How Tartan is Your Noir? Bloody Scotland

And Bloody Scotland is one week closer! So you have plenty of time to prepare your reading for the panels you’re going to visit. I featured How Tartan is the new noir on the Bloody Scotland blog this week and well it got me thinking –

Tartan Noir

I had a chat with one of the characters from each of these writers novels and they told me they’d give you a taste of a place to visit in their latest novel to get you in the mood for the panel. Mind you there is one condition, that you have to wear a kilt on the tours. Well, that’s fair really when you think about it.

Matt Bendoris – April Lavender gets peckish in Glasgow

April Lavender does like a bit of fine dining when she’s not writing or cracking cases and she’s as quirky as her author Matt Bendoris’ writing. When we met, she told me she wanted to take me to see  two fat ladies. Well, this is going to be a visit to remember I thought. This Lavender lady may sound sweet but she’s a little crazy I thought. Well she’s spot on when it comes to food. Took me to Two Fat Ladies in Glasgow’s Argyle Street. ” You wanted Tartan Noir, you’ve got it!” she laughs at me. There is a lot of tartan in here…. The haggis and the soup are to die for….well I probably shouldn’t say the D word given that I’ve with characters from crime novels

Neil Broadfoot – Doug McGregor ‘s highs and lows of Edinburgh

After the tartan experience I’ve just had with April, I move down to Edinburgh and meet up with Doug. He’s a bit reluctant to suggest that we go up the Scott Monument given what happens in the novel but he says it’s a great way to see the city and to walk off all that haggis I’ve had with April. Well the view from the top is amazing but I keep my eye on Doug the whole time. I know he’s the detective but you never know with these fictional characters.

The Scott Monument has some 287 steps – Doug is faster than me which I’m not happy about. The views are amazing though and we can see all the places from the novel. Doug turns to me and asks me if I want to see the city from the opposite angle. Way down there. He points. My face must be a picture as he suddenly bursts into laughter and suggests if I want to see the city from way down below, I only have to go either to the dungeons or to St Mary’ s close where you can visit the streets and a few houses from the 17th century. Maybe Doug’s house is there given his age? I ask. Turns out Doug thinks his joke was funnier.

Bill Daly and Glasgow port

I have to say I’d never heard of Glasgow Port until I met DCI Charlie Anderson. He’s a tough nut this one. Doesn’t say much but he’s a nice guy. Troubled though. He’s received a parcel and whatever was inside it is really bothering him. But he’s taken a few hours off and suggested we meet in Glasgow Port to play a round of golf. Oh Charlie I say, golf is not really my thing. I am the most un sporty person I know. But Doug wants me to try so I do. Turns out I was right. Golf is not my forte. So we head to Newark Castle instead. A bit of Glasgow grit here for sure – all those brutal events of the past eh Doug?

Ah phew after all this testosterone flying around the craggy bits of Edinburgh and Glasgow, I’m a little relieved to be meeting up with the lovely Majory Templeton. She’s seen a lot of Tartan Noir  – probbaly more than the three guys put togehter

Aline Templeton – Marjory Fleming

She takes me to  see Kirkluce for real! Although inspired by village such as Glenluce, when you meet a fictional character, you get to go to fictional places. Kirkluce with Marjory is great fun. The Mull of Galloway is rugged and weather beaten but that’s no match for Marjory, this woman means business. After a visit to the lighthouse and a walk around the cliffs, I do start to think that this really is one of the best Scottish settings for a crime or two. The weather, the remoteness, the eerie looking lighthouse. Imagine this place at night?

Marjory is also keen for me to visit the Wigtown festival, famous for it’s literary connotations. Ah Marjory I think you’re my favourite character out of all of them.

To meet all of these characters and their creators, to see a bit of Tartan Noir for yourself, best get yourself to Bloody Scotland – How Tartan is The New Noir – sharpish. Wearing a kilt is not essential they tell me, but it would be good.