Bloody Well Deserving

This year’s Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival, which is slated to take place in Stirling, Scotland, from September 15 to 17, has announced the nominees for two important book prizes. First off, we have the longlist of contenders for the 2023 McIlvanney Prize, named in honor of William McIlvanney, author of the novel Laidlaw:

• Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
• The Things We Do to Our Friends, by Heather Darwent (Penguin)
• The Maiden, by Kate Foster (Mantle)
• Penitent, by Mark Leggatt (Fledgling Press)
• The Bookseller of Inverness, by S.G. Maclean (Quercus)
• Squeaky Clean, by Callum McSorley (Pushkin)
• 1989, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
• The Second Murderer, by Denise Mina (Vintage)
• Cast a Cold Eye, by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
• A Heart Full of Headstones, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• The Devil’s Playground, by Craig Russell (Little, Brown)
• An Honourable Thief, by Douglas Skelton (Canelo)

A roll of finalists for this commendation is expected in August.



Meanwhile, there are five works shortlisted for the 2023 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, including three from the previous list:

• Unsolved, by Heather Critchlow (Canelo)
• The Things We Do to Our Friends, by Heather Darwent (Penguin)
• The Maiden, by Kate Foster (Mantle)
• Squeaky Clean, by Callum McSorley (Pushkin)
• The Unforgiven Dead, by Fulton Ross (Inkshares)

The winners of both contests will be declared at Bloody Scotland on Friday, September 15.