Mince Pies, Mulled Wine, and Murder: A Festive Evening with Crime Authors

Get into the holiday spirit with a twist of mystery at Mince Pies, Mulled Wine, and Murder—a thrilling evening with some of the UK’s top crime and thriller authors. Join us in the auditorium at Dollar Academy for a night of suspense, chilling tales, and festive fun, as renowned authors like Sir Ian Rankin, Lin Anderson, DV Bishop, and many more take the stage to read from their latest gripping books.

Enjoy mulled wine, indulge in mince pies, and immerse yourself in the world of crime fiction as these masters of mystery share their secrets, answer your burning questions, and offer insider stories of their writing processes. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or a newcomer to the genre, this is the perfect event to meet the faces behind the books and get your copies signed.

Featured Authors:

• Sir Ian Rankin – Sir Ian Rankin was born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1960 and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1982. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus and Detective Malcolm Fox novels, as well as a string of standalone thrillers. Ian is the recipient of four CWA Dagger Awards and in 2004 won America’s celebrated Edgar Award for Resurrection Men. In 2022, he won the British Book Award for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year, and in the following year, 2023, he was knighted in recognition of his contributions to literature.

• Chris Brookmyre – Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, which established him as one of Britain’s leading crime writers. His 2006 novel All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses An Eye won the Everyman Bollinger Wodehouse Prize, and his 2016 novel Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. He also co-writes historical crime fiction with his wife, Marisa Haetzman, under the pen name Ambrose Parry..

• Lin Anderson – Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, and in 2022 she was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library Award. Lin is the co-founder of the international crime-writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.

• DV Bishop – D. V. Bishop is the pseudonym of writer David Bishop. His love for Italy and the Renaissance period meant there could be only one setting for his historical thrillers. His novels have won the CWA Historical Dagger, the NZ Booklovers Award, and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. He has also been shortlisted for Scotland’s McIlvanney Prize, the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and for the CWA Gold Dagger. David teaches creative writing at Edinburgh Napier University. Shadow of Madness is the sixth Cesare Aldo mystery.

• Mark Bridgeman – Wiltshire born writer Mark followed in his father’s footsteps and became a published author in 2019, with 16 bestselling titles now under his belt. Mark’s titles Perthshire’s Pound of Flesh and Blood Across The Water have been among Waterstones Scotland’s non-fiction best sellers of 2022 and 2023. Perthshire’s Pound of Flesh was also Perth Waterstones bestselling title of 2022, selling more than twice as many copies as any other book. The Scottish Murder Book was released in October 2024 and Nothing For Something: The Violet Charlesworth Story in April 2025 (as featured on the BBC) was shortlisted for The Guardian’s Top 20 non-fiction books of 2025.

• Natalie Jayne Clark – Natalie Jayne Clark is a neurodivergent poet, author and producer based in Perth, Scotland. Her debut novel ‘The Malt Whisky Murders’ was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and was selected as one of Love Reading’s Books of the Month in June 2025. It was also the 4th best selling title at the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Natalie has won several poetry slams and her work can be found in a range of publications, she co-hosts a monthly poetry and prose open mic in Perth.

• Charlotte Cross – Charlotte Cross writes historical fiction, having been fascinated by stories of the past since she was a child. She grew up in southern England in a small town with a rich history, and spent many happy hours at the local museum where her grandmother was a volunteer. Charlotte now lives in central Scotland with her partner and their opinionated ginger cat. When not writing, she enjoys yoga, reading Victorian novels, and exploring her adopted country. The Brides is her first novel.

• Frances Crawford – As a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Frances was delighted to graduate with distinction at age sixty from Glasgow University’s Creative Writing program. Frances grew up in North Glasgow, and credits the people of Possilpark and Milton as her writing inspiration. She still lives in Glasgow with her family and likes libraries and punk rock. A Bad, Bad Place is her debut novel.

• Allan Gaw – Allan Gaw is a Scottish writer.  Most of his career has been in academic medicine as a pathologist and clinical researcher. His debut novel, “The Silent House of Sleep” the first in the Dr Jack Cuthbert Mystery Series, was self-published in 2023 and won the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel Prize in September 2024.

• Alex Gray – Alex Gray was born and educated in Glasgow. she began writing professionally in 1993 and had immediate success with short stories, articles and commissions for BBC radio programmes. She has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing.

  She is the co-founder of the international Scottish crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland, which had its inaugural year in 2012.

• Iain Kelly – Iain Kelly lives in Scotland. His latest novel, Hostile City, a crime thriller set in Glasgow was published in 2026.

  He is married with two children and works in the media industry as a television editor. When he is not creating stories through sound and vision, he is writing them. His first novel, A Justified State, was published in 2018, followed by a sequel, State Of Denial in 2019 and State Of War in 2020, which concluded ‘The State’ trilogy.
  In 2022, he first partnered with The Book Guild to publish the coming-of-age mystery The Barra Boy, which was followed in 2024 by the historical thriller All We Cannot Leave Behind.
  Full Sun, the first in a series of crime thrillers featuring ex-convict Cal Jackson, came out in 2024.

• Callum McSorley – Callum McSorley is a writer based in Glasgow. His short stories have appeared in several publications including Gutter Magazine and New Writing Scotland. His short story The Cottage was produced for BBC Radio 4 in 2025.

  His debut novel, Squeaky Clean, was published in 2023 and won The McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2023. Its sequel, Paperboy, was published in 2025 and was a finalist for the same award. The final part of this trilogy, Rat Race was published in May 2026.

  In 2024, Callum was awarded the Loch Long Crime Writing Residency in Cove Park.

Don’t miss out on this festive celebration of all things thrilling! It’s the perfect chance to add a few crime novels to your Christmas wish list and to discuss your favourite twists, turns, and cliffhangers with the authors themselves. Grab your ticket now and prepare for a night of murder, mystery, and mulled wine!