May’s Day

When I met for an evening drink last week in Seattle with Glasgow-born crime writer Peter May--who is in the midst of a month-long international book tour--he confided that were he still a resident of Scotland (rather than living now in France), he’d have supported his native country’s recent referendum seeking independence from Great Britain. Well, that vote did not go as he’d wished, but May might feel somewhat compensated by having won the 2014 Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award for his latest novel, Entry Island (Quercus). The announcement came tonight during the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival being held in Stirling, the onetime capital of Scotland.

The other contenders for this honor were: Flesh Wounds, by Christopher Brookmyre (Little, Brown); The Amber Fury, by Natalie Haynes (Corvus); Falling Fast, by Neil Broadfoot (Saraband); A Lovely Way to Burn, by Louise Welsh (John Murray); and In the Rosary Garden, by Nicola White (Cargo).

Congratulations to all of the nominees.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)