Author heads home for evening of crime

To celebrate the publication of Thicker Than Water, his second, much-anticipated venture into the world of fictional crime writing under the pseudonym JD Kirk, Fort William author Barry Hutchison will appear at The Highland Bookshop next week along with Perthshire based true-crime author Mark Bridgeman.

Hutchison will kick things off at 7pm on Thursday November 14 with a reading from his debut crime novel, the Lochaber-set A Litter of Bones. He will then take the audience on a whirlwind recap of a writing career that includes horror movies to The Beano and explain why he has now turned his attention to Highland-set murder mysteries.

Fans of his JD Kirk books will also be treated to a sneak peek of the fourth book, Bloody and Treachery, which is published in December.

Finally, following the runaway success of his recent book featuring a series of crime stories from Highland

Perthshire’s past, author Mark Bridgeman is writing a sequel.

This time he is turning his attention to Lochaber and intends to open up some of the area’s turbulent history.

On the night, he will be looking to gather interesting local stories, based on historical crimes and mysterious occurrences in the area, and will also give the audience a chance to sit on the jury and reach a verdict on a real-life murder trial.

Bridgeman will be reading from his previously unpublished account of a gruesome killing that took place 70 years ago in Highland Perthshire covering the prosecution and defence followed by audience discussion on the case and the verdict.

Tickets for the event, priced £5, are available from The Highland Bookshop and Eventbrite. GETINVOLVED email us at fort@obantimes.co.uk