Richard Armitage and Ruth Ware named among Bloody Scotland headliners in festival first

Ruth Ware, Richard Armitage, Ann Cleeves, Peter May and Louise Minchin have been unveiled as this year’s Bloody Scotland headliners ahead of the full programme launch at the Golden Lion in Stirling next week (20th June).

It is the first time since it was founded in 2012, that the festival has included a “sneaky peak” of its headliners prior to the release of the full programme. Armitage will headline the opening night on Friday 13th September at The Albert Halls to talk about his debut thriller Geneva (Faber).

Cleeves, the creator of three crime series, two television dramas in “Vera” and “Shetland” and 26 novels translated into more than 20 languages will be in conversation with one of the co-founders of Bloody Scotland, Lin Anderson. Her event will be on the afternoon of Saturday 14th September.

May will launch the fourth book in his Lewis series in conversation with one of the founding directors of the festival, local author Craig Robertson. He will be at the Albert Halls on Saturday evening. Minchin, the BBC Breakfast TV presenter, will appear at noon on Sunday 15th September to talk about her debut novel, Isolation Island (Headline), which draws heavily on her TV experience.

Ruth Ware will be discussing her novel One Perfect Couple (S&S UK) in a conversation with Minchin chaired by TV and radio presenter Bryan Burnett. Tickets will go on sale at noon today, a week ahead of the rest of the programme.

The programme launch at The Golden Lion in Stirling will be followed by an event with Val McDermid. The organisers say tickets are being offered at only £6 (£5 for concessions) to encourage locals who wouldn’t normally attend the festival.

The 2024 festival will begin at 3pm on Friday 13th September and the final event will conclude at 2.30pm on Sunday 15th September. The festival takes place in various venues (including The Albert Halls, Trinity Church and the social hub of the festival, The Golden Lion Hotel).