Authors Shortlisted for the 2025 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize - Edinburgh WE

Join us in welcoming the very best of 2025's debut crime authors to Waterstones, Edinburgh West End, on Wednesday 26th November, at 7pm.
Claire Wilson - Five By Five, David Goodman - A Reluctant Spy, Foday Mannah - The Search For Othella Savage, Natalie Jayne Clark - The Malt Whisky Murders and Richard Strachan - The Unrecovered, will be chatting to host of the In My Good Books podcast, Susie Green, all about the unforgettably thrilling crime novels that were shortlisted for this year's Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.
Claire Wilson- Five By FiveClaire Wilson is a crime writer from central Scotland. Her debut novel, Five by Five, is based on her day job as an Intelligence Analyst in a Scottish Pr*son. The novel was shortlisted for the Capital Crime Fingerprint award, the Specsavers CrimeFest debut and the Bloody Scotland debut prize. Claire is currently working on her second novel about female offenders.David Goodman - A Reluctant SpyDavid Goodman is an award-winning author of thriller and speculative fiction, including the Legends espionage novels. His debut novel A RELUCTANT SPY won the McDermid Debut Award and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize in 2025 and has been optioned for television by Carnival Films. The sequel SOLITARY AGENTS will be released in June 2026. David lives in East Lothian with his wife Valerie.Foday Mannah - The Search For Othella SavageFoday Mannah hails from Sierra Leone but currently lives in Scotland where he is employed as a teacher of English. He holds an MSc in International Conflict and Cooperation from the University of Stirling and an MA with Distinction in Professional Writing from Falmouth University. His novel – “The Search for Othella Savage” – won the 2022 Mo Siewcharran Prize, and was also shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.Natalie Jayne Clark - The Malt Whisky MurdersNatalie Jayne Clark is a neurodivergent author, poet and producer based in Perth, Scotland. Her bestselling debut novel 'The Malt Whisky Murders' was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and was the fourth biggest selling title at the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival. She co-hosts a monthly poetry and prose open mic in Perth at the fabulous Osteria Bau Bau arts venue.Richard Strachan - The UnrecoveredRichard Strachan lives in Edinburgh. He has had short fiction published in magazines like New Writing Scotland, Interzone and The Dark, and his debut novel The Unrecovered was published in 2025. It was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, and longlisted for the Saltires, Scotland’s National Book Awards.
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