Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Best photos of Stirling’s Bloody Scotland crime writing festival 2024

Locals and visitors flocked to the international festival, where Chris Brookmyre won the top prize for his book The Cracked Mirror.

Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize 2024 winner shortlist authors (from left) D V Bishop (David), Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Kim Sherwood and Abir Mukherjee
Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize 2024 winner shortlist authors D V Bishop (David), Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Kim Sherwood and Abir Mukherjee. Image: Colin Hattersley

Stirling opened its arms to crime fiction fans and authors this weekend as it hosted another exciting Bloody Scotland festival.

Thousands flocked to the city to rub shoulders with respected writers of the popular genre, including Peter May, Ann Cleeves and Irvine Welsh.

Chris Brookmyre was awarded the festival’s top honour, the McIlvanney Prize, for the second time.

This year, he won for his novel The Cracked Mirror, described as a cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly.

The winner of the 2024 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was Allan Gaw, for The Silent House of Sleep. It’s the first time a self-published author has bagged the award.

Mr Gaw is a doctor and medical pathologist who has used his own experiences to inspire his stories.

Here are some of the best moments of the weekend’s festivities in the heart of Stirling.

On opening night, Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band lead a procession through the cobbled streets of Stirling. Image: Bloody Scotland
On opening night, Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band lead a procession through the cobbled streets of Stirling. Image: Bloody Scotland
On opening night, Stirling and District Schools Pipe Band lead a procession through the cobbled streets of Stirling.
Crowds came to watch the procession. Image: Bloody Scotland
Author of 'Rabbits', Hugo Rifkind at the Secret Histories event in Trinity Church.
Author of ‘Rabbits’, Hugo Rifkind at the Secret Histories event in Trinity Church. Image: Bloody Scotland
Actor Richard Armitage discusses his debut novel, 'Geneva'.
Actor Richard Armitage discusses his debut novel, ‘Geneva’. Image: Bloody Scotland
Finalist for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year, Doug Sinclair, talks about his book, 'Blood Runs Deep' in the central library.
Finalist for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year, Doug Sinclair, talks about his book, ‘Blood Runs Deep’ in the central library. Image: Bloody Scotland
Finalist for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year, Alan Gaw, talks about his book, 'The Silent House of Sleep' in the central library.
Finalist for the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year, Alan Gaw, discusses his book, ‘The Silent House of Sleep’ in the central library. Image: Bloody Scotland
The audience in Albert Halls.
The audience in Albert Halls. Image: Bloody Scotland
Always praised for their non-traditional book events, this year Bloody Scotland hosted The Wickedest Link, as eight crime writers battled not to be the first voted off the Friday night quiz resembling a popular BBC quiz show.
Always praised for their non-traditional book events, this year Bloody Scotland hosted The Wickedest Link, as eight crime writers battled not to be the first voted off the Friday night quiz resembling a popular BBC quiz show. Image: Bloody Scotland
Henry Hemming, author of Four Shots in the Night.
Henry Hemming, author of Four Shots in the Night. Image: Bloody Scotland
McIlvanney Prize winner, Chris Brookmyre holds his trophy up proudly surrounded by the pipe band.
McIlvanney Prize winner, Chris Brookmyre. Image: Colin Hattersley
Debut Prize winner, Alan Gaw holds his trophy up proudly surrounded by the pipe band.
Debut Prize winner Alan Gaw. Image: Colin Hattersley
McIlvanney Prize winner Chris Brookmyre kisses his trophy.
McIlvanney Prize winner Chris Brookmyre. Image: Colin Hattersley

For more Stirling news and features visit our page or join us on Facebook

Conversation