Wednesday 24 July 2024

WHISPERS OF THE DEAD

 

Whispers of the Dead 

Will reveal the truth


(Forensic Scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod book 18)

The book opens with two short scenes. The first features a woman looking out of the window into a snowy night. She sees a young girl dressed like a highland dancer. The child looks over at her. The woman thinks it might be her daughter Tizzy. Is she still alive? 

In the second scene a naked man is tied to a chair, his eyes and mouth sewn shut. The chair is being pushed towards a broken window from which he eventually falls to the snowy ground below. Why has he been tortured then thrown from the window of a derelict building?

My inspiration for all of the Rhona MacLeod  novels comes initially from such scenes in my head. They are very visual, but I have no idea why the scene or scenes happen and what will happen next. 

I discover this by writing the story.

In the chapter that follows we meet three twelve year old boys playing in what is Elder Park in Govan, Glasgow . The derelict farmhouse exists as do the surroundings described.

Our first flat was in Clachan Drive close to the park just at the exit from the Clyde Tunnel, which fascinated me back then and still does. I used to visit the wonderful Elder Park library just as the three boys do in the story. 

When they discover the body in the grounds of the old farmhouse (which they regard as their den) they find themselves at the centre of the story. The trio of Ally, Dreep and Kevin were inspired by the children I met during my many years as a teacher. Bright, resilient and brave in sometimes terrifying circumstances, they find themselves in the sights of the killer.

Having been a scriptwriter, and having watched  Glasgow become a key player in American movie making,  I realised that one particular script I’d written but never had filmed, played into the story. Especially when the Scottish/American movie star goes missing.

Writers will often say that when you reach the point in the story where the characters take over, you’re on the right road. I have to agree.

Rhona, as always, is pivotal to the tale. When we first meet her she is with a group of female prisoners due soon to be released from ‘the concrete mother’. Marnie, the woman in the first scene, is among them and her story is woven intricately with Rhona’s search for the truth. 

My editor on reading the initial chapters  wondered how those two opening scenes would eventually collide.

If you want to find out, you’ll need to read the book.

~o~

UK Publication Date (Hardback and eBook) for WHISPERS OF THE DEAD is 1st August 2024. 
See my Events Schedule page or Book Tour page for details for book launch events and bookshop signings visits.

Buy WHISPERS OF THE DEAD at bookshops and online via links below:-




~o~



Sunday 16 July 2023

The Wild Coast

 

This year sees the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod book Driftnet in 2003. Driftnet was chosen as Ottakers’ (now Waterstones) Scottish book of the month, and was a No.1 best seller, launching my career as a writer.

The Wild Coast, which is published on 3rd August 2023, is book seventeen in the Dr Rhona MacLeod series. It takes place on the remote west coast of Scotland and was inspired by my own many camping and swimming trips there.

A remote shoreline. A lethal killer. As lone visitors disappear from the rural northwest of Scotland, campsites are becoming crime scenes. The Wild Coast is a chilling thriller from Lin Anderson.
When forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is brought in to analyse a shallow grave on Scotland’s west coast, she is disturbed by a bundle of twigs crafted into a stickman and left in the victim’s mouth.

Then, when a young woman is reported missing from a nearby campsite with another sinister figurine left in her van, it seems that someone is targeting wild campers. An idyllic coastline known for providing peace and serenity, now the area is a hunting ground.

As her investigation proceeds, Rhona is forced to reconsider her closest bonds. Rumours of sexual assault offences by serving police officers are circling in Glasgow, which may include her trusted colleague DS Michael McNab. Could it be true, or is someone looking to put him out of action?

All the while a young woman’s life is on the line and the clock is ticking .. .
 

I always try to launch each book in or near to the location which inspired the story. In this case, we will be launching The Wild Coast at The Ullapool Bookshop, one of my favourite bookshops, on 1st August 2023 at 6:00pm (details below).


This will be followed by a launch event on the 2nd August at 7:00pm at another favourite: The Highland Bookshop in Fort William.

Please join us if you can at Ullapool or Fort Willian to celebrate the publication of The Wild Coast:

Email info@ullapoolbookshop.co.uk to book places for 01/08/2023 at 6:00pm

Click here to book for launch event at The Highland Bookshop on 02/08/2023 at 7:00pm

Also, in this special 20th anniversary year for the Rhona books, I’m delighted to welcome onto the stage at Bloody Scotland in September three of the experts who have contributed so much to the books and Rhona’s journey.

Shortly after the publication of Driftnet, I spotted an advert for a diploma course in Forensic Medical Science at my alma mater Glasgow University. I applied to join and it was there I met the real people behind the science that I was studying and writing about.

Rhona wouldn’t have had the exciting professional life she’s had without my meeting the three people who will share the stage with me on the opening night of Bloody Scotland 2023: Forensic soil scientist Professor Lorna Dawson, forensic pathologist Dr James Grieve, and advocate Donald Findlay KC. All three helped me with this year's Rhona MacLeod book The Wild Coast, and we will discuss this during the event.

Please join us in September for some fun and facts, where you’ll discover that fact is always much stranger than fiction.

Buy tickets via the links below:

For LIN ANDERSON AND GUESTS at the Albert Hall

For LIN ANDERSON AND GUESTS (single event online access)

DIGITAL PASS (covers multipe events, including LIN ANDERSON AND GUESTS) 


~o~



Thursday 16 June 2022

BLOODY SCOTLAND 2022 Tenth Anniversary Programme Launch

 


Today saw the launch at the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling of the tenth-anniversary 2022 BLOODY SCOTLAND programme. This year's programme will be the biggest ever, with events across four days (15th-18th September 2022), and will be a combination of both the normal Stirling-based events, plus the additional online element that was first introduced in 2020. Tickets are now on sale via the BLOODY SCOTLAND website ( http://bloodyscotland.com/events ), so please book now and join us in September.

Stirling Council Leader Chris Kane speaking at the BLOODY SCOTLAND launch.

My own BLOODY SCOTLAND event is 'The Party's Over' at 18:00 on Friday 16th September, when I am appearing with Chris Brookmyre and Claire Mackintosh, and will talk about my new stand-alone thriller THE PARTY HOUSE.
Book tickets for 'The Party's Over' here:  
https://bloodyscotland.com/events/the-partys-over-lin-anderson-chris-brookmyre-and-clare-mackintosh/

~o~

Friday 13 May 2022

Lin Anderson Shortlisted for CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2022


I'm delighted to have made it onto the Shortlist (in great company!) for the 2022 Crime Writers Association 'Dagger in the Library' award. 

The Dagger in the Library is a prize for a body of work by an established crime writer which has long been popular with borrowers from libraries. It also rewards authors who have supported libraries and their users.

The Dagger in the Library is awarded to an author writing in Britain and nominated by libraries in the UK.

See the full list of 2022 Dagger Shortlists on the CWA Website.

~o~

Sunday 24 April 2022

Lin Anderson Longlisted for CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2022

 


I'm delighted to be on a great Longlist for the 2022 CWA 'Dagger in the Library' award. The CWA Dagger Long lists were announced yesterday evening at the CWA Gala Dinner.

~o~

Friday 22 April 2022

THE PARTY HOUSE - Cover Reveal

 


It's COVER REVEAL DAY for my new stand-alone thriller THE PARTY HOUSE!

What if a murder happened in your own small community? What if you became a suspect? Or someone close to you did? 

That idea has intrigued me for some time, and I decided to take a short break from the Dr Rhona MacLeod series to explore it in the psychological thriller The Party House.

The story takes place in the fictional highland village of Blackrig. Just coming back to life after a pandemic in which five children and their community nurse died, the villagers are furious to discover that the much despised Party House, is to be re-opened, despite the fact that it seeded the deadly virus into the village in the first place.

When a group of local youths act out their anger by destroying the Party House hot tub, the body of missing teenager Ailsa Cummings is discovered in its foundations and the village must relive both her disappearance of five years ago, and now her murder.

This ignites old suspicions, animosities and fear among the villagers, especially the men, who’d known Ailsa at the time of her disappearance. All of whom had become suspects in the enquiry.

Men like local Greg Taylor, whose new partner is Londoner, Joanne Addington, whom he met on a recent business trip. When questioned by Joanne about the missing girl, he angrily refuses to discuss the case.

Joanne, perturbed by his reaction, questions how well she knows Greg, and whether it was wise to move in with him. Then again, he’s not the only one with secrets in their volatile relationship. 

When a police team arrives to excavate and forensically examine the remains, they find a resentful and angry population who, it seems, would prefer the past to stay buried.

Rhona MacLeod doesn’t feature in The Party House, although forensic science does. 

Rhona will be back in 2023. We first met Rhona in Driftnet in 2003, so next year which will be the 20th year of Forensic Scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod.


Due for publication on 4th August 2022The Party House by Lin Anderson is a deeply atmospheric psychological thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium.

CLICK HERE to pre-order from Waterstones.

CLICK HERE to pre-order for Kindle.

~o~






Friday 1 April 2022

THE KILLING TIDE on Kindle Deal at 99p for April 2022

 


THE KILLING TIDE is on a 99p Kindle Monthly Deal for April 2022.

THE KILLING TIDE is on a Kindle 99p Deal for April 2022

~o~