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The Dead of Oban, by Allan Martin
Publication date: February 28th, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-910946-92-3 (Kindle); £3.49
ISBN: 978-1-910946-91-6 (Paperback); £9.99
Genre: Crime/Mystery
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The Dead of Oban, from Allan Martin, whose debut novel was shortlisted for the 2019 McIlvanney debut award, shines a light on the dark side books.
Set in the port town of Oban, on the west coast of Scotland, and Estonia, The Dead of Oban delves into the shadowy world of rare books, and the lengths some people go to get their hands on something special.
Allan Martin's debut novel, The Peat Dead, shortlisted for the McIlvanney/Bloody Scotland Debut Scottish Crime Award, skilfully captured the essence of Islay life, and evocatively conveyed a remarkable sense of place. His second novel, The Dead of Jura, took readers to Islay's near neighbour and the entitled world of the rich elite, and the third book in the series, The Dead of Appin, looked at the greed and corruption of global trade and international politics.
A retired teacher and university lecturer, Allan says, 'Books are often thought of as musty and boring items that live in quiet libraries, but for some people rare books are worth more than gold or diamonds, and they will go to any lengths to own a book that no one else has. This book is about those people.'
Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director at ThunderPoint Publishing added, 'Allan Martin excels himself with his dark crime novels that delve into the worlds of class, politics and business. The Dead of Oban focuses on the normally quiet business of second hand books, and Allan has written another engrossing novel that takes us into the hidden world of organised crime and the illegal trade in rare and stolen books.'
Tales Murderous and Mysterious, by Allan Martin
Publication date: November 16th, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-910946-89-3 (Kindle); £2.49
ISBN: 978-1-910946-88-6 (Paperback); £7.99
Genre: Crime/Political Fiction/Short Stories
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Brought together for the first time, this collection of nineteen short stories from best-selling author Allan Martin, asks, ‘Is murder always wrong?’
Well-known for the darkly dry humour of his Inspector Angus Blue series of crime thrillers set across Scotland, Allan Martin brings his razor-sharp eye for detail to the short story genre, and Tales Murderous and Mysterious will have you gripped from the first knock on the door, to the last dead body.
Review of Tales Murderous and Mysterious: Andrew James Greig – ‘Allan’s macabre short stories bring Edgar Allan Poe to mind.’
Allan Martin, known for his gripping crime thrillers with a political twist, has brought his sharp wit and skilful writing to the short story genre, asking uncomfortable questions of the reader.
Ranging far across the Scottish landscape, Allan’s writing is as much a grand tour of Scotland as the leading edge of Scottish noir.
Allan Martin’s debut novel, The Peat Dead, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney/Bloody Scotland Debut Scottish Crime Award, and his writing has gone from strength to strength ever since.
A retired teacher and university lecturer, Allan says, ‘I like to challenge my readers pre-conceptions as well as tell a good tale, and this collection of stories will keep you entertained and get you wondering: what really is a crime.’
Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director at ThunderPoint Publishing added, ‘With this collection of short stories Allan Martin demonstrates his mastery of the crime genre, and places himself firmly as one of Scotland's leading authors.’
Lost Times, by Ethyl Smith
Publication date: November 17th, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-910946-86-2 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-85-5 (Paperback)
Extent: 272 pp
Price (Kindle): £2.49
Price (Paperback): £9.99
Genre: Historical Fiction
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Scotland, 1685
With Monmouth and Argyll planning to overthrow James VII and II, the Covenanters see an opportunity to further their own cause, but dissent among the faithful causes factions to start appearing.
As tensions heighten and rumours of an invasion spread, John Steele must continue to evade capture in an ever-tightening net.
From the shepherds and the farmer’s wives of the Lanarkshire hills, to the innkeepers, the apothecaries and the washerwomen of the towns, Ethyl Smith portrays with exquisite detail the lives of the ordinary men and women of 17th century Scotland.
James Robertson has said, “Smith writes with a fine ear for Scots speech, and with a sensitive awareness to the different ways in which history intrudes upon the lives of men and women, soldiers and civilians, adults and children.”
Ethyl Smith says, “I have always loved stories, and the story of the Covenanters is as gripping and exciting today as it was when it happened. In this Times series I have striven to bring to life the struggles of ordinary people, who are so often ignored by the rich, the powerful and politicians of their day.”
Seonaid Francis, Director of ThunderPoint Publishing says, “Ethyl’s fluent use of Scots dialogue brings to life the daily challenges of the Scots people fighting for their way of life in the face of overwhelming odds. This series is essential reading for anyone interested in the story of the ordinary people of Scotland.”
The Dead of Appin, by Allan Martin
Publication date: November 30th, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-910946-83-1 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-84-8 (Paperback)
Genre: Crime/Political Fiction
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Just outside Oban, within sight of the Connel Bridge, there’s a burnt out car containing the charred remains of a human body.
A woman is missing – but is the body hers?
In a high stakes game of business and politics, what secret does the bustling port of Oban hide that is worth killing for?
The Dead of Appin
is the third book in the Inspector Blue series.
A retired teacher and university lecturer, Allan says, "Scotland has long been used as a place for people to generate wealth and extract it elsewhere. In The Dead of Appin
I have woven a story that, whilst fictional, in all likelihood could be underway somewhere in Scotland at this moment."
Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director at ThunderPoint Publishing says, "Allan Martin excelled himself with The Peat Dead
and The Dead of Jura. He has written another gripping novel, which this time brings the murky world of politics, big money and backroom deals to the west coast town of Oban."
Reviews of The Dead of Appin
Marion Todd – “Intricate and exciting. Scottish crime fiction at its best.”
G. R. Halliday – “The Dead of Appin
is another cracking instalment in the Angus Blue series. Embark on whisky flavoured adventures in the west Highlands as Blue is drawn into a dangerous world of intrigue and corruption. Addictive from page one!”
Emma Christie – “A complex mystery starring the unforgettable Angus Blue as he explores political corruption and grisly murders in the Scottish highlands. And he cooks too! Don’t miss it.”
Tweed rins tae the Ocean
Author: Alasdair Allan
ISBN: 978-1-910946-76-3 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-75-6 (Hardback)
Publication: September 29th 2021
Extent: 288 pp
Price (Kindle): £5.99
Price (Paperback): £19.99
Genre: Non-fiction/Travel/Politics/ History
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Tweed rins tae the Ocean
follows an east to west coast walk by Allan and some friends, and gently explores the history, literature and language of what Allan contends is the oldest national land border in the world. The title of the book takes its inspiration from the Burns song, 'Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation'. The journey described was the product of a challenge Allan set himself, not just to walk the Border, but to read a way along it too.
This is a book that will challenge the preconceptions of many about a region reputed to have the highest per capita number of titled residents in Scotland, and which is home to the Duke of Buccleuch, one of the largest private landowner in Europe.
Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director of ThunderPoint, says: 'This absorbing book is a well-researched exploration of the Border through history and literature; it is a warmly-written and entertaining book, bursting with humour and a deep-rooted love of the Border regions from which Alasdair hails.'
Alasdair Allan says: ‘It should be no surprise that a book by a politician about a political boundary offers occasionally opinionated views. However, I hope that the account of my journey from Berwick to the Solway Firth will be appreciated by anyone who likes dry humour and wet weather.
‘The Border line has always been fascinating to me, not least as so many of my own family grew up a matter of yards from it. The book tries to explain why writers (and reivers) down the centuries have been similarly fascinated. It is also, I admit, partly a retort to some others who have concluded that the Border – and by implication Scotland – are not really there at all. I hope the book will appeal to hillwalkers, and anyone else who is curious about how this line on the map came to be where it is today.’
Cameron McNeish, author, broadcaster and mountain walker, who has written the foreword for Tweed rins to the Ocean says: ‘There is nowhere else in Scotland I sense an “uncanny watchfulness” as intensely as I do in the Borders. It lurks on every hill-top, in every cleuch, and in every castle ruin, and Alasdair Allan has, almost magically, captured this essence of the Border.’
Alasdair Allan grew up in Ashkirk, near Selkirk. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scottish Language and Literature, and gained a PhD in Scots language from the University of Aberdeen in 1998. Since 2007, he has been the Gaelic-speaking MSP for the Na h-Eilean an Iar constituency, and served from 2011 to 2018 as a Minister in the Scottish Government.
The Spinning House Affair
ISBN: 978-1-910946-79-4 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-78-7 (Paperback)
Publication: May 27th 2021
Extent: 224 pp
Price (Kindle): £2.99
Price (Paperback): £8.99
Genre: Historical Fiction; Women's Fiction
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As the world approaches a new century, and many people anticipate the great advances of modernity, Cambridge University sits mired in the traditions of the past.
Here, the university Proctors still operate as a private police force, aggressively acting to protect the fine young men in their charge from the women of the town. They make good use of the euphemistically named Spinning House to confine any women they consider likely to corrupt the morals of the university, though the town's infamous house of correction has a brutal reputation, where inmates reputedly die from the cold and lack of care.
As a new set of Proctors unleash a wave of terror on the young women of Cambridge, three of them, Rose Whittle, Hope Basset and Aurelie Travers, struggle to make their way in a world dominated by men, while campaigning newspaper, the Mercury, fights for the town to retake charge of the streets, and the right of women to go about their business without fear of arrest and incarceration.
In The Spinning House Affair
Jane Taylor eloquently brings to life the historic struggle of women in the 19th century, and highlights that the fight of women today is a continuation of the struggles of the past.
The Dead of Jura, by Allan Martin
Publication date: September 27th, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-910946-68-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-67-1 (Paperback)
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Jura: where the rich and the powerful come to play away from the prying eyes of the press.
But when there is an assassination attempt on a Cabinet Minister whiles he's on his island estate, questions must be asked, and Inspector Angus Blue and his team return to the Hebrides to investigate.
Deemed a matter of 'National Security' by London, local protocols are overruled, and Special Branch officers are sent to hunt down the assassin. By the time Inspector Blue and his team arrive the estate staff have been scared into silence, and the crime scene has been disturbed.
His investigation hampered at every turn, Inspector Blue must discover what Special Branch are hiding - and who they are protecting.
The Dead of Jura
is the second novel in the Inspector Angus Blue Series.
Broken Times, by Ethyl Smith
Publication date: September 30th, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-910946-70-1 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-69-5 (Paperback)
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Scotland 1683
As James Renwick returns to Scotland, accompanied by the young Jonas Hawthorne, in search of adventure, an undeterred John Steel is
still living the life of a fugitive, hunted day and night by Claverhouse’s men.
When John and Jonas reunite, Jonas soon finds himself caught up in the intrigues of 17th century Scotland: amid accusations of witchcraft and almost constant acts of violence, it seems that no-one can escape the desperate times they are living through, and Jonas's desire for adventure soon proves to be more dangerous than he had bargained for.
Gripping and rich in detail, this immaculately researched book is the fourth instalment in Ethyl Smith’s Times series.
July 16th 2020: ThunderPoint Publishing licences The Peat Dead
for publication in Estonia
Translation rights for the widely popular ThunderPoint title, The Peat Dead, shortlisted for the 2019 Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Debut Scottish Crime Novel of the Year, have been sold to Eesti Raamat Publishers (www.eestiraamat.ee) in Estonia.
Eesti Raamat has a history dating back to 1940, and is the oldest continuously operating Estonian publishing house. Eesti Raamat publishes around 70 books a year, both fiction and fiction, as well as children's and young adult literature.
The Peat Dead, a remarkably assured debut novel that skilfully captures the essence of Scottish island life, will be published in Estonian during 2021, in both paperback and ebook format.
Building on being shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney debut crime fiction prize, The Peat Dead
has been reprinted in the UK and will now be enjoyed by readers in Estonia.
The Peat Dead
is more than a crime story, shining a light on the nuances of island living and the impact that historical events still have in the 21st century.
A retired teacher and university lecturer, Allan Martin says, “I am thrilled by the success of The Peat Dead, and having been shortlisted for such a prestigious prize in 2019 I am now greatly excited at the prospect of launching The Peat Dead
in Estonia next year.”
Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director at ThunderPoint Publishing added, “Allan Martin's gripping novel draws on historic events and places them firmly in current times, reminding us that the past affects us all. The Peat Dead
will resonate strongly with Estonian and European audiences and we are very much looking forward to working with Eesti Raamat to launch The Peat Dead
internationally.”
Piret Lemetti, Foreign Rights Manager at Eesti Raamat Publishers said, “We fell in love with the plot and language of The Peat Dead, and are excited to be publishing this novel that conveys such a strong sense of Scotland, and particularly island life.”
Reviews of The Peat Dead
“A mystery so redolent of its island setting that you practically smell the peat and whisky on the pages.” – Douglas Skelton
“This atmospheric crime novel set on Islay gripped me from the start. A book that shows decades-old crimes cast long shadows.” – Sarah Ward
About The Peat Dead
On the Scottish Hebridean Island of Islay, five corpses are dug up by a peat-cutter. All of them have been shot in the back of the head, execution style.
Sent across from the mainland to investigate, Inspector Angus Blue and his team slowly piece together the little evidence they have, and discover the men were killed on a wartime base, over 70 years ago.
But there are still secrets worth protecting, and even killing for.
Who can Inspector Blue trust?
About the Author:
Allan Martin worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and university lecturer, and only turned to writing fiction after taking early retirement.
He lives in Glasgow, and with his wife regularly visits the Hebrides and Estonia.
He has had several short stories published, notably in iScot
magazine and 404Ink
magazine.
He has also translated from Estonian a ‘closed-room’ mystery, The Oracle, originally published in 1937.
The Dead of Jura, Allan's second book in the Inspector Angus Blue series, will be published in the UK in September 2020.
Title Information:
ISBN: 978-1-910946-55-8 (Kindle); £3.99
ISBN: 978-1-910946-54-1 (Paperback); £9.99
Publication: April 17th 2019
Extent: 288 pp
Genre: Crime Fiction
Mick, by Willie Orr
Publication date: October 9th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910946-61-9 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-62-6 (Kindle)
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Mick Crossan is a ‘homer’, removed by social services from his widowed mother and slum home in the Gorbals and placed in ‘care’.
Along with his sister, Mick is forcibly removed from the slum for his ‘moral protection’, but faces a life of abuse, first at the hands of priests and nuns, and then on farms as cheap labour. Through it all Mick’s spirit burns bright, and his determination to find his family and reclaim his identity draws him back to Glasgow and eventual happiness.
In 1950s Scotland, thousands of children were removed from their families for a ‘better life’ in the rural idyll of the Scottish Highlands as ‘boarded-out’ children.
Run, by Jackie McLean
Publication date: October 17th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910946-64-0 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-65-7 (Kindle)
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RUN THE GAUNTLET
DI Donna Davenport and her team are under pressure.
With the hunt on for the country’s most notorious cop killer, and an ongoing complex international investigation, the murder of a local thug during a football match is the last thing the police need.
But as more incidents overload the police, and fear brings vigilante mobs onto the streets, suspicion grows that the mayhem is being orchestrated.
CUT AND RUN
One man can make it stop. With the city heading towards chaos and disaster Donna prepares to abandon caution and the rules, even if it means she is ostracised by her own team.
The Summer Stance, by Lorn Macintyre
Publication date: September 4th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910946-58-9 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-59-6 (Kindle)
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Abhainn na Croise, the river of the cross, where the otters swim and the Scottish Travellers camped for generations, working on the land, repairing whatever was broken, and welcomed back each year by the area's settled residents.
Those days are long gone, but Dòmhnall Macdonald, raised in a Glasgow tower block, yearns for the old ways and the freedom they represent. When his grandmother falls ill, Dòmhnall determines to take her back to the Abhainn na Croise one last time - but times have changed too much.
Instead of the welcome of old, the returning Travellers are met with suspicion, hostility and violence - and Dòmhnall becomes a hunted man.
Set in the timeless Scottish landscape, Lorn Macintyre's latest novel is an intimate portrait of a misunderstood way of life and a fast disappearing part of Scottish culture.
The Peat Dead, by Allan Martin
Shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland MacIlvanney Debut Scottish Crime Prize 2019
Publication date: April 17th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910946-55-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-54-1 (Paperback)
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On the Scottish Hebridean Island of Islay, five corpses are dug up by a peat-cutter. All of them have been shot in the back of the head, execution style.
Sent across from the mainland to investigate, Inspector Angus Blue and his team slowly piece together the little evidence they have, and discover the men were killed on a wartime base, over 70 years ago.
But there are still secrets worth protecting, and even killing for.
Who can Inspector Blue trust?
The New Frontier, by Robin Lloyd-Jones
Publication date: April 10th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910946-48-0 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-49-7 (Kindle)
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As the proportion of people over 65 in the UK increases, a better under-standing of what underpins an active later life is becoming more important - to all of us.
In a series of interviews with remarkable people over 70, all of them nominated for the annual Times-Sternberg award, The New Frontier documents the impact of different influences over their lives and provides readers with a unique viewpoint on how important it is that we make, and are seen to make, a valuable contribution to society at all ages, especially older age.
Ranging from Dame Esther Rantzen, and her work in setting up Silverline, a helpline for the elderly, to John Lubbock, the founder of the Orchestra of St. John's, which tours the country providing music to families and children living with autism, the interviews confirm the importance of taking a positive view of old age and its possibilities, both for the individual and their community.
Compiled and edited by Robin Lloyd-Jones, a remarkable man himself, this collection of interviews brings together the stories of inspirational people who have made significant contributions to the benefit of society.
The Rt Hon Lord Hunt of Kings Heath PC, OBE says, 'The huge contribution that older people make to society is so well exampled in this excellent book. Each section is testimony to the ingenuity, and sheer determination of extraordinary people to contribute to society. It gives the lie to any idea that the older generations do not give back to society.'
Baroness Sally Greengross OBE adds, 'I welcome The New Frontier: Making a Difference in Later Life as a valuable supplement to and illustration of aspects of the work being done by the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) Programme, the most ambitious research programme on ageing ever undertaken in the UK.'
The Deaths on the Black Rock, by BRM Stewart
Publication date: October 16th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-910946-44-2 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-45-9 (Kindle)
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It's been a year since Rima Khalaf died in a fall from the Black Rock, deemed to be a tragic accident by the police.
But her grieving parents are dissatisfied with the police investigation, so DS Amanda Pitt is sent north from Glasgow to the small town of Clachdubh to re-examine the case.
Despite the suspicions of the distraught parents, all the circumstances seem to confirm Rima's death was indeed a tragic accident, until another woman is also found dead in the town.
Frustrated by the lack of any real evidence, DS Pitt pushes the limits of legality in her quest for the truth.
Desperate Times (Part III), by Ethyl Smith
Publication date: October 25th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-910946-46-6 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-47-3 (Kindle)
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July 1680: Richard Cameron is dead, and John Steel and Lucas Brotherstone have only just escaped capture by government forces.
The net widens to arrest anyone suspected of Covenanter sympathies, and the army becomes ever more brutal in its suppression of the rebels.
To have any hope of survival Lucas Brotherstone must escape to Holland, and John Steel is determined to make this happen.
Desperate Times
is the third historical novel in Ethyl Smith's series, following Changed Times
and Dark Times, about the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
Gemmano, by David Will
Publication date: October 10th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-910946-42-8 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-43-5 (Kindle)
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Northern Italy, 1944: Gemmano is on the front lines of the battle for the Gothic Line, trapped between German occupation and the allied advance, as shell after shell rains down on the village.
Eighteen year old Toni Mazzanti has always been considered 'odd' by the villagers, but as the battle rages and he comes to terms with his personal and spiritual development, his talents come to be viewed as gifts.
With his new found confidence Toni increasingly emerges as a village leader, aided by Lorenzo Bergamas, a young Italian soldier returning from the Front.
Covering a period of ten days, Gemmano
is a compelling and inspiring story of people caught powerless in their own land, told from the perspective of two young Italian men.
The Last Wolf, by David Shaw Mackenzie
Publication date: September 6th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-910946-39-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-38-1 (Paperback)
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'So what is the novelist's duty then?'
'Oh, to tell the truth of course.'
But what is the truth when there are at least two sides to every story?
Brothers Maurice and Christopher have not spoken to each other for over 40 years, despite living on the same small island. And nobody talks about Maurice's first wife, Hester - until an apparently unconnected act of vengeance reverberates across the generations and carefully guarded secrets begin to unravel.
Moving from 1930s Capri to Paris, London and the Isle of Glass off the Scottish coast, The Last Wolf
is a subtly crafted tale of lies and betrayals.
Mere, by Carol Fenlon
Publication date: June 21st, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-910946-37-4 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-36-7 (Paperback)
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"There's something about this place. It's going to destroy us if we don't get away."
Reclaimed from the bed of an ancient mere, drained by their forbears 150 years ago, New Cut Farm is home to the Askin family. Life is hard, but the land and its dark history is theirs, and up till now that has always been enough.
But Con Worrall can't make it pay. Pressured by his new wife following his mother's death, Con reluctantly sells up.
For Lynn Waters, New Cut Farm is the life she has always dreamed of, though her husband Dan has misgivings about the isolated farmhouse.
As Con's life disintegrates and Dan's unease increases, the past that is always there takes over and Lynn discovers the terrible hold that the land exerts over people - and the lengths to which they will go to keep it.
Madness Lies, by Helen Forbes
Publication date: October 19th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-31-2 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-30-5 (Paperback)
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When an Inverness Councillor is murdered in broad daylight in the middle of town, Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith sees a familiar figure running from the scene.
According to everyone who knows him, the Councillor had no enemies, but someone clearly wanted him dead.
The victim's high profile means the police want a quick resolution to the case, but no one seems to know anything. Or if they do, they're not prepared to say.
This second novel of Highland Noir from Helen Forbes continues the series with a crime thriller that moves between Inverness, North Uist and London, reaching a terrifying denouement at the notorious Black Rock Gorge.
Shadows, by Jackie McLean
Publication date: October 19th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-29-9 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-28-2 (Paperback)
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When DI Donna Davenport is called out to investigate a body washed up on Arbroath beach, it looks like a routine murder inquiry. But then the enquiry takes on a more sinister form.
There are similarities with a previous murder, and now a woman connected to them both has also gone missing. For Donna, this is becoming personal, and with the added pressure of feeling watched at every turn, she is convinced that Jonas Evanton has returned to seek his revenge on her for his downfall.
Fearing they may be looking for a serial killer, Donna and her new team are taken in a horrifying and unexpected direction. Because it's not a serial killer - it's worse.
Moving from Dundee to the south coast of Turkey and the Syrian border, this is a fast paced novel about those who live their lives in the shadows, and those who exploit them.
Dark Times (Part II), by Ethyl Smith
Publication date: September 7th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-26-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-24-4 (Paperback)
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The summer of 1679 is a dark one for the Covenanters, routed by government troops at the Battle of Bothwell Brig. John Steel is on the run, hunted for his part in the battle by the vindictive Earl of Airlie. And life is no easier for the hapless Sandy Gillon, curate of Lesmahagow Kirk, in the Earl's sights for aiding John Steel's escape.
Outlawed and hounded, the surviving rebels have no choice but to take to the hills and moors to evade capture and deportation. And as a hard winter approaches, Marion Steel discovers she's pregnant with her third child.
Dark Times
is the second part of Ethyl Smith's sweeping Times series that follows the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
Praise for Part 1, Changed Times
"...a remarkable and compelling debut " Jan Fortune
"Ethyl Smith brings history vividly to life in a novel bristling with energy, with her acute ear for the nuances of dialogue (in which what is cannily left unspoken is gratifyingly imagined by the reader). She has a gimlet eye for detail, illuminating home, courtroom, army barracks and battlefield." - Catholic Herald
The False Men, by Mhairead MacLeod
Publication date: September 14th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-27-5 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-25-1 (Paperback)
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North Uist, Outer Hebrides, 1848
Jess MacKay has led a privileged life as the daughter of a local landowner, sheltered from the harsher aspects of life. Courted by the eligible Patrick Cooper, the Laird's new commissioner, Jess's future is mapped out, until Lachlan Macdonald arrives on North Uist, amid rumours of forced evictions on islands just to the south.
As the uncompromising brutality of the Clearances reaches the islands, and Jess sees her friends ripped from their homes, she must decide where her heart, and her loyalties, truly lie.
Set against the evocative backdrop of the Hebrides and inspired by a true story, The False Men
is a compelling tale of love in a turbulent past that resonates with the upheavals of the modern world.
Dead Cat Bounce, by Kevin Scott
Publication date: May 18th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-19-0 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-18-3 (Paperback)
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"Well, either way, you'll have to speak to him today because... unless I get my money by tomorrow morning there's not going to be a funeral."
When your 11 year old brother has been tragically killed in a car accident, you might think that organising his funeral would take priority. But when Nicky's coffin, complete with Nicky's body, goes missing, deadbeat loser Matt has only 26 hours in which to find the £20,000 he owes a Glasgow gangster or explain to his grieving mother why there's not going to be a funeral.
Enter middle brother, Pete, successful hedge fund manager with an expensive wife, expensive children, and an expensive villa in Tuscany. Pete's watches cost £20,000, but he has his own problems, and Matt doesn't want his help anyway.
Seething with old resentments, the betrayals of the past and the double-dealings of the present, the two brothers must find a way to work together to retrieve Nicky's body and discover that they are not so different after all.
Kevin Scott's first novel is an assured and audacious black comedy of sibling rivalries and a satirical comment on the failures of modern society.
"Pacy and assured, with an authentic voice, Dead Cat Bounce is an impressive debut novel" - Neil Forsyth
"...a fast-paced novel driven by a brotherly rivalry that's full of everyday scheming" - Elizabeth Reeder
The Wrong Box, by Andrew C Ferguson
Publication date: April 20th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-16-9 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-14-5 (Paperback)
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All I know is, I'm in exile in Scotland, and there's a dead Scouser businessman in my bath. With his toe up the tap.
Meet Simon English, commercial property lawyer, heavy drinker and Scotophobe, banished from London after being caught misbehaving with one of the young associates on the corporate desk. As if that wasn't bad enough, English finds himself acting for a spiralling money laundering racket that could put not just his career, but his life, on the line.
Enter Karen Clamp, an 18 stone, well-read wannabe couturier from the Auchendrossan sink estate, with an encyclopedic knowledge of Council misdeeds and 19th century Scottish fiction. With no one to trust but each other, this mismatched pair must work together to investigate a series of apparently unrelated frauds and discover how everything connects to the mysterious Wrong Box.
Manically funny, The Wrong Box
is a chaotic story of lust, money, power and greed.
The Oystercatcher Girl, by Gabrielle Barnby
Publication date: April 12th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910946-17-6 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-15-2 (Paperback)
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In the medieval splendour of St Magnus Cathedral, three women gather to mourn the untimely passing of Robbie: Robbie's widow, Tessa; Tessa's old childhood friend, Christine, and Christine's unstable and unreliable sister, Lindsay. But all is not as it seems: what is the relationship between the three women, and Robbie? What secrets do they hide? And who has really betrayed who?
Set amidst the spectacular scenery of the Orkney Islands, Gabrielle Barnby's skilfully plotted first novel is a beautifully understated story of deception and forgiveness, love and redemption.
"The Oystercatcher Girl
is a wonderfully evocative and deftly woven Orcadian story" (Sara Bailey)
The Bogeyman Chronicles, by Craig Watson
Publication date: November 10th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-910946-11-4 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-10-7 (Paperback)
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In 14th Century Scotland, amidst the wars of independence, hatred, murder and betrayal are commonplace. People are driven to extraordinary lengths to survive, whilst those with power exercise it with cruel pleasure.
Royal Prince Alexander Stewart, son of King Robert II and plagued by rumours of his illegitimacy, becomes infamous as the Wolf of Badenoch, while young Andrew Christie commits an unforgivable sin and lay Brother Brodie Affleck in the Restenneth Priory pieces together the mystery that links them all together.
From the horror of the times and the changing fortunes of the characters, the legend of the Bogeyman is born and Craig Watson cleverly weaves together the disparate lives of the characters into a compelling historical mystery that will keep you gripped throughout.
The Bogeyman Chronicles is based on genuine historical figures and events, as well as legend and folklore. It is a shadowy medieval mystery set in the period after William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and a historical reminder of Scotland's enduring constitutional struggle with itself and with England.
Changed Times (Part I), by Ethyl Smith
Publication date: April 27th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-910946-09-1 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-08-4 (Paperback)
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1679 - The Killing Times
Charles II is on the throne, the Episcopacy has been restored, and southern Scotland is in ferment.
The King is demanding superiority over all things spiritual and temporal and rebellious Ministers are being ousted from their parishes for refusing to bend the knee.
When John Steel steps in to help one such Minister in his home village of Lesmahagow he finds himself caught up in events that reverberate not just through the parish, but throughout the whole of southern Scotland.
From the Battle of Drumclog to the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, John's platoon of farmers and villagers find themselves in the heart of the action over that fateful summer where the people fight the King for their religion, their freedom, and their lives.
Set amid the tumult and intrigue of Scotland's Killing Times, John Steele's story powerfully reflects the changes that tookplace across 17th century Scotland, and stunningly brings this period of history to life.
"...a remarkable and compelling debut " Jan Fortune
QueerBashing, by Tim Morrison
Publication date: January 28th, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-910946-06-0 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-9-7 (Paperback)
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'The first queerbasher McGillivray ever met was in the mirror.'
From the revivalist churches of Orkney in the 1970s, to the gay bars of London and Northern England in the 90s, via the divinity school at Aberdeen, this is the story of McGillivray, a self-centred, promiscuous hypocrite, failed Church of Scotland minister, and his own worst enemy.
Determined to live life on his own terms, McGillivray's grasp on reality slides into psychosis and a sense of his own invulnerability, resulting in a brutal attack ending life as he knows it.
Raw and uncompromising, this is a viciously funny but ultimately moving account of one man's desire to come to terms with himself and live his life as he sees fit.
Talk of the Toun, by Helen MacKinven
Publication date: October 29th, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-9109460-0-8 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-7-3 (Paperback)
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'She was greetin' again. But there's no need for Lorraine to be feart, since the first day of primary school, Angela has always been there to mop up her tears and snotters.'
An uplifting black comedy of love, family life and friendship, Talk of the Toun is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale set in the summer of 1985, in working class, central belt Scotland.
Lifelong friends Angela and Lorraine are two very different girls, with a growing divide in their aspirations and ambitions putting their friendship under increasing strain.
Artistically gifted Angela has her sights set on art school, but lassies like Angela, from a small town council scheme, are expected to settle for a nice wee secretarial job at the local factory. Her only ally is her gallus gran, Senga, the pet psychic, who firmly believes that her granddaughter can be whatever she wants.
Though Lorraine's ambitions are focused closer to home Angela has plans for her too, and a caravan holiday to Filey with Angela's family tests the dynamics of their relationship and has lifelong consequences for them both.
Effortlessly capturing the religious and social intricacies of 1980s Scotland, Talk of the Toun is the perfect mix of pathos and humour as the two girls wrestle with the complications of growing up and exploring who they really are.
Fresh, fierce and funny...a sharp and poignant study of growing up in 1980s Scotland. You'll laugh, you'll cry...you'll cringe - Karen Campbell
The House With The Lilac Shutters: And other stories, by Gabrielle Barnby
Publication date: October 1st, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-8-0 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-02-2 (ebook)
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Irma Lagrasse has taught piano to three generations of villagers, whilst slowly twisting the knife of vengeance; Nico knows a secret; and M. Lenoir has discovered a suppressed and dangerous passion.
Revolving around the Cafe Rose, opposite The House with the Lilac Shutters, this collection of contemporary short stories links a small town in France with a small town in England, traces the unexpected connections between the people of both places and explores the unpredictable influences that the past can have on the present.
Characters weave in and out of each other's stories, secrets are concealed and new connections are made.
With a keenly observant eye, Barnby illustrates the everyday tragedies, sorrows, hopes and joys of ordinary people in this vividly understated and unsentimental collection.
The Bonnie Road, by Suzanne d'Corsey
Publication date: September 15th, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-6-6 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-910946-01-5 (ebook)
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My grandmother passed me in transit. She was leaving, I was coming into this world, our spirits meeting at the door to my mother's womb, as she bent over the bed to close the thin crinkled lids of her own mother's eyes.
The women of Morag's family have been the keepers of tradition for generations, their skills and knowledge passed down from woman to woman, kept close and hidden from public view, official condemnation and religious suppression.
In late 1970s St. Andrews, demand for Morag's services are still there, but requested as stealthily as ever, for even in 20th century Scotland witchcraft is a dangerous Art to practise.
When newly widowed Rosalind arrives from California to tend her ailing uncle, she is drawn unsuspecting into a new world she never knew existed, one in which everyone seems to have a secret, but that offers greater opportunities than she dreamt of - if she only has the courage to open her heart to it.
Richly detailed, dark and compelling, d'Corsey magically transposes the old ways of Scotland into the 20th Century and brings to life the ancient traditions and beliefs that still dance just below the surface of the modern world.
The Birds That Never Flew, by Margot McCuaig - 2nd Edition
Shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize 2012
Longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2014
Publication date: April 29th, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-4-2 (Paperback) - 2nd Edition
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-2-1 (Paperback) - 1st Edition
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-3-8 (Kindle)
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'Have you got a light hen? I'm totally gaspin.'
Battered and bruised, Elizabeth has taken her daughter and left her abusive husband Patrick. Again. In the bleak and impersonal Glasgow housing office Elizabeth meets the provocatively intriguing drug addict Sadie, who is desperate to get her own life back on track.
The two women forge a fierce and interdependent relationship as they try to rebuild their shattered lives, but despite their bold, and sometimes illegal attempts it seems impossible to escape from the abuse they have always known, and tragedy strikes.
More than a decade later Elizabeth has started to implement her perfect revenge - until a surreal Glaswegian Virgin Mary steps in with imperfect timing and a less than divine attitude to stick a spoke in the wheel of retribution.
Tragic, darkly funny and irreverent, The Birds That Never Flew is a new and vibrant voice in Scottish literature.
Over Here, by Jane Taylor
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-3-5 (eBook)
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-2-8 (Paperback)
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'It's coming up to twenty-four hours since the boy stepped down from the big passenger liner - it must be, he reckons foggily - because morning has come around once more with the awful irrevocability of time destined to lead nowhere in this worrying new situation. His temporary minder on board - last spotted heading for the bar some while before the lumbering process of docking got underway - seems to have vanished for good. Where does that leave him now? All on his own in a new country: that's where it leaves him. He is just nine years old.'
An eloquently written novel tracing the social transformations of a century where possibilities were opened up by two world wars that saw millions of men move around the world to fight, and mass migration to the new worlds of Canada and Australia by tens of thousands of people looking for a better life.
Through the eyes of three generations of women, the tragic story of the nine year old boy on Liverpool docks is brought to life in saddeningly evocative prose.
Jane was runner-up in the Long Barn Books competition (author Susan Hill's publishing company) for first time writers in 2006 and has published a short story in 'Pretext', the literary magazine.
In The Shadow Of The Hill, by Helen Forbes
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-1-1 (eBook)
ISBN: 978-0-9929768-0-4 (Paperback)
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An elderly woman is found battered to death in the common stairwell of an Inverness block of flats.
Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith starts what seems like one more depressing investigation of the untimely death of a poor unfortunate who was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
As the investigation spreads across Scotland it reaches into a past that Joe has tried to forget, and takes him back to the Hebridean island of Harris, where he spent his childhood.
Among the mountains and the stunning landscape of religiously conservative Harris, in the shadow of Ceapabhal, long buried events and a tragic story are slowly uncovered, and the investigation takes on an altogether more sinister aspect.
In The Shadow Of The Hill
skilfully captures the intricacies and malevolence of the underbelly of Highland and Island life, bringing tragedy and vengeance to the magical beauty of the Outer Hebrides.
Toxic, by Jackie McLean
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-8-3 (eBook)
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-9-0 (Paperback)
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In the Scottish university city of Dundee, life and all its complications are proceeding much the same as usual.
The recklessly brilliant DI Donna Davenport, struggling to hide a secret from police colleagues and get over the break-up with her partner, is in trouble with her boss for a fiery and inappropriate outburst to the press.
DI Evanton, an old-fashioned, hard-living misogynistic copper has been newly demoted for thumping a suspect, and transferred to Dundee with a final warning ringing in his ears and a reputation that precedes him.
And in the peaceful, rolling Tayside farmland a deadly store of MIC, the toxin that devastated Bhopal, is being illegally stored by a criminal gang smuggling the valuable substance necessary for making cheap pesticides.
An anonymous tip-off starts a desperate search for the MIC that is complicated by the uneasy partnership between Davenport and Evanton and their growing mistrust of each other's actions.
Compelling and authentic, Toxic is a tense and fast paced crime thriller.
A Good Death, by Helen Davis
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-7-6 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-6-9 (Paperback)
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(Copyright Anna Miescicka-Lidderdale)
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'A good death is better than a bad conscience,' said Sophie.
1983 - Georgie, Theo, Sophie and Helena, four disparate young Cambridge undergraduates, set out to scale Ausangate, one of the highest and most sacred peaks in the Andes.
Seduced into employing the handsome and enigmatic Wamani as a guide, the four women are initiated into the mystically dangerous side of Peru, Wamani and themselves as they travel from Cuzco to the mountain, a journey that will shape their lives forever.
2013 - though the women are still close, the secrets and betrayals of Ausangate chafe at the friendship.
A girls' weekend at a lonely Fenland farmhouse descends into conflict with the insensitive inclusion of an overbearing young academic toyboy brought along by Theo. Sparked by his unexpected presence, pent up petty jealousies, recriminations and bitterness finally explode the truth of Ausangate, setting the women on a new and dangerous path.
Sharply observant and darkly comic, Helen Davis's debut novel is an elegant tale of murder, seduction, vengeance, and the value of a good friendship.
Mule Train, by Huw Francis
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-0-7 (Kindle)
ISBN: 978-0-9575689-1-4 (Paperback)
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Border Policeman Ishmael Khan has spent his life in the stunning mountains of the Hindu Kush tracking smugglers. But his current mission is to find out what is happening to the foreign backpackers who have been disappearing.
Raseem Hasni dreams of wealth, status and proving to his father that he is a good businessman. Raseem's business is running heroin out of Pakistan using foreign 'mules' he intimidates into working for him.
Matt Peterson is depressed and in danger of losing his job. He's read and re-read his dead fiancée's favourite travel books and decides to resign his job and travel to the mountains of Pakistan, where they had planned to spend their honeymoon trekking.
Annie MacDonald is fed up and stuck in a dead-end job in London where she recently lost out on a promotion to someone with old-school connections. What better way to kick-start her life than resigning her job, taking her grandfather's inheritance, and heading to his beloved Pakistan looking for adventure?
Four lives come together in the remote and spectacular mountains bordering Afghanistan and explode in a deadly cocktail of treachery, betrayal and violence. Written with a deep love of Pakistan and the Pakistani people, Mule Train will sweep you from Karachi in the south to the Shandur Pass in the north, through the dangerous borderland alongside Afghanistan, in an adventure that will keep you gripped throughout.
