Brookmyre's Parlabane novels also include Country Of The Blind, Boiling A Frog, Be My Enemy and Attack Of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks. An eminent artist in his own right, Andrew Crummie's wonderful pictures have brought him international fame.īrookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning featuring Jack Parlabane (also adapted as an ITV drama). He will tell us about how a suggestion from the author Alexander McCall Smith led him to team up with Alistair Moffat, who was a memorable and popular contributor to an earlier Islay Book Festival, to design the panels for this remarkable story of the people of Scotland. We are lucky enough to have Andrew Crummy whose artwork has been translated into a colourful and skilful depiction of the history of Scotland. More than 1,000 volunteer stitchers worked for 55,000 hours using 300 miles of wool to create the 160 panels of this extraordinary work of art. The Great Tapestry of Scotland is an outstanding celebration of Scottish history and achievement from the end of the Ice Age to the 21st century. An outline for the first book, Hue & Cry, 'a complex tale of passion and duplicity,' was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association debut dagger, establishing Shirley in her life of crime, and allowing Hew to follow in pursuit of ancient wrongs. Queen & Country is the fifth of the Hew Cullan series of murder mysteries, set in and around St Andrews in the late 16th century, featuring academic lawyer Hew Cullan, and following the progress of the young King James VI. Her interest in the manners and the language of antiquity has helped to shape her work. She now lives in Crail, on the north east coast of Fife, where she is currently working on Black Drop, a new murder mystery set in early 19th century Edinburgh. She studied English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in Romantic and seventeenth century prose. Shirley McKay was born in Tynemouth, moving to Dalkeith, Scotland, at the age of eight. She will read from her latest novel, Queen & Country, an intriguing, human story of conflict and collusion set in 1587, in shadow of the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. Shirley McKay will discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of researching and writing historical crime fiction, and explain what is, for her, the enduring allure of the past. I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, it’s called Fate & Fortune.Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 October, Port Ellen Primary School Adult Authors I think that it would have been a good idea to have a map of St Andrews and environs, as Hew does a lot of stravaiging around the streets and it would have been useful for people who don’t know the area I’m sure. Otherwise this was a very enjoyable read, enhanced for me because all of the locations are very familiar to me. I was however perplexed by mention of ‘a bishop’ on page 257 as the religious upheaval of the Scottish Reformation was to get rid of bishops – which they did. The very young King James VI makes an appearance and given the date and location witches are mentioned. Hew is a great character, as is his sister Meg and there’s even some humour with Hew buying a ‘characterful’ horse. This makes it all sound quite grim but there’s a lot more to it of course. Hew has been shocked by the corruption at the university and also within the law courts, with nobody seeming to care if the actual culprit has been found, or just a handy fall-guy. There’s been gossip about Nicholas and as we know, mud sticks, especially in the atmosphere of strict Scottish Presbyterianism. Hew’s old friend Nicholas had been tutoring the victim as the father was hoping to get his son into the university, and suspicion falls on Nicholas. It’s thought that his father has probably beaten the young lad for some mistake he had made, but things take an ominous turn when his body is found. But he gets caught up in a search for a young boy who has disappeared from his father’s shop. Hew Cullan has just returned home after studying law in Paris, he’s keen to catch up with some of his old friends before travelling on to his father’s house. The town’s cathedral has long been wrecked by the religious reformers and many of the town’s newer buildings have been built using the robbed stone from it. It’s a murder mystery with a 16th century Scottish setting. Hue and Cry by Shirley McKay is the first book in the author’s Hew Cullan series.
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