Bloody Scotland - Debut Prize Shortlist 2025

For the first of our Bloody Scotland podcasts - Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival - Ali spoke to the five shortlisted authors for this year's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year. They include David Goodman - A Reluctant Spy, Natalie Jayne Clark - The Malt Whisky Murders, Foday Mannah - The Search for Othella Savage, Claire Wilson - Five By Five, and Richard Strachan - The Unrecovered.

They each give a brief summary of their shortlisted novels before the chat turns to what inspired these stories, approaching a debut, the importance of agents, the welcoming world of the crime fiction community, what being shortlisted brings, and the importance of festivals such as Bloody Scotland.

There is also a fascinating chat about the ups and downs on the road to getting published, learning from rejections, and many more tips on, and tales about, becoming a published writer.

It's a podcast which will be of interest to readers, writers, and book lovers of all kinds, but especially if crime is your thing.

Bloody Scotland is on between 12th - 14th September. Tickets are on sale now.

Full details, including all the ways to listen, are over at scotswhayhae.com