All welcome at 'The Special Dead' events this week

Please come along if you can make it to one of the two Lin Anderson The Special Dead Waterstones events this week, at Newton Mearns and at Falkirk (both are free).

The first Waterstones The Special Dead event is a Lin Anderson conversation with Bloody Scotland co-founder Alex Gray  at Primavera Bistro in The Avenue Shopping Centre in Newton Mearns at 7pm on Tuesday 1st September ...

Michelle McCabe, Centre Manager at The Avenue, said: “We are delighted to welcome Lin Anderson to The Avenue. The Special Dead is the latest of her popular crime books which I’m sure will thrill fans, many of whom will flock to The Avenue to meet their favourite author in person and revel in an evening of crime.”

To book a space at this free event contact Waterstones Newton Mearns (0141 616 3933 or @WatNewtonMearns) or Primavera Bistro (0141 639 8092) at The Avenue.

The second Waterstones The Special Dead event this week is Lin Anderson in conversation with author and Daily Record journalist Shari Low at Behind The Wall in Falkirk at 7pm on Wednesday 2nd September ...

To book a space at this free event contact Waterstones Falkirk (0843 290 8327).

The Special Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/1447298314/
The Special Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/1447298314/ (to pre-order, USA release 1st November)

Listen Again to the Dream Forensics Panel

Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival have made an audio recording of what was My Dream Panel available for download (for £3.00).

If you weren't at my Forensics event at Harrogate in July, I can recommend the audio download for entertainment & educational value!

Panellists: Lorna Dawson, Niamh Nic Daeid, James Grieve and Martin Hall

Host: Lin Anderson

Event Description: Few writers can ignore how forensics has transformed detecting crimes, taking the genre from the puzzle in the library to the minutia under the microscope. Join author Lin Anderson, creator of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod, with a panel of professors.
Lorna Dawson is a Principal Soil Scientist, who has worked on case investigations with the police and Forensic Science Service, as well as advising on TV shows Vera and Silent Witness. Niamh Nic Daeid is Professor of Forensic Science and Director of Research at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee.
Professor James Grieve was a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Medicine and a Police Forensic Pathologist. And forensic entomologist Martin Hall has worked as an expert witness on over thirty criminal cases, looking at how maggots can provide vital clues to murder.

Run time: 59m 59

Date Recorded: Saturday 18th July 2015

Lin Anderson's next Forensics event is at Bloody Scotland 2015 in September, and you can buy tickets for the Lin Anderson with Val McDermid event here.

Wow what a book : 5-Stars for The Special Dead

This is the latest book in the popular Rhona Macleod series and wow what a book it is.
The story begins where boy meets girl in bar, they go back to her flat where they have sex. The boy wakes up the next morning and finds the girl dead but he isn't sure if he killed her or not. What follows is an investigation into the complicated mystery and the shady characters that emerge. Rhona and DS Michael McNab (who has just been demoted) have to work together to solve the case before somebody else becomes the next victim of a crazed killer.
I really, really enjoyed this book. I was pleased to finish it but I was also sad to have finished such a great read. It was an insight into the world of Wicca, which I found very interesting as I previously knew nothing about Wicca and it was explained in an informative and non-judgemental fashion.
Lin Anderson writes in such a way that you are drawn in from the beginning and you stay until the end despite the roller coaster of emotions and twists & turns in the story. I was gripped from the first chapter. Indeed I felt as though I was really involved in the story (almost an invisible bystander) so to speak. I was also rooting for Rhona Macleod and felt as though I knew her as a result of Lin's descriptive & emotive language. The situations she described and people involved were very realistic.
I loved the characters of Rhona Macleod and DS Michael McNab. As is often common in crime novels, the lead characters are strong people but they have their flaws. They are both workaholics, have fractured & flawed personal relationships and they have disastrous love lives- everything is going well but almost too well and when people get too close, both Rhona & Michael seem to press a self destruct button and everything goes wrong. There is clearly a history between McNab and Rhona and it is true that there is some unfinished business there. Despite their personal history both Rhona & McNab work extremely well as part of a team.
I can't wait to read further books in the Rhona Macleod series. In fact after finishing this book I bought the rest in the series and I can't wait to read them.

The Special Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/1447298314/
The Special Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/1447298314/ (to pre-order, USA release 1st November)

Bloody Scotland, the crime wave that's welcome

The Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival, and Lin Anderson's involvement and latest book The Special Dead feature in a profile section in today's The National newspaper.

“I think Bloody Scotland is now on the world map. Nowhere else are there better crime writers and now we have the PR to promote them.”

Read the online version of The National article here.

Buy Bloody Scotland 2015 tickets for the Lin Anderson with Val McDermid event here.
Buy Bloody Scotland 2015 tickets for the Lin Anderson with William McIlvanney & Craig Robertson event here.

Book 10 in Lin Anderson's series available in bookshops and at online booksellers:-
The Special Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/1447298314/
The Special Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/1447298314/ (to pre-order, USA release 1st November)

Book 9 in Lin Anderson's series shortlisted for Scottish Crime book of the year 2015:-
Paths of the Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LB89QU0/
Paths of the Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/B00LB89QU0/

Update & free eBook offer on 'Dead Close'

My Edinburgh-set short story Dead Close, which is on a special free eBook offer at Amazon until 30th August 2015, is in development as a movie, with casting due to start in a few weeks time.

The dead are closer than you think ...

Doug Cameron is about to retire after a distinguished career in Edinburgh’s police force, when an anonymous caller reports a woman being attacked in Greyfriars churchyard. During the investigation a mummified body is unearthed and Cameron comes to believe it’s his young wife, Rebecca, who disappeared 17 years before. Haunted by the one case he never solved, Cameron, a sceptic, has a series of disturbing and fragmented premonitions which begin with a mysterious girl who looks like Rebecca. As his real and unreal worlds collide Cameron thinks the girl holds the key, not just to the recent attack in the graveyard, but to what happened to Rebecca. But will the truth prove more terrible than the unknown ...

(Dead Close eBook is free until 30th August 2015)
Dead Close #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FWX34I/
Dead Close #US ► amazon.com/dp/B005FWX34I/

The Day of The Special Dead

The Special Dead, the 10th book in the Rhona Macleod series, is published and available to buy on Amazon, both on Kindle and in special edition hardback. It’s also widely available in Waterstones and other bookshops. I’m making my way round as many stores as I can signing copies. This is my second book with my new publishers Pan Macmillan and they’ve been brilliant advocates for Rhona.

Reviews of The Special Dead: Sunday Herald review | Eurocrime Review

The Paths of the Dead with its fabulous Ring of Brodgar cover has been shortlisted for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The Crime Book winner will be announced at the Bloody Scotland author dinner on the 12th of September (buy dinner tickets here ).

The other five contenders are all wonderful novels and you’ll be seated among some of the greats of Scottish crime writing, and are therefore guaranteed some fun.

Buy Bloody Scotland 2015 tickets for the Lin Anderson with Val McDermid event here.
Buy Bloody Scotland 2015 tickets for the Lin Anderson with William McIlvanney & Craig Robertson event here.

I’m doing a blog tour to coincide with the launch of The Special Dead on a selection of great crime blogs. See details below :-

Blog Tour links:-
There's Been a Murder - The Special Dead Blog Tour
Bloody Scotland - The Special Dead Blog Tour (with photos of launch party)
Eurocrime Q & A with Lin Anderson
Shotsmag Blog Tour Lin Anderson interview, and book extract
Book Postmortem review of The Special Dead

My event with Christobel Kent at the Edinburgh International Book Festival is on 20th August at 7pm in the Spiegeltent (buy tickets here). I’ve just finished Christobel’s latest book in her Italian series, The Killing Room, featuring Sandro Cellini and an evocative Florence (which I visited a few years ago). It's creepy and compelling with a wonderful set of characters (Florence included).
Come and see us together at EIBF for a murderous evening. After the event Pan Mac are hosting a launch party for The Special Dead in the Writers Retreat. Sometimes it's fun to be a crime writer.

Now published and available in bookshops and at online booksellers:-
The Special Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/1447298314/
The Special Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/1447298314/ (to pre-order, USA release 1st November)

Shortlisted for Scottish Crime book of the year 2015:-
Paths of the Dead #UK ► amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LB89QU0/
Paths of the Dead #US ► amazon.com/dp/B00LB89QU0/