The Bookseller – Published June 10, 2016 by Katherine Cowdrey
Scottish crime writer Val McDermid is publishing her 30th novel, a suspenseful thriller called Out of Bounds, with Little, Brown this August.
as twisted as the DNA helix itself
McDermid has sold over 11m books to date, according to the publisher, translated into 30 languages, and this year she is being honoured with the Outstanding Contribution award at the Theakston’s Harrogate Crime Festival. McDermid’s last standalone novel The Skeleton Road (Sphere) was a number one bestseller in paperback and in the top 10 for three weeks.
Her new hardback, Out of Bounds, will be “a gripping, chilling book” that deals with the way in which families live with the impact of violent crime years after the media have forgotten about their once-newsworthy sufferings.
Bringing together grief, terrorism, murder, justice and forensics, the plot takes off when a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma and a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from 22 years ago. The answer to the cold case is “as twisted as the DNA helix itself”. A mystery rooted in a terrorist bombing two decades ago is also simultaneously investigated.
Out of Bounds was part of a two book contract for UK and Commonwealth rights, bought from Jane Gregory. It will publish on 25th August, priced £18.99.
BLOODY Scotland book festival aims to punch above its weight, writes Bob McDevitt.
Now in its fifth year, Bloody Scotland was the brainchild of a group of Scottish crime writers (and one literary agent) who felt that there was room in the festival calendar in Scotland for one dedicated to crime writing. They were certainly right, as the audience reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and the festival has grown every year.
the audience reaction has been overwhelmingly positive…
Scotland definitely punches above its weight in terms of the number of world-class crime writers it has produced, with names like Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina and the godfather of them all, William McIlvanney. The 2016 festival will be the first to take place since his death, and in addition to dedicating the festival to his memory, the Scottish Crime Book of the Year will be renamed The McIlvanney Prize from this year on.
A host of crime writers will return to Stirling for the fifth running of the Bloody Scotland Festival in September.
The festival this year is dedicated to the memory of the late William McIlvanney, and the Scottish Crime Book of the Year prize, awarded on the opening night of the festival, will be named the McIlvanney Prize.
Now in its 5th year, the Bloody Scotland Festival will run from the 9-11 September.
Appearing at the festival will be many popular crime and thriller writers including Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre, Ian Rankin, Nicci French, Mark Billingham, Martina Cole and MC Beaton.
