crimebookgirl

@crimebookgirl

Crime fiction aficionado. Blogger (www.crimebookgirl.com), event chair, Theakstons & McIlvanney Prize academy member, Ngaio Marsh Awards & CWA Daggers judge - it's #AllCrimeAllTheTime!

263 Folgt445 Follower407 Posts

Bluesky

amateur

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crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· 8d

I'm just back from a weekend at the fabulous Bute Noir - if you ever get the chance to go, do, because it's a lovely place with fab people and always an excellent set of panels. Thanks to Craig, Karen, Alison and all the team, and to my book tribe for their company 😘 #BookSky

Big metal sign in Rothesay which is perfectly designed for social media: rusty red colour, a central door-like gap, "bute" written bottom to top on one side and a window on the other side shaped like the island. Capture the view over the water through it or pose against it, it's going to remind you of where you were.

Authors Craig Robertson and Alex Sokoloff talking about The Grapevine with chair Mary Picken - the first panel of the weekend and it was a cracker.

Authors Jay Stringer, Remi Kone and Luca Veste talking about when is a police procedural novel not a police procedural novel with chair Heather Fitt

Swag: three books bought (The Grapevine by Craig Robertson and Alex Sokoloff, Once Upon A Time In Glasgow by Jay Stringer, both signed, The Second Murderer by Denise Mina from a second hand shop), an irresistible notebook (cover reads: The Devil Is In The Detail), a Maling china dressing table set (pearlescent white background with a pattern of dark red coleus leaves) a heart-shaped Bute fridge magnet with tiny shells on, and a fan advertising The Flight, The Boat Trip and Open Your Eyes by Heather J Fitt.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· 14d

I'm looking forward to being entertained and educated in equal measure by this little beauty from @valmcdermid.bsky.social and @profjosharp.bsky.social 😊 #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· 24d

A wee bit of @harrogatefestivals.bsky.social Theakstons festival - a perfect weekend of panels and hanging out with pals 💕 #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jul 10

Unexpected and generous #BookPost from Polygon/Birlinn, always such a privilege to be sent books!

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· May 6

I had a jaunt to Cromarty at the weekend for its crime fiction festival - lovely place, lovely people, lovely festival (inc a fab noir at the bar with a sneak preview of The Heights from Mr Rankin...). #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Apr 24

If it's good enough for the First Minister of Scotland... 😁 @liammcilvanney.bsky.social (You can read my review of it here: crimebookgirl.com/2025/07/07/r...)

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Apr 21

Smashing evening launching new edition of The Ossians by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social (@orendabooks.bsky.social) with @valmcdermid.bsky.social at @portybooks.bsky.social - chat plus songs! My review had to be postponed - but there's plenty of cracking reviews on the blog tour meantime! #BookSky 📚💙

Authors Doug Johnstone (checked shirt, greenish jeans) and Val McDermid (blue and green shirt, black trousers) chat about The Ossians at Portobello Bookshop

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Apr 3

The Ossians are in da house... 🎶🎶 Love the new cover from @orendabooks.bsky.social for this celebratory edition of the second novel by @dougjohnstone.bsky.social (Why two copies? One of them belongs to Mr @scotlandchris1.bsky.social, I'm just looking after it for a little while) #BookSky 📚💙

Two copies of The Ossians by Doug Johnstone, in their new edition covers - white on blue name at the top, blue on white title at the bottom, and a broken guitar abandoned on a lonely road leading into menacingly dark hills in the background...

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Mar 16

Delighted to receive unexpected #BookPost - thanks @laurasherlock21.bsky.social for arranging! A forthcoming standalone from Ajay Chowdhury (author of The Waiter etc) which sounds like an interesting read indeed... #BookSky 📚💙

Proof of Eden Falls by Ajay Chowdhury, plain cover with the title in huge letters on the back and spine, and a spooky quote on the front - "You gave it access, it took control" ...

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Mar 10

My next read, now the postie has been - I do love a @vandasymon.bsky.social novel! Review coming soon... In the meantime, you can order your own copy from @orendabooks.bsky.social and read my previous reviews and a wee interview over on the blog: crimebookgirl.com?s=Vanda+symon #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Mar 2

Now recovering from a fantastic weekend at @baytales.bsky.social - thanks @vpeanuts.bsky.social and the team for fab panels and events, and to my bookish tribe for being excellent company! Tickets are on sale for next year, why not grab one and experience the Whitley Bay joy... #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Mar 1

Well, hello, Mr @dougskelton.bsky.social nice to see you in Newcastle! #BookSky📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 28

Currently at @baytales.bsky.social ! Started yesterday with this haul from a charity shop - 50p each plus buy one get one free? It would have been rude not to 😁

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 26

A grand evening at @portybooks.bsky.social listening to @dougjohnstone.bsky.social chat with @brookmyre.bsky.social about the 20th anniversary edition of Tombstoning (@orendabooks.bsky.social), plus tunes from Doug &his son Aidan! Find my review here: crimebookgirl.com/2026/02/20/r... #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 13

I get very little bookpost these days (other than for specific reasons), so it's a real treat to have this new one from Stuart MacBride tumble through the letterbox 😊 Thanks to @laurasherlock21.bsky.social and @panmacmillan.bsky.social for thinking of me! #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 3

Recent reads #3 - The Night Watcher by @tariqashkanani.bsky.social Set in Edinburgh (inc lots of places I've lived!); Callie is a great character (love the intro to both sides of her), &overall a pacy, entertaining read from the @bloodyscotland.bsky.social debut and McIlvanney winner. #BookSky 📚💙

Cover of The Night Watcher by Tariq Ashkanani, yellow and white lettering on an image combining Edinburgh castle and a figure walking down a darkened street.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 3

Recent reads #2 - To The Shades Descend by @allangaw.bsky.social the third in this series from the @bloodyscotland.bsky.social debut winner and it's another gem. Cuthbert in Glasgow deals with a bombing of a political rally &much more. AG is a wonderful user of nuance in people & plot. #BookSky 📚💙

Cover of To The Shades Descend by Allan Gaw; red and white lettering over a red-tinted silhouette image of two figures on a rainy city street.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Feb 3

Recent reads #1 A Haunting In The Arctic by CJ Cooke - it's not a crime novel but lots of crimes are committed; it's a tense, terrifying exploration of what trauma could potentially do to someone. And the details of the whalers and their work, and the mythology explored, is fascinating. #BookSky 📚💙

Cover of A Haunting In The Arctic by CJ Cooke, black cover with white writing and beautiful frosty scrollwork around the edges.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jan 28

Pick up a copy of @scotsman.com newspaper today for a spread by @elisabethwolf.bsky.social about her new novel... #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jan 23

Do I have more unread books in my home than I can count? Oh yes. Did I just collect three books (by #ChrisHammer @jdkirk.bsky.social and @dvbishop.com) ordered online in @portybooks.bsky.social January sale? Also yes... 😂 Buying books and reading books are two separate hobbies, remember! #BookSky

Stack of three paperback novels - Dead Man's Creek by Chris Hammer, A Rock And A Hard Place by JD Kirk, and Ritual Of Fire by DV Bishop. In the background are shelves and a couple of people browsing as I took the photo in the Portobello Bookshop.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jan 10

I do love the Tony McLean series by @sirbenfro.bsky.social - the slice of supernatural, the many great women around McLean, the cats, Madame Rose & McLean's Edinburgh are all comfortingly familiar yet deployed in different ways every time. (Some revs: crimebookgirl.com?s=James+Oswa...) #BookSky 📚💙

Cover of The Rest Is Death by James Oswald, white and yellow lettering over a blue-tinged image of a spooky path into misty woodland. The insides are much more interesting tho...

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jan 9

A change from the crime fiction diet - Winter by @valmcdermid.bsky.social was just the job for these chilly evenings; thoughtful, funny (I love the soup section 😁), and sparked memories of my own. Very lovely. #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Jan 4

Popped out yesterday - finished spending last year's book token and started the one I just got for Christmas 😁 Looking forward to all these immensely! @valmcdermid.bsky.social @sirbenfro.bsky.social @jdkirk.bsky.social #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Dec 31

I inhaled Scrublands the novel in the spring, last night I was going to have 1 ep of the TV series & promptly binged the lot. Thanks Chris Hammer for writing and letting the TV people loose on the book! Recommended in both versions for lovers of slow burn knotty stories in small towns. #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Dec 24

Christmas Eve reading in an edition from @fahrenheitpress.bsky.social Hope you have the Christmas you want, and you have suitably excellent rectangular parcels 😁 PS my 2025 reading highlights will arrive around Hogmanay - do tune in! #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Nov 24

There's book post, and then there's OMG BOOK POST!! So excited to get my hands on the new Jack Parlabane adventure 🎉🎉🎉 thanks to @thecrimevault.bsky.social @fionabrownlee.bsky.social @brookmyre.bsky.social If you've not read the almighty Quite Ugly One Morning, get to it! #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Nov 22

Smashing #BookPost from @birlinn.bsky.social @allangaw.bsky.social - out in January so you've time to catch up with this excellent series! For a review of bk1, @bloodyscotland.bsky.social debut prize winner The Silent House Of Sleep, click here: crimebookgirl.com/2025/02/21/r... #BookSky 📚💙

Cover of The Silent House Of Sleep by Allan Gaw, green tinted with a silhouette graveyard scene overlaid with white lettering, plus the accompanying press release from publisher Polygon/Birlinn

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Nov 10

I must shout about this @harrogatefestivals.bsky.social goody bag proof, The Drowning Place by @sarahhilary.bsky.social It's gripping, eerie, full of emotional depth &has a supernatural thread = SUPERB. Out next spring. My only problem is I now have a long wait til book2! 😂 #BookSky 📚💙

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Oct 25

I finished this by Chris Hammer last night - slow burn but compelling, elegiac yet packed with incident. A clear-eyed picture of journalists and journalism, and a trip to small town Australia that doesn't involve a plane ticket and jet lag. Recommended! #BookSky

Cover of Silver by Chris Hammer, blue and white writing over a black, thundery sky above a rocky headland above the sea.

crimebookgirl@crimebookgirl· Oct 20

I don't get much bookpost I can talk about these days so I was delighted when this popped through the letterbox - thanks Emma Christie! Always a treat to read books set in Edinburgh 😁 There's a blog tour with @annerandomthings.bsky.social coming too, do look out for all the reviews. #BookSky 📚💙