You know when you meet special people, there is a connection

Alex Gray, 69, is the award-winning, bestselling crime writer who grew up in a Glasgow suburb, but admits to being “thrown out” of science classes because she was so bad at them.

Professor Lorna Dawson, 61, grew-up on a potato farm near Forfar and became an eminent soil forensic scientist with a CBE for her work on more than 100 crimes which saw her help put some of the UK’s most evil killers behind bars.

Brought together by a shared interest in murder, neither anticipated it would blossom into a bond so strong they would remain close friends almost a decade on.

The writer – a mum of two – says: “There was an international forensics conference at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh in 2011 and they’d invited crime writers for a meal. It was over dessert, when we were talking about disintegrating bodies, that I decided I would stay on.”

Aberdeen-based mum-of-three Lorna chips in: “We hit it off straight away. You could tell Alex was a wonderful, warm, down-to-earth person; you know when you meet special people, there is a connection.

“We have both had quite hard things happening in our lives. I had a daughter who had been extremely ill and was twice told she wasn’t going to survive. That was a difficult time for me. She did recover. But when I got down about it I could talk to Alex.

“She is someone I trust. I know she understands and is supportive. I would rather have 10 really good friends, than 50 casual ones. It is that core goodness in certain people that’s important, and that is the case with Alex.

“She is fun and anything and everything can make us laugh.

“I’m quite creative too, even though my job is about fact. That’s why I like working with Alex. I get an email at 3am from her saying, ‘what would happen at this outdoor scene?’ And I’m probably already up, working crazy hours.”

Alex smiles: “It’s funny how a friendship like that can just develop. We realised we were on the same wavelength. She is always such a support.”