A host of crime writers will return to Stirling for the fifth running of the Bloody Scotland Festival in September.
The festival this year is dedicated to the memory of the late William McIlvanney, and the Scottish Crime Book of the Year prize, awarded on the opening night of the festival, will be named the McIlvanney Prize.
Now in its 5th year, the Bloody Scotland Festival will run from the 9-11 September.
Appearing at the festival will be many popular crime and thriller writers including Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre, Ian Rankin, Nicci French, Mark Billingham, Martina Cole and MC Beaton.
This year Bloody Scotland will be featuring a number of debut crime writers; Theresa Talbot, Abir Mukherjee - winner of the Harvill Secker crime writing prize, Martin Cathcart Froden - winner of the Dundee International Book Prize with Devil Take the Hindmost, and Brooke Magnanti, who used to write as Belle de Jour.
The festival will see the return of the Scotland v England writers football match, the late night lock-in ‘Crime at the Coo’ at The Curly Coo, an event with festival favourite Mark Billingham as he is joined by country duo My Darling Clementine for their show The Other Half, and a pop up Escape Room created in conjunction with Val McDermid in Stirling’s Thistles Shopping Centre.
Aly Barr, the acting head of literature at Creative Scotland said: "Lust, murder, crime and punishment.
"Isn’t that everyone’s idea of weekend well spent?
"We’re delighted that Bloody Scotland has been collecting evidence for five years and urge everyone to get along for the big whodunnit in Stirling."
Bob McDevitt, the interim director of Bloody Scotland said: "I'm really looking forward to my first Bloody Scotland as part of the team - it's a great programme, with something for crime writing fans of every persuasion and Stirling once again will be buzzing with the electric Bloody Scotland atmosphere".
The festival this year is sponsored by Bookdonors.
Tom Murdoch-Kenny, managing director, said: "Bookdonors is very excited to be this year’s title sponsor of Bloody Scotland. "In my opinion Bloody Scotland is one of the friendliest book festivals I’ve ever attended.
"That sometimes strikes me as quite odd, with all those very knowledgeable authors roaming about, dreaming up their next murderous plot."
Bloody Scotland was set up by a group of Scottish crime writers in 2012.
The festival uses a number of historic venues in Stirling’s Old Town.
Other events include leading forensic pathologists Dr James Grieve and Dr Marjory Turner, who will talk about how crime writers get the forensics right in their novels
The former prisoner Erwin James will talk about his memoir Reedemable in which he talks about his journey from criminal to columnist.
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