Swansong

The days are getting shorter and colder, and shops around the country are reminding us of the festivities to come to round off the year. We thought we'd do the same here at BooksfromScotland - we've got books here packed with thrills, spills and chills, as well as suggestions for gifting during the festive season. So despite the dark - we are letting in some light! Enjoy!

A Case of Matricide

A Q & A with Graeme Macrae Burnet

We are eagerly awaiting the final instalment of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Inspector Gorski Mysteries, and so, to whet our appetite, we spoke to its author (and translator!)

A Case of Matricide By Graeme Macrae Burnet Published by Saraband

Hello Graeme, a hearty congrats for the publication of A Case of Matricide. Could you tell our readers a little bit of what to expect from the novel?

Thanks. A Case of Matricide is the final part of the Georges Gorksi trilogy, my sequence of crime novels set in the unremarkable French town on Saint-Louis. Here we find Gorski (the local chief of police) living with his aging mother and trying to untangle the connections between the appearance of a mysterious stranger in the town, a elderly woman who believes her son is trying to kill her and the death of a local factory owner. It feels quite action packed to me, but as with the other novels in the trilogy (The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau and The Accident on the A35), my main interest is the impact these events have on the central characters. Oh, and there’s also a fair amount of boozing.

This is the last book in your Inspector Gorski Mysteries. How does it feel to say goodbye to a character and a place, Saint-Louis, when you’ve spent such a long time in their company?

I’ll definitely miss mentally inhabiting the streets and bars of Saint-Louis. And of course I’ve become very attached to the character of Georges Gorski, but this is definitely the time go our separate ways.

What drew you to small-town France as a setting for your crime fiction?

I’m fascinated by the drama that lurks behind everyday events, the tensions and resentments that arise in local bars or workplaces. That interests ...

The Keelie Hawk by Kathleen Jamie

Our outgoing Makar’s newest poetry collection is a treat; celebrating language, people, nature and place. We’re thrilled to bring you a selection of poems, tantalising you with a little taster!

The Keelie Hawk By Kathleen Jamie Published by Picador

Killileepie

Mind hou we sclimt a cleuch whaur a wheen birks grou’d, bieldit frae hungry deer, syne follaed the burn till we cam tae an airie amang laigh hills? Norwast stuid snaw-happit summits, and alang the burnside lay larachs and green knowes: traces o the fowk at yaised tae bide here aw simmer, takkin tent o thir kye. The map gied the burn as the Allt na Maddy. Wolves maun hae drank here, aince.

Thur...

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