A local writer has returned from his book tour of the USA where copies of the first edition of his Dundee-set crime novel have sold out.
It appears Americans cannot get enough of The Good Son, which follows a fictional private investigator who uncovers dark and disturbing secrets while investigating a death in the city.
While Dundee is an unlikely setting for a noir fiction, Russel McLean’s successful debut title earned him a nomination for the Private Eye Writer’s prestigious Shamus Award.
He went up against Johnny Depp’s half-brother Danny and former Washington Post writer Brad Parks in a ceremony at the Shamus Banquet in San Francisco but unfortunately lost out to the former journalist.
However, the 30-year-old author, whose second novel The Lost Sister was published in the UK last year, is far from disappointed.
“The tour was great fun,” said Russel. “It was an unexpected moment when we realised that there are now no first editions of The Good Son in the US. We sold through before I arrived, which seemed to upset the hardcore collectors but didn’t stop any of my hardcore fans from turning out at various stops along the way.
“I still find it strange to think that anyone’s reading the book, particularly anyone so far away from Dundee.”
Russel’s tour took him through New York, Minneapolis, Houston, Arizona and finally San Francisco for Bouchercon the biggest crime-writing convention in the US.
“I bumped into many people who I admired and had a brilliant time meeting some of my heroes, my contemporaries and of course the readers, who are the very reason any of us writers were there at all.”
Russel, originally from Cupar, will appear alongside other authors at the Rothes Halls in Glenrothes on November 6 for Fife Readers Day. The event runs from 10am-3.30pm and full day tickets cost £16.