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Murder in New Town And here we have another gripping police procedural from Val Penny. Murder in New Town takes place just after the merger of all forces into Police Scotland. While some officers are grumpy that they now take second place to the Major Incident Team, on the whole they find it’s a good thing, when one of the suspects moves into what would have been another forces’ territory. What happens? An overseas student, studying at the University of Edinburgh, is murdered

Forensic Science Laboratory General Examination Sheet Laboratory Notes Item Number: DF/01 Case number: 6-0599/27 OC Description of Article: US passport of one Willard Pendersen, US$100 in 5 X US$20 Where found: Bedroom of the Ormerod house used by a person identified as Gary Ingerton. Packaging of item: Tamperproof plastic bag: X Paperbag/sack/envelope:_ Other: Comments: The passport photograph is recognisably that of body

Review of Seeing the Other Side What is it about? In a book with no overarching theme, there’s something for everyone and for every mood. This is a book of Flash Fiction. Each piece is very short and yet still contains a complete story. I admire people who can write Flash Fiction. To me, it’s one of the hardest formats. Each word has to carry the weight of the story. There can be no redundancy. No having an off day in word choice. So, it’s all very short? Allison Symes in See

A number of my chapter headers for Her Borrowed Grave, like the one below, refer to an Evidence log. But what do I mean by Evidence? In the case of my headers, not much really. I’ve noted the things that were found in the crime scenes. There is only so much information you can put in a header before it becomes unreadable. So, I’ll use this post to elaborate on that information. In Her Borrowed Grave, the tennis ball is not really evidence, it’s just something that was found w

A review of All Out of Leeds by Kim M. Watt Camera drawing Drawing of a CCTV Camera.JPG: / derivative work: PhoneixS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Smile, You’re On Camera New Maths Kim M. Watt has an interesting numbering system for the DI Addams series of books. She called All Out of Leeds, Book 1. But Detective Sergeant Addams appears in her own book, What Happened in London, explaining why she left the Big City and moved to Yorkshire (to escape the Things under bri

The Coppergate Centre The Coppergate Centre Last time in Haunted York, I talked about the Roman Legionaries who walked roads long since buried by time. This month, I’m skipping to the Viking period of York, or Jorvik. When I was a child growing up in the Vale of York, it was a wonderful daytrip to visit York. We did it once a year just before Christmas. But I remember one visit, we viewed the archaeological dig in the area which now forms the Viking Centre. Image unchanged. C

When I find an author who uses forensics in their detective fiction, it encourages me to seek more of their work. So, it was a great pleasure to be asked to join in this blog tour for Val Penny’s Murder in Gilmerton. Murder in Gilmerton First, let’s take a look at how the book is described. Behind Edinburgh’s genteel facade, a killer is settling an old score . . . An elderly man is shot dead on his own doorstep in the leafy suburb of Gilmerton. One bullet. Point-blank range.

The second in the series of short story character studies for Her Borrowed Grave. A hand-painted image of St Devan, George Maskell's monster-hunting ancestor. Our Ancestors' Gifts “Do you think that this ring makes me a target?” George asked. “I mean, those biker-cultist-whatever people, are hunting them.” Casper lay on the blanket that George had spread over the oxblood leather sofa (a three-piece suite bought for a song at auction). He looked up and woofed. “Yeah, you’re pr

~ Shakespeare I enjoy reading detective fiction. Holding a forensic science degree means that I like to see proper evidence to help the detective reach their conclusion. Just give me evidence to prove your case and solve your crime. Image: Edinburgh Castle from the Grass Market George Washington Wilson (Scottish, 1823-1893) taken at sometime between 1865 – 1885. Digital file from Cornell University Library. Public Domain. Accessed via Wikicommons Detective fiction is one of t

If you ask why I set my new paranormal series in York, of all places, I’d have to say, it couldn’t be set anywhere else. Even before the Romans settled in Eboracum or Eburacum, (with the first written record of this name in AD4), people lived in the Place of the Yew Trees or Eborakon, (as recorded by Ptolomy in AD2). With all the temples, churches and graveyards of these people, it was always going to create a liminal space that touches on the spiritual world. York is a haunt

I enjoy reading detective fiction. Holding a forensic science degree means that I like to see proper evidence to help the detective reach their conclusion. Magical or Scientific evidence, it doesn’t even matter to me if the author makes it up as they go along, just give me evidence to prove your case and solve your crime. Fan Art of a ginger cat carrying a glove (drawn by me) with a border of fish skeletons (public domain, Wikicommons) Every Contact Tells a Tail (No Spoiler)

Researching My Stories Why research? Research is a vital part of story-telling. Even if you are setting your book today, you’ll need to show your readers that it is today. So, you’ll look up something significant that happens today, and include it in your story. Or the opposite: you’re trying to make your tale timeless and have your character eat some toffos. You just dumped your story into the 1990s, but you wouldn’t know that if you hadn’t researched. Do we really need all

The Tapestry of Caroline's Wish, another of my character drawings. A little Back Story Recently you might have seen me having a moan on social media. Why, oh why, I said, Did I come up with this ridiculous idea? More importantly, why am I still going ahead with it, despite all the work? Well, it all goes back to this time last year. I was reading through my novel yet again, after the seventh rejection, trying to work out what was wrong or missing. The last publishing house di

Often, to get an idea of a character in a book I'm writing, I will write short stories to find out their personality. This story is formatted in a similar manner to the chapters in Her Borrowed Grave. More about Her Borrowed Grave Image: Herrad of Landsberg, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. Forensic Science Laboratory Laboratory Notes Item Number: Case number: Description of Article: plaster cast of footwear mark Where found: park gates Packaging of item: Tamperp

You’ll have to be as old as me to remember that song, but on with the review. This month I’m talking about Ben Aaronovitch’s Winter’s...

Back in the 1980s, my family moved to the US from the UK. When I entered a US bookstore, it was like a dream come true. So many Science...

(contains spoilers) The movie Babylon, reminded me to talk about Barbara Hambly’s book Scandal in Babylon which covers the same era. I...