Crime author returns to roots
An author came back to her roots to speak to fans recently about her latest novel.
Liz Mistry, originally from West Calder, led a talk at West Calder Library where she gave an insight into her popular DCI Gus Mcguire series and shared her inspirations for Book Week Scotland.
Her latest novel‘Unspoken Truths’is the fifth in the Detective Inspector Gus Maguire series which is set in Bradford, the District and Yorkshire.
Liz Mistry made Bradford her home over 30 years ago and is proud of her adoptive city.
She explained:“My writing incorporates the wonderful spectrum and diversity of the district from the inner city to the rural clusters drawing on the experiences of its contrasting communities - Through crime fiction I try to present the city in a positive light. To me Bradford is Warm and Rich and Fearless.”
Suffering from, at times, debilitating mental health issues of her own, a common thread in Liz’s writing is mental health. Alongside which she aims to provide an understanding of the diverse cultures to promote racial harmony.
Liz grew up in West Calder and, after studying at Stirling University, she moved to Bradford, West Yorkshire where she now sets her crime fiction books.
Her DI Gus McGuire series is gritty northern noir with a bit of Scottish thrown in.
She is currently studying for a PhD in creative writing at Leeds Trinity University and she also teaches creative writing and has appeared in literary festivals throughout the country.
She enjoys reading her work at Open Mic and Noir at the Bar events. In 2016 she was chosen as one of the spotlighted authors at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival.
She is the lead blogger for the well renowned crime fiction blog The Crime Warp which reviews contemporary UK based crime fiction, comments on current issues around the genre and interviews authors on a regular basis.