What I’m Looking Forward to at Bloody Scotland 2026 – Murder, Mayhem & Impossible Choices! #BloodyScotland @BloodyScotland @Brownlee_Donald @dawngeddes

If you’ve followed me on CrimeBookJunkie or my socials for any length of time, you’ll know that when it comes to crime writing festivals I always have rules: Don’t overbook myself. Overpack weeks before. Leave time to catch up with people I want to see. Remember to sit and catch my breath. Do not buy another twenty books…

And every single year I completely ignore them.

So with Bloody Scotland 2026 returning to Stirling from 18–20 September, I’ve been studying the programme and attempting to make sensible decisions and honestly, it’s not going well. Too many brilliant crime writers, thriller authors, debut novelists and deliciously dark panels are competing for my attention. Murder may be easier to organise. #justsaying

Friday: starting as I mean to go on…

First on my list for Friday 18th September is Writes and Wrongs at 12pm with Evelyn Clarke, Sarah Lotz and Sarah Vaughan. Books about books? Authors writing about writers? Murder and mayhem thrown into the mix? HELLO! As both a crime writer and book reviewer, this panel feels made for me. I’m fascinated by stories that play with the relationship between fiction and reality… although as a crime writer, perhaps I shouldn’t admit quite how often I wonder whether I could get away with the things I write about.

Then comes my PROBLEM.

At 3pm there’s The Stuff of Nightmares with Catriona Ward, Will Carver and Sarah Pinborough. It is dark, psychologically unsettling, slightly disturbing fiction and basically catnip to me, so an entire panel promising to delve into the darkest corners of the human psyche sounds right up my street.

BUT…

At exactly the same time there’s the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize Panel with Frances Crawford, Kirsty Lockwood, May Rinaldi (Good luck, Irene!!), Zoë Rankin and Linda Duncan McLaughlin. And I LOVE discovering new crime writers. There is something very exciting about seeing authors right at the beginning of their careers and finding the names we’re all potentially going to be shouting about next.

So which would I choose?

The Stuff of Nightmares. JUST.

My reviewer head is screaming DEBUTS! DISCOVER NEW AUTHORS! but my dark little crime-fiction heart has apparently won this particular fight. No surprises there. I can always catch up with a digital pass…right?

And to finish Friday? How to Clean a Crime Scene with Ben Giles and Craig Robertson at 8.15pm. Giles spent 30 years working in crime-scene cleaning and biohazard remediation, so of course I want to hear every grim, fascinating detail. Eighteen years working in the criminal justice system clearly wasn’t enough to dampen my curiosity about the darker side of life. Normal people might end Friday with a nice meal but I apparently want decomposition and industrial-strength cleaning products. Don’t judge me!

Saturday: Femmes Fatales and VERY dark shadows

Saturday has another absolute must-see for me: Femmes Fatales at 1.15pm with Liz Nugent, Harriet Tyce and Andrea Mara.

Liz Nugent alone would sell this panel to me. I recently raved about The Truth About Ruby Cooper on CrimeBookJunkie — creepy, clever, compulsive and exactly the kind of character-driven darkness I LOVE. Throw Harriet Tyce and Andrea Mara into the mix and give me three authors writing complex characters, secrets, lies and psychological suspense? TAKE MY MONEY.

Then at 3pm it’s Chasing Dark Shadows with Luca Veste, Emma Styles, Michael Wood and Linda Duncan McLaughlin.

Another easy recommendation for me because Luca Veste has been favourited by me for YEARS and Michael Wood’s For Reasons Unknown was one of my favourite debut novels of 2015. If you haven’t read his books yet…why the hell not? I also had the pleasure of reading The Shark by Emma Styles and recommend it to anyone who loves dark and twisty thrillers…Add serial killers, forensic psychology and some seriously dark minds into the equation and, frankly, where else would I be? Duh!

Sunday: PITCH PERFECT!

And on Sunday I absolutely, definitely, DO NOT WANT TO MISS PITCH PERFECT.

This is always one of the Bloody Scotland events I find fascinating because there is something simultaneously thrilling and horrifying about watching unpublished writers pitch their novels live to industry professionals. Three minutes. Your book. A panel judging you. An audience watching.

What could possibly be stressful about that?!

As a writer, I love hearing how somebody distils an entire novel into the hook that makes people sit up and think: I NEED TO READ THAT. This year the panel includes literary agent Diana Beaumont, journalist and author Lisa Howells from Crime Monthly, and Stephen Cameron, Creative Director of Into Books, so it should be particularly interesting for aspiring crime writers wanting an insight into what catches the attention of industry professionals.

And THAT is currently my Bloody Scotland plan.

Will I stick to it?

Absolutely not.

Someone will mention another panel. I’ll bump into somebody. There will be coffee. There may be alcohol… but not much for me anymore. I’ll buy books I definitely do not have room for. And somehow my carefully planned Bloody Scotland 2026 itinerary will end up looking like the evidence board in a serial killer investigation.

But that’s half the fun.

For me, the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival is about far more than ticking events off a programme. It’s discovering new authors, seeing writers whose books I already love, catching up with the wonderful crime fiction community and spending an entire weekend talking about murder without anybody looking remotely concerned.

Bloody Scotland 2026… I am READY!

If you are not already going, check out the panels in more details HERE and treat yourself. You can thank me later! And you can see what everyone else is excited about by following the blog tour: