Vinland, George Mackay Brown’s fourth novel, follows the turbulent life of Ranald Sigmundson, a young boy born into the Dark Ages, when Orkney was torn between its Viking past and its Christian future.
    

The explosive follow-up to Two-Way Split.

Has Pearce finally found his match? A time-served Edinburgh hard man, Pearce is still recovering from the recent loss of his mother in a stabbing incident in a post office robbery. He’s invited by the dysfunctional Baxter family to protect their pregnant 16-year-old daughter from Wallace, her 26-year-old husband, a man with a penchant for killing family pets.

Nury Vittachi’s debut Polygon novel. Primarily set in Hong Kong, this highly enjoyable read delves into the mysterious underworld of vegan terrorism that only a Feng Shui master can resolve.

'The effortless lightness of Brown’s language is as triumphant as ever' - Times Literary Supplement

Thorfinn Ragnarson is the daydreaming son of a tenant farmer, avoiding both work and school despite the best efforts of family, friends and neighbours. Instead, the boy dreams up elaborate historical fantasies of himself as a Viking traveller, a freedom-fighter for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the colleague of a Falstaffian knight who participates in the Battle of Bannockburn.

A Polygon newcomer, Sam Meekings presents thoughtful, light and earthy poetry. Each poem a fleeting moment that demands a long pause of reflection and moves off once again leaving a pensive smile.

Following on from the same author’s On Scottish Ground, this book shows Kenneth White on his tracks outside Scotland, before zooming in on his return.

Jimmy Swan, the enigmatic commercial traveller, is another classic comic character from the pen of Neil Munro, the master Scottish humorist.

'From its blood-stained opening, the latest chapter in the tumultuous life of DS Alice Rice proves a compelling read,' - Scottish Field

A new thrilling novel carefully laiden with mystery, deception and murder in which Alice Rice finds herself hunting a killer.

A powerful novel set in the twelfth century that explores universal questions aligned with the concepts of guilt, goodness and personal sacrifice.

When people in Edinburgh need to borrow money, they go to Cooper. When they don’t pay it back, they get a visit from Joe Hope.

A.J. Bruford and D.A. MacDonald present an entertaining collection of the oral tales that have been passed down by generations of Scottish storytellers, and have been recorded and collected by researchers from the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University over the past fifty years.

’Dripping with melodrama and derring-do.’ - The Herald

The second in a new series of McLevy books, Fall from Grace revolves around the terrible Tay Bridge disaster.

'Pared down to a sharp clarity, the prose of this novel cuts out all excess to show the cross-currents running through the heart of a community.’ - Times Literary Supplement

The Pearl-fishers is a classic love story and the master storyteller’s last novel.           

William McGonagall’s poetry is Scotland’s alternative to Robert Burns, and as every bit engaging in this comprehensive collection.

The publication of Priscilla Bawcutt's complete edition of The Poems of William Dunbar provides the opportunity for a critical stocktaking on Dunbar studies and the chance to map out areas in which more extensive enquiry should be undertaken.

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Winner of 2007 Dundee International Book Prize

As a child Arabella Cordon idolises her Father, but his enthusiasm is reserved for steam engines, motorcycles and Margaret Thatcher.

On the day Thatcher comes to power, Arabella’s life changes irrevocably. Alone and adrift in London, she takes a job as a striptease artist in Soho. She is determined to leave the past behind but her identity and survival seem inextricably linked to her childhood and the question of what a father is.

An intriguing piece of fiction of a single mother set in the harsh conditions of post-war Britain.         

Introduced by Andrew Greig.

This novel is a light interlude within the Leithen Stories series – an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland.

Dr Simon Forman finds himself accused of harbouring enemies of the state after a night of revelry. In his haste to clear his name he gets caught up in a secret spying mission and death stalks him as he tries to discover the identity of a murderer.

The second exciting installment of Nury Vittachi’s ’The Feng Shui Detective Novel’ Series!

'The Edinburgh underworld may have emitted a collective sigh of relief at the departure of Inspector Rebus, but just as they thought it was safe to reclaim the streets of Auld Reekie it seems that a fresh avenger of evil, DS Alice Rice, has come of age,' - Scottish Field

In this thrilling police-procedural from new crime writer Gillian Galbraith, we are introduced to Alice Rice, Edinburgh’s latest fictional detective.

Murdo Macrae is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating of Iain Crichton Smith’s literary creations.

A worthy successor to the best-selling Para Handy. Meet Erchie Macpherson, waiter and Kirk Deacon, his wife Jinnet, and his friend Duffy, the coal merchant, three pawky characters, putting the world to rights in Edwardian Glasgow.

A firebomb attack at a Plummer property thrusts Innes into the spotlight as he saves a child from the burning building. But when Plummer enlists his help to track down the arsonists, Innes finds himself dealing with more than the ENS and his rapidly overwhelming codeine addiction. Manchester needs a hero and Callum Innes is the closest it has.

A powerful and perceptive semi-autobiographical novel, which captures the true spirit of a traditional fishing community in the very north of Scotland's isolated coasts.

‘The rhythmic quality of it is quite astonishing. In talking about the inspiration of the work and so on we mustn’t forget the sheer brilliance of the use of words.’ – Prospect, BBC Radio Scotland 

True Confessions and New Cliches is the the best of Liz Lochhead 'live' - her raps, songs, sketches and monologues from her plays and revues, which have made her a performer to relish.

Although best known as one of Scotland’s greatest modern poets, Iain Crichton Smith was also prolific as a writer of short stories. Here in one volume is a comprehensive collection demonstrating the versatility of Crichton Smith’s range.

Introduced by Allan Massie.

Buchan’s favourite of all his novels, Witch Wood deals with the hypocrisy that can lie beneath god-fearing respectability. The book is set in the terrifying times of the first half of the seventeenth century when the Church of Scotland unleashed a wave of cruelty and intolerance. Minister Sempill witnesses devil worship in the ’Witch Wood’ and is persecuted. With an introduction by Allan Massie.

The story of mischievous Aberdeenshire boy Willie Fowlie - or the 'nickum', as his grandmother calls him - and his journey to adulthood. The course of his life completely changes, but can the 'nickum' ever atone for the decisions that he has made in his past?

A Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War novel set in the third summer of the war. Robert Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia slips across the Potomac to begin the invasion of the North.

Alastair Reid is one of Scotland’s foremost literary figures but his work is currently out of print in the UK. The bulk of his prose has long been unavailable, so this wide-ranging new collection of prose will present a fresh and comprehensive overview of his achievements, and will appeal to existing fans and new readers.

With an introduction by Andrew O'Hagan.

The bulk of Alastair Reid's poetry has long been unavailable, so this wide-ranging new collection of poetry, translations and thoughts on the art of translation will present a fresh and comprehensive overview of his achievements and will appeal to existing fans and new readers.

With an introduction by Douglas Dunn.

With an introduction by Tam Dalyell.

The rivalry of two cousins results in treachery, betrayal and a desperate struggle for survival.

With an introduction by Stuart Kelly.

Regarded by many critics as one of the finest historical novels ever written, Midwinter tells the tale of Alastair Maclean, confidant of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who embarks on a secret mission to raise support for the Jacobite cause in the west of England.     

Introduced by Robert Hutchinson.

John Buchan skilfully weaves the story of young clerk Peter Pentecost, who has a claim to the throne, and a tale of intrigue against King Henry VIII, where ’under the blanket of the dark all men are alike and all are nameless’.     

'Scrupulously observed and completely persuasive,' - The Telegraph

Dr Frank Simmons digs beneath the surface of the cancer research industry and unearths corruption more destructive than the disease itself. Famed for his meticulous research and uncanny predictions McClure has built a reputation worthy of Michael Crichton.

Wry, dry, moving and humorous, these tales capture the flavour of the North-east as never before and are written in the dialect of the area as it has been used over the last six decades.

Set among the tenements and bedsits of Glasgow, James Kelman’s first collection of short stories shine a light on the exploits of young and old.

This collection, written with irony and great tenderness, confirmed James Kelman’s status as one of the most significant writers in the UK, and remains as powerful, relevant and truthful as it was in the early 1980s.

James Kelman provides a brilliantly executed, uncompromising slice of Glasgow life – an intelligent, funny and humane novel. First published by Polygon in 1984.    

It’s criminal up north ... Cal Innes is fresh out of Strangeways, playing PI and running from a past muddied with ties to local gang lord ‘Uncle’ Morris Tiernan. When Tiernan tells him to track down a rogue casino dealer ...

With the barbed-wire leash of parole freshly clipped from his throat and his Private Investigation business an unpleasant memory, Cal Innes is looking forward to continuing his job as caretaker at Paulo’s Lads’ Club. But a prodigal boxer, Liam, needs someone to go with him to his first major amateur tournament in Los Angeles. That someone is Cal . . .

Failed PI businessman, Cal Innes, babysits prodigal amateur boxer, Liam, on his first major tournament in Los Angeles. It soon turns into something more sinister, as rumours of a rigged competition fly around. As Cal’s codeine habit and Liam’s temper grow out of control, the City of Angels doesn’t seem quite so heavenly.

The complete life work of Agnes Owens in short stories - everything from Gentlemen of the West, Lean Tales, People Like That and 14 brand new unpublished stories.

It’s criminal up north . . .  Cal Innes is fresh out of Strangeways, playing PI and running from a past muddied with ties to local gang lord ‘Uncle’ Morris Tiernan . . .

Polygon relaunches James Kelman’s backlist with four classic titles – Not Not While The Giro, The Busconductor Hines, A Chancer and his very first short story collection, An Old Pub Near The Angel in 2007. Each book features a new afterword in which the mature author reflects on his work and its development. 
    

A-format edition of the first novel from Allan Guthrie, one of crime fiction’s toughest new writers.    

Kenneth Buthlay’s edition of A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is widely considered to be the best edition of all and provides extensive commentary and notes, taking the reader through MacDiarmid’s complex and often opaque use of language.

A thriller in the vein of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, this novel contains startling revelations that have been concealed for centuries, drawing on original papers discovered in the Vatican archives. First published to great controversy in Italy in 2002, Imprimatur was boycotted by the Italian press and publishing world. Despite this, the novel has gained European bestseller status.

This is the extraordinary story of Theoderic the Goth, a man who rose to the equal of Emperors, who raised his people to a pinnacle of power and wealth. It is a story that spans Europe, from the intrigues and wiles of Constantinople to the battlefields of the future France, from North Africa to the Balkans.

Set in the chaotic aftermath of the First World War and after the death of her father, Renee and her mother are forced to open up their home to two lodgers. The impressionable Renee begins to form unusual attachments and romantic self-illusions which only spurs a cycle of self-effacement. A subtle treatment of human relationships during a time of flux.

This collection of 42 stories comprises every type of tale found on the island of South Uist, including heroic Fingalian stories, international folktales, ghost stories and local historical and humorous anecdotes.

This edition is published as a tribute to mark the 65th anniversary of the author’s death. Written in 1896, the title story is set in a now-deserted but identifiable glen beside Loch Fyne, and can be read as an allegory of the history of Highland culture.

Eminent poets and critics combine in unique tribute to a poet of whom even Robert Burns stood in awe.

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Classic style never goes out of fashion. Since Coco Chanel invented it in 1926, the little black dress has become every woman’s wardrobe staple. Fifteen women of varied backgrounds offer a colourful range of views on the little black dress, all tailored by Susie Maguire into a simply stunning and elegant collection.

When factory owner Bernard Morton fires him from his first job, Harry Glass protests by impulsively going off with Morton’s car and the intriguing Mrs Morton.

Early fifth century, Europe, and two old friends, now bitter rivals, face each other on the battlefield. Attila, leader of the Huns, is confronted by Aetius, the last of the great Roman generals. In the epic battle that ensues, the stakes for Attila and Artius could not be higher as the fate of both their empires hangs in the balance.

Poverty Castle is an absorbing work of contrasts and subtle irony centred around an idealistic family in Argyll. A compelling novel, it deals with human nature and the socialism of industrial Glasgow.

Robin Jenkins returned to the Far East in the 1950s for Leila, a tender love story involving a Scottish teacher, Andrew Sandilands, and Leila, the exotically beautiful daughter of a local politician.

A moving and satisfying blend of tragedy and comedy, Blood Hunt, Gunn’s second last novel, has a powerful message – the triumph of love over anger and of the unending renewal of nature. It is a masterly novel by a writer in full maturity.

Introduced by Stella Rimington.

Featuring prosperous Scots lawyer and MP Sir Edward Leithen - often considered John Buchan's alter ego - The Power-House is a classic thriller!

Introduced by James Buchan.

Sick Heart River is both John Buchan’s most powerful novel and his last, with perhaps the most autobiographical of his characters.    

Introduced by Robin Hardy.

The Dancing Floor is one of Buchan’s most unusual and surprising tales. His characters, including the familiar Leithen who features in all four novels of the series, find themselves in a religious war of sorts in Greece. His descriptions of the island setting, the flora and fauna are magical, but terrible things are about to happen ...

'Nowhere was Stevenson's supremely elegant prose bettered,' - Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

In Kidnapped (1886) and later fiction such as The Master of Ballantrae (1888), Stevenson examined some of the extreme and contrary currents of Scotland’s past, often projecting a dualism of both personality and belief. This dualism is most famous in Kidnapped, whose two central characters are David Balfour, a Lowland Whig, and Alan Breck Stewart, a Highland Jacobite.   

Limited to only 1,200 copies, this beautifully crafted book contains two-colour illustrations throughout and comes in a sumptuous hardback slip case taking McCall Smith’s best-selling novel to new heights of reading.

Numbered and signed by both the author and illustrator.

This edition aims to draw new readers to Mackenzie’s compelling final experiment in the novel of sentiment. Edited an with an introduction by Susan Manning.

These long interviews with very different Scottish writers do not aim at the topical, but to produce a thoughtful window on each writer's mind and work. Recorded at intervals over sixteen years, they go at the writer's chosen pace. Writers relish them.

This novel about life in the West Highlands deals with a single week in the affairs of a small coastal village. A series of meetings are the settings in which the locals try to resolve their differences over public issues, as well as more personal ones - not least being, who stole the lobster?

This book draws together an authoritative selection of all the writings needed to begin discovering the full story of Hamilton Finlay’s early work, his themes, preoccupations and vision of the philosophical transformed by the everyday.

'This is the book by my bedside. It is beautifully written with lyrical and poetic references to Orcadian myth and legend, making it a truly magical but unsentimental read,' - Lorraine Kelly

In this, his first novel (1972), George MacKay Brown recreates a week in the life of an island community as they come to terms with the destructiveness of a sinister military/industrial project, Operation Black Star.      

This collection of eleven stories demonstrates the full range of George MacKay Brown’s literary talent.

This gripping novel, first published in 1960, helped confirm Robin Jenkins as one of the most outstanding novelists of his generation. Set in Afghanistan, it was written shortly after his return from his two-year period in Kabul, and his experiences there add an unmistakeable ring of authenticity to his descriptions of this mysterious and remote country. Some Kind of Grace is a terrible warning of what outside interference can do to a country. Throughout the book Jenkins’ sympathy is with a people sacrificed on the altar of dogma and convenience by the great powers of East and West.

'Poor Mercy is a vivid, engrossing work of fiction.’ – Michel Faber, The Guardian

Jo Falla, author of the critically acclaimed Blue Poppies, follows up his earlier triumph with a brilliant novel set in the shimmering deserts of western Sudan.

Please note that this title is only available as an eBook.

‘Here is a new young voice in British fiction – entertaining, provocative and original. Jake Wallis Simons will surely prove a name to remember.’ – Beryl Bainbridge

A truly original work of fiction that falls perfectly between Buddha Da by Anne Donovan and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – unconventional and inspiring.

Please note that this title is only available as an eBook.

Published in 1901 and described by George Douglas Brown as ‘a brutal and bloody work’, this bestselling classic was a furious reponse to what Brown called ‘sentimental slop’ – the representation of Scotland as a cosy rural idyll.

An inspired study of human nature, The Missionaries charts a voyage of self-discovery for Andrew Doig, a university student who finds himself embroiled in a passionate debate over his defence of the inhabitants of St Sollas.  

Told fully in Highland dialect, The Green Isle of the Great Deep is a both a wonderful Scottish parable and a warning of the dangers of power and its abuse.

A new thriller from a hugely popular crime writer that will grip and satisfy his many fans. My Life as a Man begins with a nation in the grip of anti-war fever, and ends with an old man’s discovery that life can still surprise him.

A Calendar of Love is George Mackay Brown’s first collection of short stories set in Orkney.

Three internationally bestselling authors write three interlinking stories focused on Edinburgh.

A Scots Quair, is Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s most renowned work, and has become a landmark in Scottish literature.

Abdul Wahab, an Afghan science teacher, is eagerly anticipating the arrival of his British fiance, Laura Johnstone, in the capital of his home country. Having met while Abdul was a student at Manchester University, the couple are eager to settle down in Isban. However, Abdul is not the only one interested in Miss Johnstone’s arrival.

The Sardana Dancers is an intriguing and compassionate novel about the interweaving lives of a variety of characters who are caught up in a sort of sardana – a Catalan dance performed for pleasure and as a symbol of unity.

First published in 1946, The Drinking Well is part of a Polygon series of Neil M. Gunn republications. Iain Cattanach lives happily in a small tight-knit Highland village, but his self-sacrificing mother has other plans for him.

The Island of the Women is George Mackay Brown’s posthumously published collection of short stories, released in 1998, two years after the author’s death.

Butcher’s Broom is Neil Gunn’s epic recreation of the Highland Clearances of the nineteenth century, when great changes swept through the country and its people.

‘One of the few poets writing today capable of encompassing the matter of contemporary life in terms that are both attractive and thought-provoking.’ – Books in Scotland

The Colour of Black and White was Liz Lochhead’s first collection of poems after the award-winning Dreaming Frankenstein and Collected Poems in 1984. It is a collection that is autobiographical and entirely fictional, rural and industrial, respectful and rude - it is on both sides of the coin at once, it is the colour of both the black and the white.

'An inspirational presence in British poetry – funny, feisty, female, full of feeling' - Carol Ann Duffy

Northern Lights presents George Mackay Brown’s writings on many of the places, people, legends and seasons that formed his vision and work.

From the great Scottish renaissance poet William Dunbar, Burns, Scott and Stevenson, to some of Scotland’s newest poetry by Robin Robertson and Stewart Conn, this book presents a choice of the finest poems about Edinburgh through the centuries. This selection includes some rare poems by forgotten masters, and includes well-loved writers like Spark, Crichton Smith and Norman MacCaig. 

Kidnapping and corpse mutilation are just a taste of what’s in store for Andy Park in Allan Guthrie’s violent fourth novel. Meanwhile Tommy Savage may not survive the night when he finds himself heading to a graveyard armed with a sword and a bag of cash to meet his masked blackmailer.

Edited by James Robertson.

Originally published in 2000 by Polygon to mark the 250th anniversary of Fergusson’s birth, this new edition contains all Fergusson’s finest poems in both Scots and English, and features a new introductory essay, revised orthography, a substantial section of notes and a glossary.        

Spare, compelling and beautifully constructed, Kenneth White's poetry lies at the heart of his work, and this book is the first collection to show the full sweep of his vision from his earliest work to the present day.

The astonishing range and scope of Alasdair Campbell's writing is highlighted in this collection of short stories set in Lewis.

Robert Garioch was one of Scotland's most distinctive poetic voices. Born in Edinburgh in 1909, he was educated at the university there, and subsequently embarked on a teaching career, writing poetry in his free time.

How should we mark great occasions? With great words. Those seeking memorable words for their ceremonies of marriage or commitment, or simply want to take delight in an anthology of love poems, will find in this collection old favourites and brand new poems.

This is a selection of contemporary and classic Scottish poems on this subject, in Scots, English and Gaelic with appropriate translations and glossaries.

This restorative collection of Scottish poems will help readers and listeners to accept a loss and celebrate a life, whether at formal religious or secular ceremonies, or at quiet personal commemorative service.

Selected Work of Marion Angus celebrates the legacy of Marion Angus, (1865-1946) one of Scotland’s finest lyric poets.

A Time to Keep is George Mackay Brown’s second volume of short stories inspired by both ancient and modern life on the island of Orkney.

’Part of the trilogy, A Scots Quair, Sunset Song is a book about change, war, politics and, above all else, what it means to be Scottish.’ - Nicola Sturgeon, MSP

The Thistle is the unlucky local football team of Drumsagart, a drab industrial town in Lanarkshire. When the team’s luck begins to change, the whole town unites to support them.

Published to coincide with the quincentenary of Buchanan’s birth in 2006. Here, for the first time ever, Polygon presents a selection of Buchanan’s work, translated and accompanied by the work

Winter Tales is a superb collection of tender and compassionate tales, focussing on light and darkness, winter and its festivals, by one of the greatest story-tellers of the 20th century.

The Book of St Andrews juxtaposes poems, stories and memoirs with scant regard to chronological order, but in the confidence that each contribution, lively in its own right, may also enhance the others. Here are specially written stories by Meaghan Delahunt, A. L. Kennedy, and Sarah Hall; new poems by Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, and Don Paterson; memoirs by Kay Redfield Jamison and Ian Rankin.

Andy Park passes out at the sight of blood, but he thinks he’s discovered a way to make his family’s enemies pay. He isn’t prepared for the fall-out, though. Before long, his teenage son is in mortal danger, and his daughter and her fiance are knee-deep in corpses.

Young prison officer Nicholas Glass is finding the stresses of the job increasingly hard to handle. Bullied and abused by inmates and colleagues alike, every day is getting longer than the one before. When a group of cons use outside help to threaten his wife and daughter, Glass agrees to help them out with a ’favour’.

’Banks is the real thing,’ - Marcel Berlins, The Times

The biggest race riot in Manchester’s history and his brother’s death have left PI Callum Innes a physical and emotional wreck. He’s about to leave his newly established agency to partner Frank Collier when the word comes through that his erstwhile nemesis Mo Tiernan has gone missing.

It’s 1975 and Britain is a country in political flux. In Glasgow the dirty old Victorian slums have been razed to the ground, replaced with brand new slums twenty storeys high. Chips are a health food and the very mention of filet mignon would spark a riot on the Govan Road.

11 September 1683, Rome. Rome is a city on a knife-edge. Among this detained in the Locanda Donzello is the mysterious Atto Melani, a spy in the service of the French king. With the help of the young serving boy, he discovers a secret passage leading to a network of tunnels under the city.

"From its blood-stained opening, the latest chapter in the tumultuous life of DS Alice Rice proves a compelling read," - Scottish Field

When the body of a retired sheriff is discovered in his grand house in the New Town of Edinburgh, Detective Sergeant Alice Rice finds herself hunting his killer. This is linked with wind-farm developers - with millions of pounds at stake. When Alice thinks she's finally solved the mystery, the sheriff's wife is also killed - is it a double murder?

'Alice Rice may be joining a very crowded profession -- that of the tough female copper -- but the auguries are good for Gillian Galbraith's protagonist' - Barry Forshaw, Good Book Guide

Partly inspired by the real-life killings of prostitutes in Ipswich, this third Alice Rice mystery sees the detective in the hunt for a serial prostitue murderer and explores the hidden world where sex is bartered for money and drugs.

Presents a story which features crime and is set in Edinburgh. This title ranges from hard-boiled police procedural to historical whodunit and from the wildly comic to the spookily supernatural.

The Kitchen God, a Chinese deity, has been challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart. In the course of his quest, he follows the life of Jinyi and his wife Yuying, from their youth until their old age.

For a limited time these signed copies of Love Over Scotland, the third novel in Alexander McCall Smith's popular Scotland Street series, is available to buy exclusively through our website.

WINNER OF THE 2010 MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST BOOK FICTION AWARD

A near-future dystopian Aberdeen – Uberdeen – is the setting for John Aberdein’s long-awaited second novel – a combination of political satire and love story, full of twists and turns.

This is the extraordinary story of Theoderic the Goth, a man who rose to the equal of Emperors, who raised his people to a pinnacle of power and wealth. It is a story that spans Europe, from the intrigues and wiles of Constantinople to the battlefields of the future France, from North Africa to the Balkans.

A historical crime novel set in sixteenth century St Andrews involving the academic cloister and the Protestant church.

'David Ashton, like Robert Louis Stevenson or Ian Rankin, is inspired by the beauty-and-beast nature of Edinburgh. His interpretation of James McLevy is worthy of the original man,’ - The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

It is 1860 and a Confederate officer, Jonathen Sinclair, arrives in Edinburgh with a sheaf of money to purchase a blockade-runner from Clydeside shipbuilders. He is betrayed to the Union forces and is shot dead by their secret agents. Who are they and where is Sinclair's money? McLevy investigates in this thrilling tale of corruption.

'David Ashton, like Robert Louis Stevenson or Ian Rankin, is inspired by the beauty-and-beast nature of Edinburgh. His interpretation of James McLevy is worthy of the original man,’ - The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

It is 1860 and a Confederate officer, Jonathen Sinclair, arrives in Edinburgh with a sheaf of money to purchase a blockade-runner from Clydeside shipbuilders. He is betrayed to the Union forces and is shot dead by their secret agents. Who are they and where is Sinclair's money? McLevy investigates in this thrilling tale of corruption.

Introduced by Trevor Royle.

South Africa, 1900. After his father dies, nineteen-year-old David Crawfurd is sent off to South Africa to earn his living as a storekeeper in the back of beyond. A strange encounter on the journey suggests that dark deeds and treacherous intrigues are afoot - all bound up with the mysterious primeval kingdom of Prester John.

Introduced by Douglas Hurd.

When Anthony Lammas, minister of the Kirk and Professor of Logic at St Andrews University, leaves his home town for London on business, he little imagines that within two days he will be deeply entangled in a web of mystery and intrigue.

Features stories including 'A Working Mother', 'For the Love of Willie Owens', 'Bad Attitudes' and 'Jen's Party'.

"A writer to be reckoned with," - Doug Johnstone, The Herald

A thrilling tale for lovers of action from the author of The Devil's Staircase.

‘I have always loved the mixture of strictness and susceptibility in Norman MacCaig’s work. It is an ongoing education in the marvellous possibilities of lyric poetry ... He means poetry to me.’ – Seamus Heaney

This book is the third edition of MacCaig’s Collected Poems and is edited by his son Ewen. This edition contains 778 poems, 100 of them previously unpublished. It is a definitive edition of his work.

THE SEVENTH DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER

The Governments of the world know a terrorist biological attack will happen sooner rather than later. Vaccination is the only solution, but designing and producing vaccines has never been harder due to stringent trials, rules and regulations and huge settlements in an increasingly litigious society.

'Alice Rice may be joining a very crowded profession -- that of the tough female copper -- but the auguries are good for Gillian Galbraith's protagonist' - Barry Forshaw, Good Book Guide

Partly inspired by the real-life killings of prostitutes in Ipswich, Gillian Galbraith’s third novel explores a hidden world where sex is bartered for money and drugs.

"The pages are strewn with the kind of imagery only a poet's eye would pick up" - Scots Magazine

A collection of short stories celebrating life and love.

'Another well-turned adventure for Gillian Galbraith’s striking heroine,' - Barry Forshaw, Good Book Guide

Alice Rice is brought in to investigate the murders of two terminally-ill men. Are their killings coincidence? Or is there a serial killer with a mission to get rid of the sick and infirm?

A glorious omnibus edition of Dr Finlay's adventures during the inter-war years, based on the author's own experience as a doctor. This collection revives Conin's masterpiece and celebrates favourite characters from the BBC-adapted perennial favourite. 

Nicholas the cat keenly observed the comings and goings of three generations of his family and their animals in a remote area of the Isle of Mull, and recorded it all - the funny, dramatic, heart-warming and harrowing events that make up family life. Rediscover Annabel Carother's tender tales of pastoral romance.

THE EIGHTH DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER

The past looks like it has come back to haunt cell biologist John Motram as he becomes seriously ill, about to lose his mind, after entering a secret tomb under an ancient abbey. Dr Steven Dunbar is sent to investigate.

’A gripping and welcome addition to the growing genre of historical crime fiction,’ - Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

A historical crime novel set in sixteenth century St Andrews where an open and shut case becomes a Pandora's box of lies, deceit and passions repressed by the academic cloister and the Protestant church.

'McKay's debut, Hue & Cry, established both her own literary credentials and the problem-solving prowess of her hero, Hew Cullan. This second installment helps to cement the reputations of both,' - Scottish Field

From the author of Hue & Cry comes an exciting new mystery. Hew Cullan moves to Edinburgh to finish his legal studies, but is thrown off track when the corpse of a girl is discovered on a St. Andrew's beach. As he begins a desperate search to find the killer, he is lead closer and closer to home.

The spectacular conclusion to the Last Orders at Harrods trilogy. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith will love Michael Holman's charming and entertaining novels.

THE FIRST DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER

When seven-year-old Amanda Chapman is admitted to hospital with acute renal failure, her parents are in despair. Their hope is renewed when Amanda is accepted for treatment in a pioneering, state-of-the-art dialysis unit in an exclusive private hospital in Glasgow, but behind the lavish hospital corridors, private rooms and friendly staff lies something much more sinister. Dr Dunbar goes undercover to find out.

THE THIRD DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER

When a traveller dies on a flight back to London from Africa, Ebola virus seems to be the reason. However, other victims in the UK are dying of the same illness and there seems to be no link. As politicians equivocate and scientists attempt to find a cause, Dr Steven Dunbar begins to question his own belief in medicine.

’Drummond's writing happily bears comparison with [Alasdair] Gray's brand of Gothic fantasy,' - Times Literary Supplement'

In Novgorod, a decaying Russian Imperial town south of St Petersburg, in August 1833, two travellers meet in a dilapidated inn. During a pleasant evening together, they are alerted by an ancient resident of the town to the presence of a dying ‘foreign’ man, holed up in an abandoned tumbledown lodge. The pair go to investigate, and find a retired British army officer lying in squalor, surrounded by the memories of his life of dissipation. Invited by the old nurse to watch over the dying man’s last hours, all four of them relate stories from their past as they wait for the inevitable.

With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith has given us another instalment to this popular series that is as clever, witty and as delightful as the rest. Bertie, Angus Lordie and his gold-toothed dog Cyril star alongside the familiar cast of favourites, as we follow their daily pursuit of a little happiness.

July, 1700, Rome. Atto Melani mingles with other high-ranking guests at the villa of Cardinal Spada. Despite being there to celebrate the Cardinal’s nephew’s wedding, the main topic of conversation is the grave illness of the Pope and the approaching demise of Charles II. Melani, keen to see the French king ascend the Spanish throne, sets in motion a grandiose conspiracy that will plunge him into a world of secret languages, religious sects, forged Royal wills and Europe into war.

Introduced by Hew Strachan, Mr Standfast is the third of five Richard Hannay thrillers.

Brigadier-General Richard Hannay is recalled from active service on the Western Front and tasked with a secret mission to catch a dangerous German agent who is at large in Britain.

Introduced by Andrew Lownie.

The fifth, last and most unusual of the Hannay books, The Island of Sheep is part thriller and part meditation on nature. Accompanied by two friends Hannay sets out to protect the family by finishing a feud that goes back thirty years to a hilltop in Rhodesia.

Introduced by Christopher Hitchens, this is the fourth of the five Richard Hannay novels.

Hannay is living peacefully in the Cotswolds with his wife family until three separate visitors tell him of three children being held hostage by a secret kidnapper.

‘A powerful and mesmerizing novel, both mythic and intimate . . . a great accomplishment of imagination, insight and lyricism,’ - Amy Tan

The Kitchen God, a Chinese deity, has been challenged by the Jade Emperor to fathom the workings of the human heart. In the course of his quest, he follows the life of Jinyi and his wife Yuying, from their youth until their old age.

An extraordinary novel, haunted by a sense that the living and the dead are separated by no more than a narrow and disputed borderland. These tales are now recognised as among the most remarkable explorations of the supernatural to appear in Victorian times.

Set in Rome during Nero’s reign of terror, this is a disciplined historical novel tracing the destruction of one cell of the early church, thorough in its historical interpretation and in its determination to make the past accessible and readable.

Morrisson tells the anguished story of the three daughters of a minister and his wife living in a remote Highland manse. The youngest narrates the love affairs of her sisters, each of whom falls in love with a man deemed an unacceptable match by their patriarchal, rigid and prejudiced society.

Caught in the melting pot of social injustice, revolution, war and pacifism, this powerful book gives a vivid account of the experiences and struggles of a Glasgow family from the First World War and into the Depression at the end of the Twenties.

Out of the war years comes this memoir of life as a wife and mother in occupied France during World War II. Candid and poignant, du Cros powerfully evokes the international political atmosphere of the time and its effects within her own family.

Set amidst the urban decay of Lanarkshire, Robin Jenkins has created a modern-day Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Convinced of his own rectitude, Duffy declares war on society. Ridiculous, yet horrifying at the same time, his campaign builds to a terrifying conclusion.

When a storm in wrecked on a rocky Highland coast in a wild night, Charlie MacIan drags a drowning seaman out of the pounding waves. The seaman is clinging to a wooden chest. Brought into shelter, he is found to be dead – but was his death accidental? And did the chest once contain money?

Jacob's fifth and finest novel is a tragic drama of the 1745 Jacobite Rising: tightly written, poetic in its symbolic intensity, lit by flashes of humour and informed by the author's own family history as one of the Erskines of the House of Dun near Montrose.

This volume collects three of the very best works by James Kennaway: Tunes of Glory - a grippingly dramatic exploration of the glamour and brutality of post-war army life; Household Ghosts - a claustrophobic tale of family tension, love triangles and the persistence of the past; and Silence, which tells of the accidental meeting and the complex union between a white man and a black woman in times of racial tension and sexual violence.

This collection of stories presents four very different and memorably vivid accounts of what it was to be young and growing up in Glasgow and the west of Scotland, from the 1930s to the 1960s.

A stylish and enthralling thriller set in 1978, which explores America's influence on Europe and the causes of terrorism.

Opening at the turn of the century in the extreme poverty of the Rhinns of Galloway, this thinly disguised autobiographical tale, narrates the journey of Jean Ramsay, an aggressively practical woman from a peasant background, and her weak-willed, poetic husband, David.

This hilarious novel charts the rise and fall (and perhaps the rise again) of Magnus Merriman – would-be lover, writer, politician, idealist and crofter – moved by dreams of greatness and a talent for farcical defeat.

James Hogg’s masterpiece is a brilliant portrayal of the power of evil. Set in early eighteenth-century Scotland, the novel recounts the corruption of a boy of strict Calvinist upbringing by a mysterious stranger under whose influence he commits a series of murders.

Angelo, a private in Mussolini’s ‘ever-glorious’ Italian army, may possess the virtues of love and an engaging innocence, but he lacks the gift of courage. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, he ends up fighting not only for Italy, but also for the British and German armies...

Galt’s two great political novels date from around the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. The Member has claims to be the first political novel in the English language and is a tour de force of wit, observation, and a devastating critique of political self-seekings. The Radical is a study of narrow-minded, humourless fanaticism.

The distillation of Carswell's thoughts on her own life and indeed on the nature of identity and autobiography itself.

At one and the same time an account of a personal spiritual crisis and a hilarious spoof on academic learning, early Victorian values and materialism, a radically deconstructive vision reveals the very highest symbols of belief as just that – merely symbols. How to believe in anything after such an insight is the question asked in Carlyle's masterpiece of invention, parody and profound laughter.

Etienne de Balafré, half French, half English and raised in South Africa, returns to post-war France to unravel the tangled history of his own father. Was Lucien de Balafré a patriot who served his country as best he could in difficult times, or a treacherous collaborator in the Vichy government?

A story of love and awakening, Breeta's people are the ancient, newly Christianized Pictish tribes living in Northern Scotland in the 9th century. Assailed by the pagan Vikings from across the sea, the clash of old and new is a conflict from which the Scottish nation is forged.

Regarded as Hogg's most ambitious work of fiction, this tale is an extraordinary combination of the fantastic, the funny, the serious and the historically realistic. Ranging from Galloway to Northumberland, the main focus of the story is to be found in the Scottish Borders.

This is the fourth collection of adventure tales by Robert Louis Stevenson in the Canongate Classics series. The book includes: "The House of Eld", "The Song of Morrow", "Will O' the Mill", "The Treasure of Franchard", "The Sire de Maletroit's Door", "Treasure Island" and "The Black Arrow".

Opening with a premonition of death, this is the story of a young man's conflict with the spiritual authority of his father, of a spirit of scepticism set against an authoritarian Calvinism.

Some of the best Scottish writing comes from the imaginative genres that can be grouped under the heading of 'speculative fiction'. These genres include science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism and alternate history. This book showcases work which addresses the nature of Scotland and Scottishness from fresh and unexpected angles.

'Meekings’s prose is exemplary, showing a desire not just to honour Chinese culture, but to contribute to it' - The Herald

'Sam Meekings writes well. The language flows beautifully' - Book Bag

The Book of Crows follows the influence of the mysterious, eponymous Book as it touches the lives of a range of people over hundreds of years including a young girl kidnapped and taken to an isolated mountain brothel, and a low-level bureaucrat searching for a missing colleague. Epic, exotic and enigmatic, it is a stunning journey through Chinese life and history

'Moving and eye-opening story of brilliance and bravery, and the fight against bigotry and closed-mindedness' - Daily Mail

'Preserves the important facts while skillfully immersing the reader in the turbulent events of 17th-century Europe ... If Kepler wasn't already your favourite historical astronomer, he will be after reading this book.' - New Scientist

The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth follows the stories of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, two men searching for the truth in one of the darkest, yet also one of the most enlightening periods of European history.

'Carries real conviction and originality,' - Sunday Times

'A truly original story told in a beguiling and straightforward way,' - Daily Mail

‘One of the best things I’ve read in ages’ – Ali Smith

'An unexpectedly bittersweet portrait of the world before 9/11.' - Sunday Herald

A boy, four wheels, a car named Belinda speeding through the night and life on a wild ride. A special tenth anniversary edition of Alan Bissett's moden classic of growing up in a small town and on the back seat of a fast car.

'Another well-turned adventure for Gillian Galbraith’s striking heroine,' - Barry Forshaw, Good Book Guide

As Heather Brodie kisses her lover goodnight, her disabled husband lies dead, his throat cut from ear to ear. Who wanted Gavin Brodie dead?

'McLevy is one of the great psychological creations and Ashton is the direct heir to Robert Louis Stevenson.' - Brian Cox, star of the BBC Radio 4 McLevy plays

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in this the first thrilling Inspector McLevy Mystery, Shadow of the Serpent.

"Shirley McKay is an intelligent and entertaining novelist who deserves to be better known. TV producers take note: these books, with their vividly realised settings, just beg to be dramatised” - Scots Magazine               

In the swell of a storm, a ship is wrecked in St Andrews harbour. A young Flemish sailor, the last man aboard, collapses and dies at the inn.

1581: young St Andrews academic Hew Cullan is unhappy with his life and disillusioned with the law. After his father’s death he is invited by the advocate Richard Cunningham to complete his legal education in Edinburgh as Richard’s pupil at the bar. Among his father’s things Hew finds a manuscript entitled ‘In Defence of the Law’, directed to the Edinburgh printer, Christian Hall.

THE EIGHTH DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER

John Motram, a cell biologist at Newcastle University, firmly believes that Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague but by an unknown virus. He is excited when Oxford University informs him that there might be preserved bodies of Black Death victims hidden under Dryburgh Abbey. Motram launches an excavation but it comes to a disastrous end when he apparently loses his mind after entering the secret tomb. Dr Steven Dunbar is sent to investigate – fearing that a new killer virus has been let loose.

‘A funny, irreverent and moving 21st-century look at human nature, and an intriguing rewiring of a classic’ DOUG JOHNSTONE, THE HERALD

'Brilliant, touching, funny and clever’ WEST HIGHLAND FREE PRESS

Introduced by James Robertson.

Once described as ‘a tale of adventure and betrayal on the long bloody road to Culloden Moor’, A Lost Lady of Old Years is set in Scotland during the Rebellion of ’45.

’A gripping and welcome addition to the growing genre of historical crime fiction,’ - Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

A historical crime novel set in sixteenth century St Andrews where an open and shut case becomes a Pandora's box of lies, deceit and passions repressed by the academic cloister and the Protestant church.

'The Billy Connolly of the Gàidhealtachd’ – Calum Macdonald, Runrig

Based in the Uists in the Outer Hebrides, with side trips to Glasgow, Hamburg and Amsterdam, this dotty adventure embraces frustrated sex, drugs, eightsome reels and a memorable cast of oddball characters.

The Billy Connolly of the Gàidhealtachd’ – Calum Macdonald, Runrig

Tricksters takes the reader on a rambunctious journey around Scotland with endearing but oddly-matched couple, Murdo and Rachel.

'I love the familiarity of the characters, and the voyeuristic feeling you get in reading about their lives. It's a bit like popping in on neighbours and getting to see behind the scenes, the reality of what they're thinking and feeling' - Book Bag

The story of Bertie and his dysfunctional family continues in this seventh instalment alongside the familiar cast of favourites - Big Lou, Domenica, Angus Lordie, Cyril and others - in their daily pursuit of a little happiness.

The second installment in the Sky's Dark Labyrinth Trilogy, this tale submerges us in 17th Century society and the lives of Edmond Halley and Issac Newton as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

‘Fascinating and moving’ – Monica Ali

'This well-researched and very moving novel is dedicated to the children of the Kindertransport and is a fine tribute to their bravery’ – The Times
 
‘Absolutely compelling’ – Sarah Crown, The Guardian
 
‘A film waiting to happen although so vivid is Jake Wallis Simons' description and attention to detail I feel I've seen it already. If you only read one novel this year make it this one’ – Lovereading

Fifteen-year-old Rosa Klein slips out of Germany on a Kindertransport train to begin a new life in England. Charged with the task of securing a safe passage for her family, she vows that she will not rest until they are safe. But as war breaks out and she loses contact with her parents, Rosa finds herself wondering if there are some vows that can’t be kept . . .

Emperor Justinian I is determined to take back the lost Western Roman Empire from the Vandals and the Goths.

'A treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring' - Guardian

A charming tale telling of how the young Precious Ramotswe became the No. 1 Detective she is today.

'Preserves the important facts while skillfully immersing the reader in the turbulent events of 17th-century Europe ... If Kepler wasn't already your favourite historical astronomer, he will be after reading this book.' - New Scientist

'Vivid, thrilling ... Books like this transform the way you access and understand our view of history.' - lovereading

The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth is the first of a trilogy of novels inspired by the dramatic struggles, personal and professional, and key historical events in man’s quest to understand the Universe.

‘Fascinating and moving’ – Monica Ali

'This well-researched and very moving novel is dedicated to the children of the Kindertransport and is a fine tribute to their bravery’ – The Times
 
‘Absolutely compelling’ – Sarah Crown, The Guardian
 
‘A film waiting to happen although so vivid is Jake Wallis Simons' description and attention to detail I feel I've seen it already. If you only read one novel this year make it this one’ – Lovereading

Fifteen-year-old Rosa Klein slips out of Germany on a Kindertransport train to begin a new life in England. Charged with the task of securing a safe passage for her family, she vows that she will not rest until they are safe. But as war breaks out and she loses contact with her parents, Rosa finds herself wondering if there are some vows that can’t be kept . . .

"Even if other novelists were writing about Pimlico terriers and their owners, I doubt whether any of them could do so with McCall Smith's gentle wit, intelligence and moral grace." - The Scotsman 

Following on from the huge success of the 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander McCall Smith has ‘moved house’ to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico – Corduroy Mansions.

"Even if other novelists were writing about Pimlico terriers and their owners, I doubt whether any of them could do so with McCall Smith's gentle wit, intelligence and moral grace." - The Scotsman

Following on from the huge success of the 44 Scotland Street series, Alexander McCall Smith has ‘moved house’ to a crumbling four-storey mansion in Pimlico – Corduroy Mansions.

'I love the familiarity of the characters, and the voyeuristic feeling you get in reading about their lives. It's a bit like popping in on neighbours and getting to see behind the scenes, the reality of what they're thinking and feeling' - Book Bag