Bloody Scotland – Day 1

The first evening of Bloody Scotland has drawn to a close and already attendees have been treated to some brilliant panels. Laughter rang around Stirling’s Albert Halls as first Stuart MacBride and Caro Ramsay then Mark Billingham and Christopher Brookmyre shared one star reviews, bad use of Doric in a foreign country and Caro and Stuart gave pointers on how to hide a dead body.

But there were serious matters to take care of before the panels began. The weekend kicked off with the award of the McIlvanney Prize. Opening speeches from Jenny Brown welcoming everyone to the Golden Lion, the new home of Bloody Scotland for 2016. Then came the Provost of Stirling who pitched the delights of Stirling to the assembled and encouraged everyone to buy a home in Stirling (having previously owned a home in Stirling I can agree this is not the worst place in the world to live).  Then a real treat as Hugh McIlvanney came to the microphone to read from William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw.

Then came the announcement, the winner of the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of 2016: Christopher Brookmyre for Black Widow.

With the festival formally open it was a dash in the rain from the Golden Lion to the Albert Halls.  A full auditorium for the opening two events and attendees all received a free book courtesy of festival sponsors Bookdonors.  It is just possible that I selected my seat mainly because there was a Lee Child book available – the chance to sit with Douglas Skelton, Mark Leggatt and James Oswald was a delightful bonus.

Two full days of activities left and tickets are still available full details at www.bloodyscotland.com