The link between crime fiction and Kirkcudbright can be traced back almost a hundred years to the publication of a classic novel that brought one of the genre’s greatest fictional investigators to the town.
Five Red Herrings, written by legendary crime author Dorothy L Sayers, sees Lord Peter Wimsey’s fishing holiday interrupted when he investigates the murder of a local artist in Kirkcudbright.
The novel, which was published in 1931 and is still available in ebook, hardcopy and audiobook formats, begins with the death of a Sandy Campbell, a drunkard loathed for his boorish behaviour, whose body is found at the bottom of a steep hill.
Given that his easel is at the top of the hill, townsfolk assume that he fell while painting but Lord Peter disagrees and his suspicion is strengthened by the fact that six people hated him enough to become murder suspects.
The novel, which tells how the gentleman sleuth clears five of the suspects and reveals the sixth as one of the most ingenious murderers he has faced, continues to be regarded as a classic of the genre. The 1975 BBC four-part TV mini-series Five Red Herrings(starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey) was filmed on location in and around Kirkcudbright, including Broughton House, the Selkirk Arms Hotel, High Street, the Sheriff Court and the Big Water of Fleet Viaduct.
But Dorothy L Sayers was not along in being inspired by the Dumfries and Galloway landscape to write crime fiction and the area has been either home for crime writers or the inspiration for their novels.
Working today, for example, are bestselling author Aline Templeton who sets her DI Marjory Fleming series in Dumfries and Galloway, Lynne McEwan, whose series of novels featuring DI Shona Oliver draw heavily on the area and Jackie Baldwin who sets some of her novels in the Dumfries legal sector.
The Holly and Ivy series by Dumfries and Galloway crime writer Sue McCormick began with Red as any Blood and the second, Sharp As Any Thorn, is out in September 2026. They feature theatrical sleuths, the actress Dame Elspeth Hollanby (Holly), and her dresser Ivy. /
Finally crime writers Ian Robinson and John Dean both live in in Dumfries and Galloway, as deso May Rinaldi, and ‘
David L Haigh, pictured here.
We know that this is a brief piece -if there’s a writer who you feel should be included do let us know at deangriss@btinternet.com
Kirkcudbright Crime Writing 