Kirkcudbright Crime Writing

Crime writer Jackie Baldwin offers an insight into how Dumfries and Galloway inspires her work

Setting my second DI Frank Farrell novel, Perfect Dead, in the art world wasn’t an obvious choice to anyone who knows me as I really am the least artistic person that you can imagine. I was asked to leave the art class at school and once nearly failed an arithmetic exam because I couldn’t draw a swimming pool with a sloping floor. As to finger painting with the kids when they were young? You’d have been hard pressed to distinguish between theirs and mine.

However, once that decision was made, it will come as no surprise to you all that the majority of the action had to take place in Kirkcudbright which has carved out a reputation in the Region and beyond as the ‘Artists Town.’

The inspiration for the novel was really ignited by a close friend of mine who happens to be an artist. I had never come across anyone with such an intensity and passion for her work. Through her eyes, I had a window into an entirely new world. Around the same time another friend married an artist who was really rather contemptuous of commercial artists. It reminded me of the way in which the way the art establishment had turned its back on Jack Vettriano and how incredibly successful he had become notwithstanding. Personally, I loved his paintings. This rather intense febrile atmosphere struck me as ripe for development into the plot of a crime novel.

As I have lived in Dumfries and Galloway for most of my life, I knew the area like the back of my hand and wanted to include some local references and highlight places of interest to encourage others to visit. With this in mind, I chose to set some of the action at Broughton House, with which many of you will be familiar. Located in the heart of Kirkcudbright, it is a stunning 18^th Century townhouse where the Scots impressionist artist, E.A. Hornel, associated with the ‘Glasgow Boys,’ used to live and work. If anyone hasn’t been, I would heartily recommend it both for the fascinating art exhibits and also for the magnificent garden out the back.

Two graveyards feature in the novel, which are the Kirkyard in Kirkcudbright and the one attached to Dundrennan Abbey. I must have looked rather suspicious skulking around doing my research!

Another local area highlighted is the MoD firing range at Dundrennan. I remember walking miles with our two golden Retrievers trying to find the perfect spot to place a body, (as you do!)

 As a crime writer, I believe that the wild, rugged landscape of Dumfries and Galloway provides the perfect setting for crime novels and offers something a little different to a reader than the usual urban cityscape. In Dead Man’s prayer, a local church featured, albeit with a different name. In Avenge the Dead, much of the action and intrigue took place within Dumfries Sheriff Court. Anyone who keeps abreast of the news will realise that the most appalling crimes often happen in small towns and villages. As a former solicitor engaged in practicing criminal law, I sadly saw this at first hand. At least the perpetrators in crime fiction are usually caught and brought to justice. In real life that is, sadly, not always the case.