Book picks similar to
Shadows by Jackie McLean


crime-fiction
detective
detective-fiction
murder

The Elemental


Heather Atkinson - 2013
    When another woman is burned to death police suspect there’s a killer on the loose mimicking an old series of murders, using the elements to lethal effect. Freya Macalister knows her return to the village has sparked off another murder spree, linked to a tragedy from her childhood and she fears she is in the killer's sights. Tensions rise even further when a storm cuts off the village from civilisation, leaving the residents trapped with a murderer.Freya's old friend and local police sergeant, Craig Donaldson, knows the key to discovering the killer’s identity lies in the locals’ deceptions and half-truths and he must wade through their dangerously complex relationships to discover which mask the monster hides behind.

Concrete Alibi (A Glasgow Murder Mystery)


M. Macgregor - 2016
     Includes a bit of humour, no bad language or gratuitous violence. (Cover image: The Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew St)

Dark of Night


Oliver Davies - 2021
    From the start, it is clearly a case of foul play, but every thread toward the culprit leads to a fresh tangle. Is the local lord involved? The uni students camping on the land? Criminals hunting for a lost treasure?Fortunately, Conall has a secret weapon to cut through to the truth: his eccentric, genius cousin, Shay. But even then, will the pair survive what they uncover in the dark of the night?

Skinner's Elves: A Bob Skinner Christmas Story


Quintin Jardine - 2017
    Two pillars made them and supported them through their lives; now one is gone and the other is near to collapse. Can he be renewed, or has he been conquered at last? Major James Andrew Skinner, AKA Jazz Morgan, takes up the story. Quintin Jardine's 6,000 word short story is a glance into the future that was born from a joke, when he used its title as a throwaway line to a friend. 'A great title for a children's book,' she observed. This isn't a children's book, but in a real sense it's a take about children and the power they have to help us overcome, and emerge from, the deepest despair.

No Man's Land


Neil Broadfoot - 2018
    For DCI Malcolm Ford it's like nothing he's ever seen before, the savagery of the crime makes him want to catch the murderer before he strikes again. For reporter Donna Blake it's a shot at the big time, a chance to get her career back on track and prove all the doubters wrong. But for close protection specialist Connor Fraser it's merely a grisly distraction from the day job. But then another bloodied and broken corpse is found, this time in the shadow of the Wallace Monument - and with it, a message. One Connor has received before, during his time as a police officer in Belfast.With Ford facing mounting political and public pressure to make an arrest and quell fears the murders are somehow connected to heightened post-Brexit tensions, Connor is drawn into a race against time to stop another murder. But to do so, he must question old loyalties, confront his past and unravel a mystery that some would sacrifice anything - and anyone - to protect. From Dundee International Book Prize and Bloody Scotland book of the year nominee Neil Broadfoot comes No Man's Land, the first in the white-knuckle Connor Fraser series.

Blood on Snow (Detective Kay Hunter, #9.6)


Rachel Amphlett - 2020
    Christmas time can be murder…A suburban housewife is found dead in her garden.There is no weapon, no witnesses, and the only set of footprints belong to her cat.Probationary detective Kay Hunter and her colleagues are convinced it’s murder – but how can they find a killer when there are no clues?

City of the Dead


Ed James - 2020
    Two cops at each other's throats. Acting DI Scott Cullen faces his worst fear. Managing DS Brian Bain, his old boss and notorious loose cannon. But when Cullen is called through to Glasgow to investigate a murder, Bain is back on his home turf. A body found in an industrial bin, soaked in bleach and naked except for an adult nappy. Amid an ongoing investigation into similar crimes, but stopping short of murder, can Cullen rise above Bain's behaviour and solve the crime? City of the Dead is a standalone novella continuing the Cullen story after the shocking events of Heroes & Villains.

Beyond Cutting


Vicki Clifford - 2013
    This is no ordinary hairdresser. Viv Fraser Ph.D and stylist to the Edinburgh establishment, has a double life as an investigative journalist and finds herself involved in some hair-raising, not to mention explosive scenes, as she trawls the seamier side of her city. In this fast-paced mystery Viv investigates the case of a missing teenage boy, but her efforts are hampered by people trying to save their own skin. Always top of his class, Andrew’s school blazer turns up on a river path without him. As she picks at the veneer of the Capital’s gay scene Viv discovers an unsavoury mix of lies, jealousy and sexual deceit. Determined to find Andrew, she ignores threats on her life and continues to dig in places that even Detective Marconi has yet to explore.

A Time to Keep


George Mackay Brown - 1969
    First published in 1969, its 12 stories depict a vast cast of characters drawn from Orkney’s past and present, offering a range of emotions and incidents. They are elemental tales of the fishermen, crofters and farmers of the island and of the harsh, beautiful landscape in which they live.

Eye For An Eye


Frank Muir - 2007
    Andrews, Scotland, has become home to the most vicious serial killer Britain has ever known. Striking only during thunderstorms, choosing only victims who abuse women, the Stabber has Detective Inspector Andy Gilchrist and his team baffled until victim number six turns up in the form of a respected bank manager, Bill Granton. A surprise witness gives Gilchrist and his partner, the embittered Detective Sergeant Sa Preston, their first solid lead to the Stabber's identity. However, the uproar from the media gives Gilchrist's boss, the hateful Detective Chief Inspector Mark Patterson, his golden opportunity to suspend Gilchrist and bring in the Scottish Crime Squad. Driven by his fear of failure, desperate to redeem his reputation, Gilchrist takes on the case alone. The novel reworks the genre of simple revenge thriller and adds a real psychological depth to proceedings.

THE MUNRO & WEST MYSTERIES: four utterly gripping whodunits


Pete Brassett - 2021
    

Walking Wounded


William McIlvanney - 1989
    The walking wounded. These are the stories of ordinary people.

The First Cut (Terrence Reid Mystery Series Book 2)


Mary Birk - 2015
    Reid's chief suspect, a ruthless financier, always seems to be one step ahead of him. After one of his men is murdered, Reid suspects he's got a traitor in own camp. When Reid's wife, Anne, becomes deeply embroiled in the investigation, things get dangerously personal. The cold Glasgow spring isn't the only thing chilling Anne's blood when she leaves California to try to save her marriage. The estate gardens she's renovating are owned by her husband's enemy, her sister-in-law is trying to get her killed, and her efforts to help Terrence plunge-and her unborn child-deeper and deeper into peril.

Country Doctor


A.J. Cronin - 1935
    J. Cronin’s affectionate look at young Finlay Hyslop, a newly qualified Scottish doctor who assists a seasoned country GP in managing a variety of medical crises.

The Hanging Shed


Gordon Ferris - 2010
    Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Hugh Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returned was unrecognizable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps his own company, only venturing out for heroin to deaden the pain of his wounds. When a local boy is found raped and murdered, there is only one suspect...Donovan claims he's innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Despite the hideousness of the crime, ex-policeman Brodie feels compelled to try and help his one-time friend. Working with Donovan's advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls both the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of church, police and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, happy to slaughter to protect their dark secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man, and the tally of murdered innocents rises, Brodie reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. It's them or him.