Little, Brown has three on Scottish Crime Book longlist

Three Little, Brown books are among those longlisted for this year's Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

The three Little, Brown titles on the longlist are Splinter the Silence by Val McDermid, Beloved Poison by E. S. Thomson and Black Widow by Chris Brookmyre.

This year’s Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing festival, taking place 9th-11th September in Stirling, is the first since the passing of writer William McIlvanney, who, according to the organisers, "established the tradition of Scottish detective fiction, more than anyone". Bloody Scotland 2016 is dedicated to his honour and the winner of the Scottish Crime Book of the Year will now be awarded The McIlvanney Prize at an awards ceremony on the opening evening on Friday 9th September.

Two Scottish indies have books on the longlist: Luath with Open Wounds by Douglas Skelton and Sandstone with A Fine House in Trinity by Lesley Kelly.

Also in contention for the prize are Even Dogs in the Wild (Orion) by Ian Rankin, The Damage Done (Michael Joseph) by James Oswald, The Special Dead (Macmillan) by Lin Anderson, In the Cold Dark Ground (HarperCollins) by Stuart MacBride and The Jump (Faber) by Doug Johnstone.

The judges will be journalist Lee Randall, award-winning librarian Stewart Bain and former editor of The Scotsman and The Times Scotland, Magnus Linklater. Hugh McIlvanney OBE, brother of William, will present the award.

Previous winners are Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona (Quercus) in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island (riverrun) in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye (Pan) in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country (HarperCollins) in 2012.

The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.