Scottish Bookshelf
Ideas for this novel had been quietly growing in the back of Margaret’s mind, and when she visited Orkney on holiday she knew she’d found the right setting.
“Orkney is the most amazing place, and anyone who has visited will know it is very evocative. It has this really ancient feel to it. You can tell that it’s a landscape that people have lived in for thousands of years.”
“We stayed in an old manse right on the edge of the coastline and our accommodation was on the top floor. As I was going up the stairs, I could feel myself becoming more unhappy. By the time I reached the flat, my nerves were completely on edge. It was such an eerie place.
“There was a walled garden with overgrown statues. I always remember opening the window and hearing the most unearthly sounds. It was the seals at dusk coming onto the beach. Their cries were like nothing on earth! I thought that it had to be in a book one day.”
One of the main themes of In The Blood are the Scottish witches, a thread which also featured in Margaret’s previous novel, What Lies Buried.
“It seems to be something I can’t quite let go of,” says Margaret. “It was an absolute fever that gripped the country, so, you know, in a way it’s not hard to draw a modern parallel. The dedication of the book is taken from the Orkney Witchcraft Trials Memorial and reads: ‘They were just folk’. It’s very compelling because that’s exactly what they were, they were just people like you and me.”
Although this is definitely not the end of the series or the end of D.I. Lukas Mahler, Margaret’s next novel is something of a departure as she grows in confidence and stretches her literary wings.
“I started this current book during the pandemic and it has a female protagonist. Again, it’s set up here in the Highlands. This is the place that I’m really in tune with. It’s early days, but it is very exciting!
“At some level, I think I’m still in shock over the fact that I am a published novelist! I’m just really pleased to be here and to be writing.” In the Blood is published by Orion on April 29.