Kirkcudbright Crime Writing

August 10-15, 2026— Dalbeattie Book Festival – –

Crime writing will be well represented in the first Dalbeattie Book Festival being held between 10th-15th August, 2026.

Crime writing plays its part in Dalbeattie’s’ first book festival

Supported by Birchvale Theatre, The King’s Arms and Dalbeattie Library. the festival will celebrate the writers who live in the area as well as those from further afield.

Crime writer David Haigh, and Barbara Haigh will talk about crime fiction and art journaling at 2pm at Birchvale Theatre on Thursday August 13.

David’s novels, set in rural Northumberland, include Landkill, which opened the series (he is pictured here).

Gordan Smart, who writes Glaswegian Noir detective fiction, is expected to appear as well,with the details yet to be confirmed.

It is an excellent and varied programme, featuring everything from talks and walks to storytelling  that is compelling. You can find out more at https://nailfactory.uk/

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September 6 2026

Investigator to tell the story of major miscarriage of justice

Readers who are interested in true crime will appreciate an event due to take place at the Kirkcudbright Fringe arts festival at the beginning of September 2026.

They can join investigative journalist Richard Brooks for an exploration into the Post Office Horizon IT debacle, arguably the most profound miscarriage of justice in modern UK legal history.

Private Eye investigative journalist Richard has spent more than 15 years chronicling the systematic destruction of thousands of lives and will introduce his new book, Post-Mortem, which draws on the millions of documents exposed in the public inquiry to explain the extent of the cover-up

It is a staggering account of institutional, professional, and personal failure and the event will see Richard in conversation with Joyce McMillan at Kirkcudbright Parish Church on Sunday September 6 at 2:30pm. Ticket are £12 and more information about the festival’s varied programme, and how to buy tickets, can be found at  www.kbtfringe.co.uk

Physical Tickets are also available from 1 July from: 

Rhubarb, St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright. DG6 4AA

Samphire Gallery,149 King Street, Castle Douglas.DG7 1DX

Kirkcudbright Fringe is a new arts and culture festival taking place on 3-6 September 2026 and is now in its fourth year, as ever bringing together live music, film, comedy, visual arts, performance, and talks and discussion across the town. It aims to showcase a range of voices and talents – emerging, new and established – adding to the reputation and feel of Kirkcudbright, its public spaces and places.

October 20, 2026

Celebrated crime novelist to give talk in Kirdcudbright

Tuesday October 20 2026 2.30pm

Twenty Years as a Published Author – two decades of murder and mayhem!

Doug Johnstone Broughton House, Kirkcudbright

Various organisations in Kirkcudbright feature crime writing in their programmes and the Stewartry Literary Society is an excellent example with its latest line-up bringing celebrated author Doug Johnstone to the town  in October 2026.

Doug  is  celebrating  a  landmark  twentieth  year  as  a  published  writer  with  his  twentieth novel,  Ghost  Notes , which  is  the  seventh  in  his  acclaimed  and  award-winning  Skelfs  crime  fiction  series.

His  first  two  novels  –  Tombstoning  (2006)  and  The  Ossians  (2008)  –  have  also  been  reissued  this  year, with  new  introductions  by  top crime novelists Chris Brookmyre  and  Val  McDermid. 

Doug  will  be  discussing  all  of  this  and  much  more  as  he  looks  back  over  two  decades  of  murder  and  mayhem on the afternoon of October 20.  He’ll  also  be  playing  some  live  music.

He is  the  author  of  twenty  novels,  many  of  which  have  been  bestsellers.  The  Space  Between  Us  was chosen  for  BBC Two’s  Between  the  Covers ,  while  six  of  his  books  have  been  shortlisted  or  longlisted  for the  Theakston  Crime  Novel  of  the  Year  or  the  McIlvanney  Prize  for  Scottish  Crime  Novel  of  the Year.

Doug  has also taught  creative  writing  or  been  Writer  in  Residence  at  universities,  schools,  writing  retreats,  festivals,  prisons  and  funeral  directors.  He has  been  an  arts  journalist  for  more than twenty years,  is  a  songwriter /  musician  with  ten  albums  released,  and  is  the  drummer  for  the  Fun  Lovin’ Crime  Writers.  He is co-founder and player/manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh.

Doug  was  Writer  in  Residence  at  the  University  of  Strathclyde  in  2010–12  and  before  that  a  lecturer  in creative  writing  at  the  same  university.  He’s  had  short  stories  published  in  various  anthologies,  newspapers  and  literary  publications,  including  the  Edinburgh  Review  and  Gutter.  In  2013  Doug  was  a judge  for  the  Scottish  Book  Trust’s  new  writers’  awards.

Before  becoming  a  writer,  he studied  physics  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh  and  completed  a  PhD  in  nuclear  physics.  He  also  spent  four  years  as  a  systems engineer, mathematically modelling airborne radars and missile-guidance systems.

His hugely  successful  Skelfs  series  follows  three  generations  of  women  from  the  Skelfs  family  as  they take  over  the  family  funeral  home  and  private  investigation  businesses.  A  Dark  Matter  (2019)  introduced  a  cast  of  unforgettable  Edinburgh  characters,  marking  the  start  of  an  addictive  new  series  –  compelling,  tense  and  shocking  with  a  darkly  funny  and  warm  portrait  of  a  family  in  turmoil.  Ghost  Notes  (2026)  promises to be another masterful instalment in Doug’s award-winning, addictive Skelfs series.

 In  addition  to  the  Skelf  series  and  a  number  of  stand-alone  novels,  Doug  has  written  the  bestselling  Enceladons  Trilogy.  When  three  people  suffer  strokes  after  seeing  dazzling  lights  over  Edinburgh,  then  awake  completely  recovered,  they’re  convinced  their  ordeal  is  connected  to  the  alien  creature  discovered  on  a  nearby  beach.  The  Space  Between  Us  (2023)  is  an  adrenaline-soaked,  deeply  humane,  life-affirming  first-contact  novel;  The  Collapsing  Wave  (2024)  the  awe-inspiring,  exquisitely  moving  sequel;  and  The  Transcendent Tide  (2025) is the epic finale to this  spectacular trilogy.

Stewartry Literary Society runs monthly afternoon events in Broughton House, Kirkcudbright, when there is an opportunity to hear published authors and other speakers give talks on a wide variety of literary topics. These range from novels to historical writing, drama, crime and contemporary issues.

There are six talks in the latest programme, held on the second Tuesday of the month (September, October, November, December, February, and March). They begin at 2.30pm and last one hour.

 You can find more information, including how to book places (free for members, £10 for visitors), at www.stewartryliterarysociety.org.uk

November 27-29 2026

Hotel to stage crime fiction weekend

Hotel to stage crime fiction weekend

Two popular crime writers and one of the genre’s most respected editors will help authors develop their craft when a hotel in Dumfries and Galloway hosts a specially-organised weekend of events later this year.

Entitled Crime Fiction at the Selkirk Arms in Kirkcudbright, the event will take place at the four-star hotel in High Street between November 27-29, 2026.

The residential event will begin on the Friday evening when those taking part will have an opportunity to talk to Dea Parkin, Ian Robinson and John Dean, who will join them for dinner in an event called Supper and Sleuthing.

Dea is the former General Coordinator and an associate member of the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) through her editorial consultancy Fiction Feedback, of which she is owner and Editor-in-chief. It specialises in critiquing and editing crime and historical fiction, and Dea and her team have worked alongside some of crime fiction’s biggest authors, agents and publishers. This year, Dea is a judge on the Historical Dagger and Fiction Feedback sponsors the Emerging Author Dagger, a competition for unpublished crime writers.

Authors Ian Robinson and John Dean  live in Dumfries and Galloway and are published by Joffe Books, which recently took over their publisher The Book Folks and is one of the UK’s most successful publishers of crime fiction.

Ian, a former Metropolitan Police detective, writes the popular DS Sam Batford and Nick Moretti and Pippa Nash London Crimes series. Former newspaper Crime Reporter John created the best-selling DCI John Blizzard and DCI Jack Harris series, of which 25 titles have been published.

The Friday night dinner will be followed by a short talk delivered by Dea, ending with a question and answer session with Dea, Ian and John.

The event will be followed by a weekend crime writing workshop led by Dea, with sessions on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, covering topics as diverse as the craft of crime writing to how to impress agents and publishers.

The price for the weekend, which includes accommodation, meals and the workshops, is £315pp. Places are limited to 16 and can be booked at The Selkirk Arms Hotel High Street, Kirkcudbright DG6 4JG Tel: 01557 330402 Website: http://www.selkirkarmshotel.co.uk

November 2027

The team behind the excellent annual Moffat Crime Fest have announced that, due to circumstances outside their control, they are having to defer the 2026 event for a year.

They will be back in November 2027 with top authors, panels, chat and competitions. If you have any questions about this you can contact them on moffatcrimefest@yahoo.com