#Review By Lou of Richard Armitage Chaired By Brian Burnett @RCArmitage @bryanb1965 @BloodyScotland #BloodyScotland

Richard Armitage

Review By Louise Cannon (Lou)

What a moment! Richard Armitage in Stirling how the Bloody Scotland team did that, I have no idea, but it was amazing! It’s not so often these days that big named actors grace Stirling, not like how they used to. I was a kid when they used to, but my parents have told me. So, here he was, in The Albert Halls in Stirling.

Richard Armitage has also got a book out now called Geneva.

Actor/Author Richard Armitage has pretty much done it all now and is exceedingly successful, not that he was ever fame hungry as he talked a few times about that being a by-product to success and certain things he does being part of the deal/contract. His book is entirely his own, more about that later…

Richard Armitage has been in lots of tv dramas and films, including The Vicar of Dibley, Spooks, The Hobbit and more… He also reads audiobooks for Amazon’s Audible arm and for radio. Now he has a book called Geneva.

Fascinatingly, he’s totally clued up on how some readers seem to perceive all celebratory author, so he made it very clear that he did not use a ghost-writer. Amazon was going to give him one, but he was adamant that if he was going to produce words, they were going to be entirely his own, so he had to, I suppose, prove himself a bit and write a synopsis and submit a couple of chapters too. He went into detail about how it’s a whole sensory experience when he writes and how he’s trying to future-proof his career in case the phone stops ringing as he would like to continue in some ways in the creative industry and this is one of the ways he can do that, amongst others. He also talked about being introverted, despite all that he does in front of people and cameras. It’s interesting to me just how many actors actually are introverted, but give them a different person to be, a stage or a camera and you’d never guess.

His book, Geneva sounds curious with all the corridors in this building. It also looks at gaslighting in a medical environment. He bravely let everyone know that he has experienced gaslighting and how you think you’re going mad. It was quite a moment!

The book sounded so good that I bought a copy, sadly didn’t manage to meet the man in-person as had another event and the queue went round the signing room and doubled on itself and I had another event to go to.

I now have a copy of this book and will review at a later date.

#Review By Lou of Peter James and Elly Griffiths @peterjamesuk @ellygriffiths @BloodyScotland #Grace #RuthGalloway

Peter James and Elly Griffiths

written by Louise Cannon (Lou)

Peter James and Elly Griffiths are so entertaining together, the perfect match for a panel. If you ever get the chance to see them, either alone or together, I highly recommend it. You’re in for a real treat. The event was 1hr and it was a captivating one. What an absolute delight to meet him afterwards too. The queue was massive, all around the signing room, which is a fair side, so some fast talking was needed to be fair on everyone else.

Peter James talked about his series – Grace and this September saw the launch of his 20th novel – Someone Is Dead. Amazingly, this series has seen 21 million sold and translated into 38 languages, as well as it being on tv on ITV/STV. It pulls a massive audience. One member of that audience is the Queen, so turns out readers are in the most excellent of company. He also has a theatre play, check the link out further on. Thanks to Peter James for the photo.

It’s often fascinating when authors talk about their crime fiction books and the way they see them as a puzzle (they essentially are). He used an interesting analogy of it being 1000’s of small pieces of a puzzle having to piece together. What’s interesting and different is how he decided to have the puzzle so much closer to Grace’s home and family, in fact so personal that it’s his wife who is seemingly loving and sounding pretty great, goes missing and how he shows bits about her in several books, going up to his stand alone about Sandy’s story.

The latest book – One of Us is Dead sounds intriguing about how a dangerous a dead man might actually be and it’s a race of time to find out. I will be receiving this book some time from his publishers to review, thanks to the Bloody Scotland team.

Peter James is smart and fortunate that he has a good handle on his tv series – Grace, played by John Simm. He even chose John Simm to play the character and pictured his main protagonist as being someone like him. This is quite probably why the tv series works so well, is because he has been able to gain so much control over it. Interestingly, Peter James spoke about doing some acting himself, quite some time ago.

Grace is on tv just now on ITV/STV and on the catch up services.

Picture You Dead is coming to theatres across the UK in 2025.
Check it out in this link here: Picture You Dead
Check out more works by Peter James here: https://www.peterjames.com/

The book was fabulous and I rated it 5/5 stars when I had a lovely opportunity to read it a while back. After seeing Wish You Were Dead on stage, which was divine, I am certain the stage show will do well too.

Elly Griffiths has a new book is a Ruth Galloway book, The Last Word, set in rural Sussex. It was interesting hearing how she didn’t know the book was going to be so popular or subsequently go on for so long. She read a passage from her book and she has a knack of hitting all the points of the real world, much like Peter James’ books do too, as she read about Wordle and such activities we all got into. She divulged about how her Ruth Galloway books were optioned a few times for tv and sadly haven’t gone any further as yet. I can think of a few authors that has happened to.

For those who don’t know, Elly Griffiths is a pseudonym for Domenica de Rosa and it was interesting hearing why she changed it. It wasn’t for any reason I’d have thought of, but it was to sound more convincing and real than her actual real name. Sadly didn’t manage to capture a photo of Elly on the account of needing to get to the next event.

She talked about having a desire to try out different things, but hasn’t said never again for Ruth Galloway. For something different, I personally recommend Postscript Murders, it’s brilliantly entertaining and so original. I seem to recall rating it 5/5 stars.

Check out more Elly Griffiths books here: https://ellygriffiths.co.uk/my-books/

Check out my review of The Postscript Murders here: Postscript Murders

#Review By Lou of The Grand Scheme of Things By Warona Jay @Warona_Jay #TheGrandSchemeOfThings #LBT @LoveBooksTours #BlogTour

The Grand Scheme of Things
By Warona Jay

Set in theatreland, but a deeper, darker look behind the scenes before the curtain goes up is what entails. Check out the blurb and my review below, thanks to the blog tour opportunity from Love Books Tours.

Blurb

Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo. Or, for short, Eddie: an aspiring playwright who dreams of making it big in London’s theatre world. But after repeated rejections from white talent agents, Eddie suspects her non-white sounding name might be the problem.

Enter Hugo Lawrence Smith: good looking, well-connected, charismatic and . . . very white. Stifled by his law degree and looking for a way out of the corporate world, he finds a kindred spirit in Eddie after a chance encounter at a cafe.

Together they devise a plan which will see Eddie’s play on stage and Hugo’s name in lights and expose the theatre world for its racism and hollow clout-chasing. But as their plan spins wildly out of control, Eddie and Hugo find themselves wondering if their reputations, and their friendship, can survive.

Review

The Arts, a tricky business, but an amazing one nonetheless. Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo or Eddie for short, has big dreams, like most actors, to make it big in London. The book shows it is who you know though, not always just relying on what you know, so it can be tricky. The book exposes some of the attitudes behind the scenes of the glitz and glam of London’s theatre scene, mainly from a race point of view, although shows a little of the male privilege having a hand and money having a bit of a hand too. The book attempts humour to perhaps be satirical or take the edge off the anger, but it didn’t always seem to quite manage it.

I was initially intrigued by this book, after all, many workplaces have their biases etc. I found it to be okay. It’s got a slow-burn and shows you need to know someone, not just posh, but high up to try to change things, which comes in the form of Hugo Lawrence Smith. He wants to change career and enter the arts and discovers that all isn’t so easy. He becomes friends with “Eddie” and initially, it could be not such a bad one.
There is seemingly roaring success of a script being submitted when Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo submits under the pseudonym and how that doesn’t all continue to go to plan and with Hugo having to “come to the rescue”. The two get closer together to punish the arts world because it’s a different story when the real identity of the script-writer is revealed.

Things spiral out of control in the realm of what to do about the industry and it puts friendships on the edge, which becomes quite a twist and turn in a way.

I thought I’d love it with the themes, the premise of locations because they are usually of more interest, but instead I found it just about interesting enough for in its style and characterisations to keep turning the pages.

Today’s The Day #BloodyScotland Begins in Stirling, Scotland @BloodyScotland @Brownlee_Donald #Scotland #UK #CrimeFestival #CrimeLovers

Bloody Scotland Begins

Written By Louise Cannon (Lou)

With a myriad of crime theme events, Bloody Scotland has arrived in Stirling, Scotland. I’m never bored when it’s festival time. There’s always something to do and old friends and new ones to meet. It’s an amazing time!

Bloody Scotland runs from Friday 13th – Sunday 15th September.

Meet your favourite authors, hang out at the Bloody Scotland bar at the Golden Lion Hotel, meet the reviewers, meet other readers. Swap thoughts on books, try something new or something familiar. Eat, drink and read.

Hear talks about books, get books signed, have fun at the Karioke and watch game show formats with a devilish twist.

Come for an entertaining weekend of high-jinx and chat.

For those not been before, welcome. For those who are regulars, welcome back to the city of crime writers with a historical backdrop of olde world streets and castle and so much more…

Programme and Tickets on the Bloody Scotland website here: Bloody Scotland

#Review By Lou of The Cracked Mirror By Chris Brookmyre @CBrookmyre @BloodyScotland @Brownlee_Donald #BloodyScotland #TheCrackedMirror

The Cracked Mirror
By Chris Brookmyre

Written By Louise Cannon

The Cracked Mirror cracks all you think you know about writing a murder mystery and time concepts. Thanks to Fiona at Bloody Scotland for sending me a copy of the book. He will be attending Bloody Scotland. See further details after my review.

Blurb

FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW
THIS IS NOT THAT CRIME NOVEL

You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes.

You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a Sunday best hat.

Against all the odds, against the usual story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might just come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer.

A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly, The Cracked Mirror is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart.

Review

The layout of the chapters is the most unique as they get, so I feel I have to mention it. It’s a unique, interesting concept that works. I’ve never seen chapters being numbered how these are before. It’s absolutely genius! Some have roman numerals and some state “chapter 1” etc. It means you’re never lost as to who’s pov it is you’re reading or when in the timeline ever again.

Now, with the excitement of the chapters over, onto the book itself. It’s complex (those chapters really do help) and twisty.

Set in Scotland, there’s 80 year old Penny Coyne in her typically sleepy village, that is apart from murders happening. In some places there is an Agatha Christie feel about it, but it soon moves away from that. It truly isn’t That crime novel, just a, perhaps, respectful glance of it before the uniqueness of Chris Brookmyre’s writing and imagination takes over and it becomes very different and original.

Penny and Johnny are chalk and cheese in character. She has grace and decorum and he’s more rough around the edges, but what a great sleuthing pair they are to follow to solve the crime. The read feels quite quick and it feels less than its 500 pages. The pace itself ebbs and flows as the locations change.

Chris Brookmyre’s skill comes to the fore in the intertwining of intriguing plot threads and characters. There are many characters to get to know, but each of them quickly become of interest in the intriguing storyline. There are hugely unexpected page-turning plot twists that you just can’t even predict are coming.

You can see Chris Brookmyre at Bloody Scotland at Stirling Albert Halls on Sunday 15th September https://bloodyscotland.com/event/stuart-and-chris/

By Lou – The Wickedest Link – A game at International Crime Festival – Bloody Scotland in Stirling @BloodyScotland #BlogTour #TheWickedestLink #BloodyScotland @Brownlee_Donald @CraigRobertson_

The Wickedest Link Game

Friday 13th at 10pm in Albert Halls, Stirling

Spine-tingling, mind twisting, tension inducing, can you hear the blood-curdling screams of fear as crime writers are told, one by one that they are The Wickedest Link?

The Weakest Link, we all remember the icy stare of Ann Robinson and the coolness of being told “You Are The Weakest Link, Goodbye”, somewhat now softened with a new presenter, Romesh Ranganathan. Now, the excitement builds and with even more quaking in boots, there’s a new take on this game: The Wickedest Link. Which crime writer will come out on top as the wickedest link of them all? Tense already, isn’t it as heartrates heighten and the blood pumps through the veins that little bit harder. With Craig Robertson as a worthy inquisitor to that of which Anne Robinson brought, Elly Griffiths, Mark Billingham, Vanda Symon, Tony Kent, Lija Sigurdardottir, Vaseem Khan and Marion Todd had better beware of the icy glare as one by one they may leave if they get their questions wrong and voted out of
The Wickedest Link!

You can buy your ticket here: https://bloodyscotland.com/event/wicked/

Bloody Scotland, International Crime Book Festival in Stirling goes from strength to strength each year.
It is one for every crime fan’s calendar, set in the old part of the picturesque, historical millennium city of Stirling, crime writers come to entertain readers and writers alike in beautiful venues like The Golden Lion Hotel, The Albert Halls and Trinity Church. September comes around and Stirling comes to life, like no other time of year, with a beating heart and the joy of people.

The prestigious McIlvanney Prize gets announced and it’s home to established and new authors alike.