When I heard that Paths of the Dead was one of the Scottish Crime books chosen by readers for the shortlist for the 2015 Scottish Crime Book of the Year awards, I was speechless – hard for my friends to believe I know!
Paths of the Dead was inspired by a lecture given by my former Professor of Astronomy Archie Roy at University of Glasgow, who became an authority on the study of the paranormal in Scotland. At a lecture I attended he showed a video of a medium talking to an audience at a spiritualist church, and the opening scene of Paths of the Dead was born.
What if you (a sceptic) were to attend such a gathering and you received a message from beyond the grave? A message from your teenage son who you’d been talking to in person only an hour before.
Having lived in Orkney, I’d spent many hours visiting its standing stones and am avidly interested in the current excavations between the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. Stenness is regarded as life, the Ring of Brodgar as death, and the path between them with a loch either side like crossing the River Styyx … thus the book’s title: Paths of the Dead.
Paths of the Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LB89QU0/
Paths of the Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/B00LB89QU0/
