in this war in Europe.

Night Train to Odesa begins in Russia and continues to focus on people, relationships and individuals in Ukraine. It is the account of a young female reporter with no institutional backup or security. Both in language and themes, it is accessible and highly readable.

‘Royal court intrigue at its finest.’ – Historical Writers Association

‘A stunning novel about the birth of the United Kingdom that demonstrates the scholarship of the author, as well as her imaginative power.’ – Richard Holloway

George Heriot, jeweller to King James VI and I, moves with the Court from Edinburgh to London to take over the English throne. It is 1603. Life is a Babel of languages and glittering new wealth. The Scottish court speaks Danish, German, Middle Scots, French and Latin. King James gives Shakespeare his first secure position, and to calm the perfidious religious tensions, he commissions his translation of the Bible.George becomes wealthier than the king as he creates a fashion for hat jewels and mingles with Drummond of Hawthornden, Ben Johnson, Inigo Jones and the mysterious ambassador Luca Von Modrich… However both king and courtier bow before the power invested in their wives.

A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three bosom companions – a healer, a weaver and a seer. If the men hunting her find them, they will kill her because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth.

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as power-hungry murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.

As the net closes in on the queen, we discover a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it, one strong charismatic woman who survived loss and jeopardy to finally outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and ambitious men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.

As the storm rages, the sea throws up gigantic waves. The rain hammers down, illuminated intermittently by the flash of thunder where a figure can be seen. Paintbrush in hand, with her easel and canvas secured to the ground with rocks and rope, she battles, yet works in harmony with the elements. Razor sharp, her eyes concentrate intently on the canvas, her hand working rapidly as she uses the paint to harness the weather, sky, land and sea.

Joan Eardley was a passionate painter who, in a short career, managed to create some of the most important works of the twentieth century.

Working predominantly in Scotland, Eardley also documented the children of the Glasgow tenements from the 1940s up until her untimely death at only forty-two in 1961.

Hers was a truly wild and beautiful art.

Come and take a look inside her world…

Living Generously complements a suite of existing digital resources from the Church of Scotland to promote a whole-life approach to Christian stewardship. Its holistic approach comes from a perspective of abundance rather than scarcity, and invites readers to reflect on God’s goodness and the resources we have at our disposal, both personally and collectively in our churches. It offers a practical and positive alternative at a time of anxiety about decline.

It explores how we recognise and steward gifts in twelve different areas:

God – Vision – Relationships Volunteers – Gifts – Time – Money – Possessions – Youth – Body – Mind – Earth

A range of contributors offer real life examples of the impact of effective and generous stewardship and conversation around each theme is facilitated by the Share, Reflect, Act process. Individuals and groups are enabled to bring their own experiences and understanding to the topics.

The Perfect Passion Dating Company at No. 24 Mouse Lane in Edinburgh’s New Town is run by Katie Donald who has an innate instinct for bringing people together. She has developed a skill for finding out what it is that people really want. Along the way, Katie learns profound lessons about her own desires as she works at better understanding others. Although Katie has little in the way of direct experience, with the help of her amiable and handsome office neighbour William Kidd, she soon finds herself making matches for the lonely hearts tired of meeting online ? and who want a more personal touch.

For fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s many beloved series and romantic standalone novels, The Perfect Passion Company shows him at his most perceptive, playful, and generous. In the way that only McCall Smith can, this novel offers a glimpse inside the psychology of matchmaking, the search for love and companionship, and the mysterious spark of attraction that can, at times, catch hold of us all.

Volume 4 of the acclaimed Leith-built Ships series follows Ship Nos 495 to 535 built from 1965 until the eventual closure of the shipyard in 1984 by a government that was hell-bent on destroying British industry and breaking the powerful unions.

Great ships such as Lloydsman Ship no 509 and SA Wolraad Woltemade, Ship no 516, the two most powerful ocean-going salvage tugs, were built by Robb Caledon and Leith-built ships also played their part in the Falklands War. A great many working ships took their crews safely around the globe, and although tragedy befell some, most survived.

The author features them all, from the huge tug Lloydsman, fighting in the Icelandic ‘cod wars’ with her crew using tomato sauce bottles for ammunition, to hospital ship HMS Herald which took part in the Falklands War along with another four ships built at Leith. There were also ferries that captured the imagination of the Scottish Islanders who relied on them for transport, one of which was converted to carry out much-needed rescue work in West Africa.

Robb-built ships were anything but slab-sided vessels, with most being one-off specialised ships that were complex to build, requiring much skill which the Leith shipbuilders had in abundance.

This volume concludes the series on commercial ships built at the yard and is complemented with many first-hand accounts from the men and women who sailed or served on the ships.

Neither Finlay or Banjo can remember the last time they had a hug. Against all odds, 18-year-old Finlay has begun his nursing degree at Glasgow University. But coming straight from the care system means he has no support network. How can he write essays, focus on his nursing placement and stop himself from falling in love when he’s struggling to even feed himself? Meanwhile, 17-year-old Banjo is trying to settle into his new foster family and finish high school, desperate to hold down his job and the people it contains. But his anger and fear keep boiling over, threatening his already uncertain future.

Underpinning everything is what happened three years ago in their group care home, when Finlay and Banjo were as close as brothers until they stopped speaking. If these boys want to keep hold of the people they love, they have to be able to forgive one another. More than this, they must find a way to forgive themselves.

Midwinter in Orkney. Six hours of daylight. A race against time to catch a killer.

Reporter Freya Sinclair has always known she was different. While waiting on the outcome of an autism assessment, Freya uproots her life in Glasgow, quitting her job at one of Scotland’s top broadsheets and taking a local beat in her childhood home of Orkney. But her plans for a quiet life are shattered when human remains are unburied by a winter storm on Orkney’s wild Atlantic coast.

The identity of the bones opens old wounds in the islands, and sheds light on a darker truth nobody wants to accept. As the nights draw in, Freya’s obsessive hunt for answers turns into a cat and mouse game, with each secret she unearths threatening her job, her family, and presenting a murderer with their next victim.

In a place where nothing stays buried forever, is uncovering the truth more important than saving lives?

Midwinter in Orkney. Six hours of daylight. A race against time to catch a killer.

Reporter Freya Sinclair has always known she was different. While waiting on the outcome of an autism assessment, Freya uproots her life in Glasgow, quitting her job at one of Scotland’s top broadsheets and taking a local beat in her childhood home of Orkney. But her plans for a quiet life are shattered when human remains are unburied by a winter storm on Orkney’s wild Atlantic coast.

The identity of the bones opens old wounds in the islands, and sheds light on a darker truth nobody wants to accept. As the nights draw in, Freya’s obsessive hunt for answers turns into a cat and mouse game, with each secret she unearths threatening her job, her family, and presenting a murderer with their next victim.

In a place where nothing stays buried forever, is uncovering the truth more important than saving lives?