The International Crime Writing Festival Bloody Scotland will launch its 2024 programme in Stirling on June 20.
Returning to Stirling for its 12th year, the festival will take place from Friday, September 13 to Sunday, September 15.
The line up this year “has never been greater” and welcomes both new writers and bestsellers, alongside “well-known faces from television, film and the media”.
Queen of Crime on Queen MacBeth
At the Golden Lion Hotel, festival director Bob McDevitt will unveil the names of over 100 authors who will be attending this year’s events.
Val McDermid will then hold court for an exclusive event at 1.30pm to review her latest book Queen MacBeth.
The Scottish Tartan-Noir author will be in conversation with Stirling resident and crime writer Craig Robertson.
Lauded as “Masterful… a favourite read this year” by The Herald, McDermid’s Queen MacBeth follows the story of a woman on the run. However, “The men hunting her will kill her – because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition.
“She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth.”
McDermid has been a fixture of Bloody Scotland and has previously described it as “a dizzying weekend of pleasure”.
What we know about Bloody Scotland 2024
We can guess that the annual torchlit procession will take place on the first night of the festival at the Church of Holy Rude.
However, the opening night will also see award ceremonies for two crime writers at the Golden Lion Hotel.
The McIlvanney prize will be awarded to the author of the best Scottish crime novel this year. The longlist for the prize will be revealed on Thursday, June 13.
There will also be an award for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2024. The longlist for this award was announced today (June 6) and can be found here.
Attending the programme launch
Tickets can be found here. They are £6 but Bloody Scotland offer student concession tickets at £5.
If you can’t make the launch, the programme will be available on the Bloody Scotland website.
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