Scottish Firsts

The Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival (September 17-19) today announced its shortlist of candidates for the 2021 Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year prize, as follows:

• The Silent Daughter, by Emma Christie (Welbeck)
• Edge of the Grave, by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
• Waking the Tiger, by Mark Wightman (Hobeck)
• No Harm Done, by Alistair Liddle (Self-published)

Note that the first three of those novels also found places on the longlist of nominees for this year’s McIlvanney Prize. The winners of both awards will be made known on Friday, September 17, during the 2021 Bloody Scotland Festival in Stirling.

In addition, author and Bloody Scotland co-founder Alex Gray has named four debut works that—because their authors hail from outside the country—are not eligible for the Bloody Scotland Debut Scottish Crime Book of the Year:

• One Night, New York, by Lara Thompson (Virago)
• How to Kidnap the Rich, by Rahul Raina (Little, Brown)
• The Long, Long Afternoon, by Inga Vesper (Bonnier)
• The Final Round, by Bernard O’Keefe (Muswell Press)

Congratulations to all of these first-time authors!