Alastair Maclean, one of the Prince's most loyal supporters, is sent ahead to carry out a secret mission. He is befriended by two extraordinary men-Dr. Samuel Johnson, an aspiring man of letters, and the shadowy figure known only as "Midwinter."

    He is a fat man. A fat man with thin limbs, like an egg with tentacles. And life is not going well. He’s alone, idle, and on the brink of a medical crisis when a childhood acquaintance makes him an offer he can’t understand, can’t talk about, but ultimately can’t refuse. A week later, he finds himself in the wilds of Scotland, plunged into an eccentric community at war over a wind farm. He’s supposed to be a backer, but he has no idea what side he’s on, even though it may bag him a lot of money. All he wants is to look like a hero in front of the woman with the bright blue eyes who brought him here. To do so he must run the gauntlet of a family with many dark secrets, some dangerous hippies and their hallucinogenic potions, and the wilderness itself with all its threats and dangers. Whirligig is a raucous, joyous, often poignant comedy about the redemptive power of the countryside. Written with peerless wit, it’s a timely fable that takes its place within the tradition of the Great English Comic Novel. It’s The Wicker Man as told by P.G. Wodehouse.

    By trial… and eror error. Cullen is on jury duty, and the sleepy Scottish town of Melrose is experiencing a rare crime wave: the famous Rugby Sevens trophy is stolen, a dead body is unearthed, there is a spate of petty arson, and someone drives a van into Gloria’s front room.Why? And what is her husband doing every night up on Eildon hill?In this hilarious crime romp, misguided loyalties, thwarted love, and unbelievable gullibility reach crisis point on the one day in the year when the world pays a visit to Melrose.At the final whistle, Cullen will ensure that justice is done.Because sometimes twelve good men just isn’t enough.

    She finds London a very lonely place, until a charming young artist literally drops in on her rooftop garden... Across two quietly powerful novels, Bel's story unfolds as she moves from London to a fishing hotel in the rugged Scottish highlands and then finally to a picturesque cottage in the Cotswolds in need of repair, all while attempting to navigate unexpected friendships and romances. Filled with all the warmth and charm which D. E. Stevenson readers have come to anticipate, The Bel Lamington Novels are beautifully written gentle romances, sure to satisfy steadfast Stevenson fans and newcomers alike.

    Her descendants sit on the British throne to this day. But history does not even record her name… In ninth century Britain, the Picts and the Gaels fight for supremacy over the North. In one of their rare truces, a young Pict woman is reluctantly married to a Gael warrior, son of one of the great Chiefs of Dal Riata. Leaving behind her family and the Pict lord she had hoped to marry, she travels west to the household of Alpin, where she is viewed with suspicion by many of her new kin. But it is the collapse of the truce and the indifference of her husband that leaves her position in her new land increasingly vulnerable, as war breaks out once again. Forced to forget her Pict heritage, she fears that one day she will be faced with an agonising choice between the victory of her husband or her father. Her journey takes her from the splendours of the Fortress of Dunadd to the tranquillity of the sacred Isle of Iona, where even greater danger lurks as the terrifying Norsemen plan their own attacks. However, it seems that her hardest battle will be to win the heart of her husband, the brave, cunning and often ruthless Cinaed as he fights his way towards a destiny that could be greater than anyone imagines… The man known to history as Kenneth Mac Alpin.

     He is handsome, ambitious - and an unwitting pawn in a game of thrones, played out by the rival queens of England and Scotland. As he escapes northwards, Darnley falls in love with the enigmatic Mary, Queen of Scots. But is the beautiful and regal woman all that she seems? As Darnley is drawn into Mary's web - and bed - he discovers that being a king does not mean wearing the crown. As one of the most passionate marriages in British history falters, Darnley must pit his wits against his wife. There will be blood. The end of their affair will shape their hearts - and history. Recommended reading for fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and Sarah Gristwood. Praise for Steven Veerapen: "A superb, page-turning debut. The author balances gimlet-eyed research with narrative drive and clever reveals... Danforth is a strong yet torn central character... I look forward to reading the second book in the series." Richard Foreman. Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII’s six wives. He then received a Masters in Renaissance studies, and a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. Steven is fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, and has a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it.

    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.

    There he falls in love with his Queen Alexandra Corps nurse, Louise, and she with him.The story moves back and forth from their time at the field hospital to the west highlands of Scotland where Donald grew up. As they talk in the quiet hours he tells her the stories of the coast and glens, how his family lived and the fascinating life of a century ago: bagpiping, sheep shearing, celidhs, illegal distilling, his mother saving the life of the people of St Kilda, the navvies building the west highland railway and the relationship between the lairds and the people. Louise in turn tells her own story of growing up in the Welsh valley: coal mining, a harsh and unforgiving upbringing.They get cut off from the allied troops and with another nurse are forced to make their escape through Turkey to Greece, getting rescued by a Coptic priest and ending up in Malta. By this time their love is out in the open, but there is still another tragic twist to their story waiting on the way back to Donald’s beloved highland home . . .

    It's the first day of her new job as intern at Edinburgh'sThe Standard. But all's not well at the ailing newspaper, and Martha is carrying some serious baggage of her own.Put straight onto the obituary page, she takes a call from a former employee who seems to commit suicide while on the phone, something which echoes with her own troubled past.Setting in motion a frantic race around modern-day Edinburgh,The Dead Beat traces Martha's desperate search for answers to the dark mystery of her parents' past. Soundtracked by and interspersed with a series of gigs from the alternative music scene of her parents' generation in the early '90s, Doug Johnstone's latest page-turner is a wild ride of a thriller, and a perfect follow-on to his #1 Kindle bestseller, Hit & Run.

    THE BOY - THE MAN - THE LEGEND -- Covering his earliest years to the age of twenty-three -, this fascinating novel goes "behind the screen" to tell the private and personal story of the most iconic young man of his time - Lord Byron - whose charisma, beauty and literary genius helped him to overcome personal difficulties and rise from obscurity to become Britain's first superstar.Beginning when he is a boy of ten years old, we join George Gordon when he is living a miserable life with his manic Scottish mother in a few rented rooms above a shop in Aberdeen; unaware that his true surname is not Gordon, and that his true heritage is with the English aristocracy - who soon come to claim him.A life of wealth and privilege is then bestowed upon him, which eventually sets the stage for him to prove his own individual worth, in his own way, and in his own time."My Name Alone shall be my epitaph." --- BYRON

    Struggling with his burning ambition, Cullen is assigned a Missing Persons case. Caroline Adamson, a young, recently-divorced Edinburgh mother, has disappeared while on a date.But when Caroline's body turns up, Cullen digs into her past and her private life starts to unravel. Who was she on a date with? What happened during her divorce? What was she doing on Schoolbook?Now, as Cullen investigates, his own private life gets messier and the relationship with his DI deteriorates. As other bodies turn up, Cullen soon finds himself hunting for a ghost in the machine.GHOST IN THE MACHINE is an intense police procedural novel about privacy, loss and social networks that builds to a shocking climax.DEVIL IN THE DETAILDetective Constable Scott Cullen of Lothian & Borders CID, still reeling from the events of a case the previous summer, is caught between antagonism with his superiors and the pressures of a new relationship.But when the body of Mandy Gibson, disabled daughter of a pillar of the community, is discovered one January morning, Cullen is pushed out to Garleton, a typical East Lothian town - affluent, historic and with a good school.Now, as the investigation becomes obstructed by a families broken by the tragedy, Cullen finds himself stuck between his DI and Bill Lamb, the local Sergeant. Is Mandy's religious group connected to her death? Where is the town's bad boy, Jamie Cook? As the community closes ranks, Cullen has to hunt for the devil in the detail.DEVIL IN THE DETAIL is a taut police procedural novel about faith and trust.FIRE IN THE BLOODDetective Constable Scott Cullen, bemused by the managerial positioning surrounding the impending merger of Lothian & Borders into Police Scotland, is torn by his personal and professional ambitions.But when a male human body, battered and unrecognisable, is found in a barrel for Dunpender Distillery's special centenary edition, Cullen is sent out east again.Now, Cullen finds himself trudging through a case with two likely victims who both went missing when the whisky was distilled. Could it be the owner's son, Iain Crombie? Is it Paddy Kavanagh, an employee with a fiery past? As he delves into the ancient history of the Crombie family, Cullen is soon contending with too many plausible suspects and his DI's desire for a quick collar, and finds himself hunting for a killer with fire in the blood.FIRE IN THE BLOOD is a deep police procedural about family, friendship and alcohol.DYED IN THE WOOLDetective Constable Scott Cullen finds his professional and private lives at opposite ends of the spectrum. While his career is stagnating - impacted by the jockeying for position ahead of the Police Scotland restructure as much as by his own inability to push for promotion - his love life goes from strength to stren

    One day, she received a message from a stranger. This woman offered to lead her on a self-healing trip hiking through the Scottish highlands.It seemed like a sign—a big sister sent when she needed one most.In this sometimes hilarious, sometimes terrifying, but always inspiring memoir, an introverted pollyanna is paired up with her polar opposite—a steamrolling, abrasive female with completely unorthodox healing methods. As they barrel through the winding one lane roads in a tiny rental car stopping to hike at breathtaking mountains and glens, an outrageous series of events forces Ninya to reclaim her power and find the strength to heal herself in one of the most beautiful places on earth.Readers of “Eat, Pray, Love” and “Wild” will love this memoir.

    But eleven years later he was out on appeal. Now he’s missing and people are dying again. DS Logan McRae is on the case, and twenty years of secrets and lies are being dragged into the light. Only one thing is certain – Aberdeen will never be the same again.BLIND EYE: Someone’s preying on Aberdeen’s growing Polish population. The pattern is always the same: men abandoned on building sites, barely alive, their eyes gouged out and the sockets burned. With the victims too scared to talk, Grampian Police is getting nowhere fast. The attacks are brutal, they keep on happening, and soon DS Logan McRae will have to decide how far he’s prepared to bend the rules to get a result.DARK BLOOD: Richard Knox has served his time, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he’s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He’s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police – the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years – supposedly here to ‘keep an eye on things’. Only things are about to go very, very wrong…

    Staff nursing in a ward where she's challenged by an inventory driven ward sister, she reckons it's time to swap such trivialities for life as a district nurse.Independent thinking is one thing, but Jane's about to find that the drama on district can demand instant reaction; and without hospital back up, she's usually the one having to provide it. She meets a rich cast of patients all determined to follow their own individual star, and goes to Edinburgh where Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute's nurse training is considered the cr me de la cr me of the district nursing world.Call Me Sister recalls Jane's challenging and often hilarious route to realizing her own particular dream.

    Although intense, it's written with much humour, and hope. In the author's own words: "As a schoolboy already caught up in addiction, I stood outside of a McDonald's waiting for a man I thought was my friend. A friend I met online. It would change my life forever. I was a streetwise kid growing up in a tough housing scheme. But the Internet was a new phenomenon. Euphoric Recall details my recovery from extreme trauma and addiction. As a Scottish working-class lad who grew up in a new town—Livingston—I also survived brutal experiences with suicide, violence, and severe mental health issues. One day, I decided to write a memoir about it. I hold nothing back.”