Dead Wood, Night Watcher & All That Jazz

Bill Murphy is returning on the 11th July in a new crime novel, Missing Believed Dead, and it’s not that long ago he was interviewed by the fabulous Peggy Stanton, so with Peggy’s permission I’m replicating the interview here. It’ll give you a feel for Bill, if you haven’t already met him.

This interview was originally published on Famous Five Plus

Peggy – Leaning forward for a chaste kiss on the cheek – ‘Do sit down, I’ve ordered us a pot of tea.’

Bill Murphy – Sitting down in the chair opposite. ‘Thanks, Chris asked me to pop along here for an interview.’

           

Peggy – ‘Chris, she’s like me, one for words, mind I’m more for speaking them. Anyway, thanks for coming along, Bill. You don’t mind if I call you Bill?’

Bill – Nodding a smile. ‘That’s okay. I’ve been called worse.’

           

Peggy – ‘I’ve been doing a bit of ferreting around and it seems you’re a Detective Sergeant. So I take it no uniform then? Pity!’

Bill – ‘Hmm, no, but you’re right, I’m a DS with the Dundee Police Force. That’s in Scotland, in case you didn’t know.’

Peggy – ‘You’ll not catch me out on my geography, we’re quite multi national here, Bill. We’ve got writers and characters from lots of countries, down under, that’s Australia, even across the pond, I can see you’re with me, yes it’s USA.’

Bill – Raising an eyebrow. ‘I had a look at your Books room while I was waiting. It’s quite impressive, looked a bit like my local bookstore. I’d tell you the name of it but we’re not allowed to advertise.’

Peggy – ‘You can always advertise us in any book store, that’s very kind of you. Now, from what Chris has told me, you’re a bit like myself, you don’t like following the rules much.’

Bill – ‘She has her own opinions, but I follow the rules, provided they don’t get in the way.’

Peggy –  Smiling. ‘It’s not what I’ve heard, I get the impression they get in the way quite a lot. A little birdie told me you’ve added the word bend to your set of rules!’

Bill – Shifting in his seat. ‘I’m not sure where you’re coming from on that one, but let’s just say, I get the job done. Anyway, there’s more to me than detective work, I’m quite a nice guy at the end of the day. A bit lonely sometimes. In fact I believe there are some readers who’d like to see me settled with a nice woman. Not that I’d mind that, I just never seem to be lucky with women.’

Peggy –  Raising her hand to her hair, gently strokes it. ‘I love a saddo, if you know what I mean. There’s nothing wrong in being lonely, but do tell me about the women in your life? I’m sure it’s more fascinating then the men in mine.’

Bill – Flicking some invisible fluff from his trousers leg. ‘Not much to tell. I was married once, you know. But like a lot of cop marriages it didn’t last. Not my fault, you understand. Evie, her name was. She had a roving eye and a taste for alcohol. She ran off with my best friend.’

Peggy – Notices the pained look in Bill’s face. ‘I don’t think she was the only one with a roving eye a good looking man like you must have cast your net out from time to time, surely there have been other women?’

Bill – Casting a glance across the room at the video playing, he smiled. ‘One or two, but they didn’t come to anything much.’

Peggy – Leaning forward in a conspirator tone. ‘Do tell me about them, I’m the soul of discretion?’

Bill – Raising his hand and counting on his fingers. ‘There was Julie. I met her in Night Watcher. I really thought that might have come to something, but when the case was over she went back to Edinburgh. She said she would phone, but she never did. Then I met Louise in Dead Wood, and that was developing nicely until the fiasco in Templeton Woods. That gave her quite a fright and she went home to her mum for a while. She’s back now, but Sue told me she wanted some space.’

Peggy  – ‘My my, you’re one for scaring them off , what with night watching, dead wood and what’s the other, templeton wood. Anybody since then?’

Bill – With a far away look. ‘Well, there’s someone I’m quite attracted to in the new book Chris is writing. Diane, her name is. The problem is her daughter vanished five years ago and it kind of messed her up psychologically. I really like her, she brings out the protective side in me, but there’s an even bigger problem because I think she might have committed a murder.’

Peggy  –  Stifling a chuckle ‘You like to live in the fast lane, good grief what happened to nice girls next door. Never mind, I can see this Diane could be a bit of a handful, particularly in your job.’

Bill – Shifting in his chair.  ‘Are we done yet? It’s just that my new DI isn’t very understanding and I didn’t tell her where I was going.’

Peggy – Placing a reassuring hand on Bill’s knee ‘I’m sure I can talk with your DI, better still I’ll invite her for an interview, as a senior officer, she’ll understand how important it is to answer questions. Maybe she can enlighten me more on what goes with her staff, so stop fretting. My, for a policeman out of uniform you’re a worrier, well, if you’re in a hurry, I guess that will do for now. But do come back another day when you have a bit more time. I’d like to know more about this mad woman who could have murdered someone. Also I’ll be wanting to know if you are seeing her, nothing like some excitement to talk over coffee with my lady friends.’

Bill – Standing up, amusement crossing his face, just what had he subjected himself to with this Peggy interview?. ‘Of course, provided you clear it with Chris. I like to let her think she controls me, although to tell the truth I’m afraid I just do my own thing.’

Peggy – ‘I think you’ve got that wrong Bill, whoever this Chris is seems a pussy cat compared to your DI, never mind, run along and hurry back.’

Peggy Stanton

Newsflash – Chris Longmuir's new crime novel, Missing Believed Dead, featuring Bill Murphy, will be launched at Waterstones, Dundee branch, on 11 July, 2013, at 6.30pm. Hope to see you there.

Chris Longmuir

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

When is the End not the End?

Book Launch after I won the Dundee International Book Prize

I need a pat on the back. Why? Well I wrote The End on my work in progress. It’s finished. Completed. I’ve written the final chapter, and even better, the final sentence. And I must say there was a wee tear in my eye as I wrote it.

Tears! From a dark crime writer! What next? Well, even though my books are not renowned for happy endings, I do have a soft side. I’m sure I’ll be deafened by the mutterings out there when this is read. But I do, honestly. And, although my crime books may not have very many happy endings, things do work out. Anyway, would you really want a happy ending to a dark crime book?

Once I stopped dancing because I had written The End, I had to knuckle down to some more work. You see, when a writer writes The End to their work in progress, it’s not really the end. Next comes the hard work of revision, editing and proofing, and I do all that before it goes out to my editors for fresh eyes to look at.

Revision comes first. The entire manuscript is read, and while reading I am looking out for clumsy writing, places where I’ve told the story rather than showed the action, although there are places where telling is okay. If I reach a tell section, I consider it. Would it be better if I turned it into show, or should I leave it the way it is? A lot depends on what is happening in the story at that point. If it’s a fast paced section then there is no argument – it has to be show. But tell is great if you want a quick way to sketch in background or move the story through time. However, given that the action in the new book takes place over a period of 6 days, time gallops.

Then, there is the hunt for weasel words. That is, words that are unnecessary, words where the sentence would make the same sense if they weren’t there. I’m thinking about words like – just, that, actually, basically, extremely, almost, simply – there are loads more, including the word ‘then’ which starts this paragraph, and the Find command in Word is excellent for rooting them out. However, each word has to be considered before removal, because in some cases they are needed.

Then a hunt for quotation marks. Word’s Find command is great here too, but this is laborious, and you only realize how many you use when you search them out. So what am I looking for? I’m checking that dialogue is both opened and closed, and that apostrophes are in the correct place. Speaking of apostrophes, I also do a find on words like ‘its’ just in case it’s the one that needs the apostrophe. Then there’s the hunt for ise, and ize endings to ensure the correct one is written. I use the Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors, and they stipulate the correct usage for words that can be written either way. Their preference is for ize endings, with some exceptions, for example, ‘realize’ is an ize ending but ‘surprise’ is an ise ending. However, as I have a tendency to use the ise endings in preference to ize, this means hunting out every ise ending and converting it if it’s needed. I’m getting better though, because when I’m writing my brain has become trained to write ize instead of ise.

After that, another read through is needed before it goes out to my editors. And that’s where the book is at the moment. And, of course, another read through once the corrections are in, then a speak aloud read through – it’s amazing the errors you can detect when you read the manuscript aloud, although after 92,000 words I reckon I’ll be hoarse!

Oh, nearly forgot to say, the cover has been commissioned, but I have no idea what it will look like yet. I’m waiting for my cover artist to surprise me.

I suppose you want to know what the book is about, but I’ll leave that until later. What I will tell you though, is that it is the third one in the Dundee Crime Series, and I should be ready to launch it in early July.

Watch this space!

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Historical Book Fair - A Salt Splashed Cradle

Life and Love in 1830s Scotland

Belle is brought to live in the fishing community by her new husband, Jimmie Watt. The villagers resent her as a newcomer and when Jimmie leaves for the Arctic on a whaling ship, she becomes increasingly isolated.

She embarks on a tempestuous affair with Lachlan, the Laird’s son, but when Jimmie returns she struggles with her feelings for him and for Lachlan.

The women in the village turn against Belle, regarding her as a Jezebel who will tempt their men away. A mood of hysteria engulfs them and they turn against Belle to force her out of the village.

What will Belle do? And will she survive?

This historical saga is set in a Scottish fishing village in the 1830’s and reflects the living conditions and the morals of the ordinary fisher folk of that time.

Author information 

Chris Longmuir is an award winning novelist as well as an established writer of crime novels, short stories and articles.

Review quotes

There is some beautiful poetic writing and the complex life of the heroine, Belle, had me gripped from the beginning. Some of the loveliest writing is in the whaling sequences -one can feel the cold - and among the whalers she creates some outstanding characters. Eileen Ramsay, novelist

Excerpt

Jimmie and his father pulled hard on the oars of the small boat as they fought the river current which was threatening to pull them off course. Water splashed over the bow as the angry tide swirled round the small island which sat in the middle of the river, and the two of them were breathless and sweating as they approached it.

‘We should’ve asked Ian and Angus to come with us,’ Jimmie paused to spit on his hands. The boat swung as the current caught it again, but he grasped his oar with both hands and forced it back on course.

‘After we’ve rounded the point it’ll be easier,’ James panted. ‘The tide’ll carry us part of the way to Invercraig, and we can row to the harbour.’

‘Aye,’ Jimmie muttered. He looked uncertainly towards the Invercraig side of the water where the whaler was berthed. What on earth had possessed him to sign on? He should have ignored Belle and gone back on his promise. But a promise was a promise and Jimmie knew he could not have gone back on his word.

He concentrated on the oars. In, out, lift and pull. The water sucked at them as he counted the strokes, and he could feel the sting of the spray on his cheeks and the taste of salt on his lips. They drew level with the island and both men concentrated on their oars, pulling hard to round the point and stay clear of the shore. The tide caught them, swinging the boat round and upriver. They let the current carry them until they were level with the harbour and then without a word they started to row again, each in unison with the other.

The three-masted whaling ship creaked and strained at its mooring as they rowed around it heading for the section of harbour where it was safe to tie up. The ship loomed over them and Jimmie was glad when they pulled clear.

Jimmie heaved his oar into the boat, as they neared the dock where several other small boats were moored, while James manoeuvred the boat closer.

‘Be ready with the rope,’ James said, while he stroked the water with his oar until the boat was almost touching the side of the quay.

Jimmie grabbed the iron ring protruding from the wall and quickly threaded the rope through, knotting it until it was secure. He grabbed the bundle containing his possessions, and keeping one hand against the quay wall stepped from boat to boat until he reached the steps carved into the quayside.

His father scrambled up the steps after him, and both men stood for a moment while they looked around. Jimmie’s hand tightened on his bundle. He wasn’t sure he liked so much noise and bustle. There seemed to be people everywhere. Men like himself with their bundles clutched to them. Other men were balancing barrels and sacks on their shoulders as they made their way towards the ship. Carts lined up with produce of all kinds. Cows and sheep tethered in pens, waiting their turn to board. Soaring over everything the babble of tongues.

‘Aye lad. It’s not like Craigden now, is it.’ James stroked his beard as he always did when he was troubled.

Jimmie forced a smile. He did not want his da to worry about him. ‘I’ll be all right, Da. It’s a good ship, The Eclipse. They say they catch more whales than any other whaler, and that means a bigger share of the catch for the men. One voyage and I’ll be able to get my own boat.’

‘I hope so lad. I hope you won’t be disappointed.’

‘You’ll look after Belle and Sarah for me. Won’t you Da?’

‘Don’t you go worrying over Belle, lad. Me and Annie’ll see she’s all right.’

‘Well, I’d better go now, Da.’ Jimmie held out his hand and both men clasped each other’s arm, hands on elbows.

James leaned towards Jimmie and threw his other arm round his son’s shoulders to clap him on the back. ‘Take care, son,’ he said, his voice strangely husky.

‘I will, Da. I will.’

James turned and clambered back down the stone stairs. Reaching the bottom he stepped over the vessels moored there until he reached the rowboat. Jimmie felt suddenly desolate as James lifted his arm in a salute and turned away making ready to cast off.

Straightening his shoulders, Jimmie walked towards the ship. It was bigger than any boat he had previously sailed in, and it would travel a greater distance.

He’d heard tales from men who had sailed with the whalers, and of the strange white world they went to. Ice and snow, and freezing cold, and whales, larger than anything they had ever seen before. Jimmie experienced a surge of excitement that started in his stomach and ended up in his throat. His step quickened and his hand tightened on his bundle. Soon he would be able to recite his own tale of adventures in the Greenland seas.

Read the first 2 chapters here 

Buy the book from:-

A Salt Splashed Cradle on Amazon UK

A Salt Splashed Cradle on Amazon.com

Follow her on Twitter: @ChrisLongmuir

Facebook

Website:  http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Blog:  http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page: 

What is Tartan Noir?

(This post was originally published on the Authors Electric site "Do Authors Dream of Electric Books?)

You’ve probably come across references to Tartan Noir on the internet and various other places, and if you walk into a bookstore in Scotland, the chances are you’ll see a display labelled Tartan Noir. But what is Tartan Noir?

The name is an odd mix. The tartan part of the name smacks of tourism, kilts, heather and bagpipes, all the stuff that attracts people to Scotland, although it is not all that relevant in today’s modern world. The second part of the title –Noir – is more reminiscent of blood and gore, and all the horrible things that happen in the darkest of crime fiction. So it is an odd mix indeed.

It was actually James Ellroy who coined the name when he referred to Ian Rankin as the King of Tartan Noir in the 1990s. Since then it seems to have been taken up to describe Scottish crime fiction in general, and has now been given historical antecedents.

The origins of Tartan Noir in Scottish literature are claimed to be rooted in the works of James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson and William McIlvaney.

 

James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, written in 1824, seems to be the earliest influence. This novel has been variously described as a psychological case study; a gothic novel with elements of horror; a satire of extreme theology; plus an early example of crime fiction. It is said to be the earliest example of a novel using an alter-ego, and involves a battle between good and evil. It is considered to be an influence on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, as well as James Robertson’s novel, The Testament of Gideon Mack, and various others.

Jekyll and Hyde, written by Stevenson in 1886 uses split personality, and continues the theme of the battle between good and evil. He claims the idea came to him in a nightmare and he called it ‘a fine bogy tale’. In her essay The Dark Threads of Tartan Noir, Carole E. Bannerman writes –

‘Like every noir writer since then, Stevenson situates evil in the heart of man, and then places that man in the heart of a city. The city becomes a manifestation of the moral hypocrisy and the mock respectability that the noir writer attacks.’

Tartan Noir was also heavily influenced by American writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James Ellroy, who were all writing hard-boiled detective fiction, and many Scottish authors followed in their footsteps, probably beginning with William McIlvaney, who has been termed the Godfather of Tartan Noir, a title that bemuses him. When he wrote Laidlaw, he said he had no intention of writing a crime novel. He wanted to write a story that was real, not one where the book was taken up with a murder and whodunit. It just happened that the character he chose was a detective with a troubled past and present.

Many Scots have a fascination for gruesome events, particularly those that have happened in the past, therefore it is not surprising that Burke and Hare, the body snatchers who operated in Edinburgh between 1827-1828, and Deacon Brodie, a respectable town councillor by day and a housebreaker at night, are considered influential in the rise of the type of dark writing labelled noir. In fact, Deacon Brodie is considered to be one of the influences behind the writing of Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde.

So where does that take us in defining Tartan Noir? Is it the broad sweep of Scottish crime fiction, or is it a subset of hard-boiled and dark crime, that takes the reader to a dark and scary place?

Maybe if we look at the issues Tartan Noir novels explore, that will help us decide. These include psychological and socio-economic issues, hard-boiled crime, and dark crime. The characters are invariably flawed, often with split personalities and they are anti-heroes rather than heroes. So does this rule out cosy crime? And how dark does dark crime have to be? Or is it safer to include all Scottish crime? I don’t know. Do you have an opinion?

Oh, and before I go, would anyone like to comment whether I fit into the Tartan Noir category with my Dundee crime series of books? I’d love to know.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Do You Become Your Characters?

One of the fiction writer’s jobs is to create characters, and I’m sure we all do it in different ways. Some writers create a biography for their character before they ever put pen to paper to write their story. Some writers may model their characters on people they know, taking a little bit here and another bit there and amalgamating them into a new character. Some writers start the book first and let the character grow out of the narrative. I could go on and on.

However, it was something Cally Phillips said in a recent blog which was ‘walk a mile in their shoes’ in order to understand someone, and this applies to characters as well as people.

Anyway, Cally’s comment got me to thinking, because when I’m creating characters I like to get inside their heads, and I like to walk in their shoes. Oh, I do all the other things as well, but there’s nothing quite like getting inside someone’s head to really get to know them.

Mind you, a lot of my writing can be scary and my characters are not always likeable, so the inside of their heads is not a comfortable place to be.

Take the Night Watcher, for example. I lurked in dark corners with him, spied on his chosen one, and shared his delusions. Inside his head was a really scary place to be and if I had exhibited schizoid tendencies when I was writing this, it wouldn’t have been surprising. Julie, the main character in this book started out as a nice person, and I shared her grief when she lost her husband. The self harming wasn’t particularly nice, but it was part of who she was and how she coped. But then she became so eaten up with thoughts of revenge on the woman who stole her husband and ultimately led him to his death, she changed. She had some rather nasty thoughts, and I became involved in the psychological games she played on Nicole, who was the other woman. Nicole was selfish, ambitious, and liked other women’s husbands, but she also had her vulnerabilities. So, all in all, none of them were very pleasant heads to be in.

Kara, in Dead Wood, was another head it wasn’t always comfortable to be in. I was with her in the woods with the serial killer and shared her fear and despair. I ran from Tony’s thugs as well as the killer, and understood her desperate need to rescue her children from the care system, which was something that kept her tied to Dundee and was ultimately her undoing. Sharing her street walking experiences, her run in with the serial killer, and her panic at being hunted by Tony’s thugs was distinctly uncomfortable.

Then there’s Bill Murphy, who appears in Night Watcher and Dead Wood. I was there with him in the snake room as well as his own neglected flat. I shared his despondency, his heartburn, his doubts and fears.

You would think that Belle’s head in A Salt Splashed Cradle would be a nicer place to be, because it’s a historical saga and Amazon promotes it in their newsletters as a romance. Well I suppose it is a romance, just not a very soft, sweet one. So back to Belle’s head, if you think it would be nice to be there, you’d be wrong. You see Belle has her problems. She wants the romance and the happy ever after, but it’s not in her nature to have that. So I shared her ostracism by the villagers, her sexual encounters with the Laird’s son, and lots of other stuff. Then there was Jimmie, her husband. I sailed with him on the fishing boat and then the whaler. I sailed to the Arctic seas with him, climbed the masts and furled and unfurled the sails with him. I chased whales with him, shivered with him, shared his frostbite, and his love for Belle. And of course, there’s Sarah, who cannot understand why her mother does not love her.

Then there’s my short stories. I’m not even going to go there, too scary.

So I come back to my original question – Do you become your characters? Or do your characters become you? Oh, and how do you get back out of their heads again without losing your mind?

(This post was originally published on the Authors Electric site "Do Authors Dream of Electric Books?)

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Happy New Year

Hogmanay and New Year is a time of celebration in Scotland and I would like to include you all in my celebrations.

So I would like to raise my glass to you and wish all my readers and followers a Happy New Year, and I hope 2013 will be a year of joy and delight for you all. I've appreciated your company, and your interest in me and my books, and I can only hope I can meet your expectations over the coming year.

So here's to you - a Happy New Year and many of them.

Chris Longmuir

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Who invited the Night Watcher to the party?

Bill Murphy turns the invitation over, trying to see who has sent it, but all it said was, ‘Meet me at Donovan’s at 7pm’. He snorts and throws it into the waste bin. He isn’t in the mood for the pub tonight, and he’s sworn off the drink. But curiosity gets the better of him, and he fishes the gilt edged card out of the bin, and now here he is, outside Donovan’s.

 
The noise hits him as soon as he opens the door, and the place looks different. It’s like New Year's Eve, with balloons and bunting everywhere. Someone releases a party popper, and the paper streamers erupt over his head.
 
‘I knew you’d come.’ Sue does a little jiggly dance in front of him.
 
‘What’s the celebration?’ Bill accepts the glass she thrusts into his hand.
 
‘You mean you don’t know?’ Sue throws up her hands in mock horror and produces a book. ‘Why, it’s the launch of Night Watcher in paperback.’
 
‘So what’s so important about that?’
 
‘You, mate. It’s where you were born, inside the pages of Night Watcher.’
 
‘But Night Watcher’s been on ereaders for yonks now, so why are we celebrating the paperback?’
 
‘Don’t you think it’ll be better for you if the pages can be turned as paper, instead of being poked with a finger?’
 
Bill shrugs. ‘I’ve been in paper before. I was in Dead Wood, remember?’
 
‘Ah, but Dead Wood wasn’t your birthplace. You were born in Night Watcher, and we’re celebrating your birth in print.’ Sue removes the umbrella stick, and sips the blue coloured concoction in her glass. ‘And everyone’s here to celebrate with you. Look, there’s Julie over there, you like her, don’t you?’
 
Bill looks, but Julie is deep in conversation with a guy who has a rope dangling round his neck.
 
A surge of jealousy courses through him. ‘Who’s that with her?’
 

‘That’s her husband, Dave. Nice looking guy, I could go for him.’

 
‘But didn’t he die in Chapter Two?’ Bill stares, he’d never seen the guy when his face wasn’t distorted.
 
‘Yeah! But he said he liked a good party and didn’t want to miss it.’
 
Bill looks round the room. Everyone is here, right enough. Nicole and Scott are seated in the corner. Bill is tempted to go over and speak to them but he isn’t sure if they know what is in store for them and he doesn’t want to provide them with any spoilers. Better they don’t know anyway.
 
‘Hang on a minute, Sue. Who’s that hooded chap over in the corner, the one sitting on his own, the weird looking guy?’
 
Sue looks over the rim of her glass. ‘Oh, him, that’s the Night Watcher. I had a bit of a job convincing him to come, but I felt he should be here, it’s his story as well. But it’s better if he’s left alone, he’s not very sociable.’
 
‘This is the weirdest party I’ve ever been at,’ Bill grumbles, taking a sip of his whisky. ‘Why am I drinking this stuff? I don’t like whisky. I wish someone would give me a rum and coke.’
 
‘That’s something you’ll have to take up with your creator. Oh, and speaking of the devil, here she comes now.’
 
‘Damn and blast, she’s bound to spoil the party.’
 
‘What happened to the “F” word you’re so fond of using?’
 
Bill shrugs. ‘Well it is a celebration and we are appearing on Chris’s blog, so I’m on my best behaviour.’
 
Sue snorts into her drink. ‘Best behaviour? Now I’ve heard it all.’ She looks up. ‘Watch out, here she comes.’
 
Bill looks moodily into his drink. ‘Yeah, Miss Goody Two Shoes, the party will go downhill from now on. She doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, doesn’t even swear, although she puts plenty of swear words into my mouth.’
 
‘Shh, she’ll hear you. Remember she has the power of life and death in those fingers of hers.’
 
Bill shudders. ‘Yeah, we spend our days hunting for killers and she’s the biggest killer of them all.’
 
Bill looks up and smiles. ‘Hi Chris, glad you could join us. D’you think you could sign my book?’ He produces the copy of Night Watcher that Sue had given him earlier.
 
‘Just put, Bill, the great detective.’
 
Sue chokes on her drink and turns away to hide her smile.
 

****

I hope you’ve enjoyed the party, and now I’ll tell you a little bit about Night Watcher. But first, I have an invitation for you to attend the launch. It's over on loveahappy ending.com and I'd love to see you there.

 

 Night Watcher is the first book in my Dundee Crime Series, although the second book in the series, Dead Wood, was actually published first. So in some ways you could call it a prequel, although I prefer to say it’s the first in the series.

 

A large part of the action takes place in Drake's department store, which Christopher Brookmyre felt was a gothic setting with a character all of its own.

 
The main character in Night Watcher, is Julie who is devastated when her husband Dave is found dead. She blames Nicole, the woman he left her for and seeks to destroy her life in the same way she thinks Nicole destroyed Dave.
 
The main police character is Detective Sergeant Bill Murphy, however in my books the police are secondary characters to the victims and the bad guys.
 
Here is a look at the cover and how the book is described on Amazon:-

 
Two stalkers - one target

A mysterious stranger arrives in Dundee, with a mission to find a new Chosen One to punish. He selects Nicole, a woman with a weakness for men.
 
One of Nicole's paramours is found hanged and everyone assumes he has committed suicide. However, his estranged wife, Julie, knows better and blames his death on Nicole. Obsessed with the need to punish Nicole, Julie stalks her, unaware that there is another stalker, the deranged and dangerous Night Watcher.
 
Who will exact punishment on Nicole first? What price will Nicole have to pay for her misdemeanors?
 
Will Julie's mind games drive Nicole over the edge? And what price will Julie have to pay for her obsession.
 
Only the Night Watcher knows!
 
Night Watcher is the first book in the Dundee Crime Series -Dead Wood is the second.

Review quotes:-

Night watcher is the sort of novel that keeps the reader glued to its pages, frantically guessing as the plot takes numerous twists and turns. Alex Gray, Crime Writer

 
This is a complex and very well crafted tale, beautifully put together -full of a sense of foreboding, and full of menace. Catherine Czerkawska
 
Chris Longmuir is an award winning novelist as well as an established writer of short stories and articles. Night Watcher won the Scottish Association of Writers' Pitlochry Award, and the sequel, Dead Wood, won the Dundee International Book Prize, as well as the Pitlochry Award.
 
Amazon UK

Night Watcher (paperback)

Night Watcher (kindle)

 
Amazon.com

Night Watcher (Paperback)

Night Watcher (kindle)

 

Web site –  http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Blog –  http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Twitter –  @ChrisLongmuir

UK Launch:- http://loveahappyending.com/bells-whistles-flags-banners-for-night-watcher/

US Launch:- http://www.stephaniekeyes.com/book-launch-the-night-watcher-by-chris-longmuir-chrislongmuir/