Stuart Johnstone

A Gritty Thriller Set in Edinburgh's Dark and Twisted Streets

Run to Ground

The Thrillingly Authentic Scottish Crime Debut

Out in the Cold

'A parade of pipe bands should welcome this tartan noir newcomer. Johnstone’s a former cop. It shows in this tough and crisply written thriller with the punch of a triple scotch...Welcome to your new crime addiction!' Peterborough Telegraph Intuition is everything in the police force, something that Sergeant Don Colyear knows better than most. When a superior officer’s decision not to respond to a routine disturbance has fatal consequences, Colyear finds himself sent away from Glasgow to work in a remote Highlands town. Despite not wanting to be there, a feeling shared by his commander, Colyear soon settles into life investigating petty crimes. But it isn’t long before he discovers something strange about the town. A string of teenage disappearances seems to have been ignored by the authorities. And when a groundsman from the local sporting estate is gruesomely murdered, Colyear suspects that long-held secrets could be coming to the surface. As he delves further into the town’s history, it isn’t long before his own life is at risk.

The thrillingly authentic Scottish crime debut

When a little girl is murdered the only lead is a phone call about the death... but it was made 2 months before the incident.

Into the Dark

‘Cut his eyes out, so he has. What kind of a monster could... Cut his eyes out?’ The brutal murder of ten-year-old Callum Bradley sent shockwaves across Scotland but, as the weeks have stretched on with no solid leads, the investigation has been scaled back. Sergeant Don Colyear, Community Police Officer, is tasked with tying up a loose end: a 999 call which may have hinted at the boy’s mutilation and murder. However, the call was made fully three weeks before the crime took place. The caller turns out to be a resident at an Edinburgh care home, drifting in and out of lucidity due to dementia. Enough to write off the potential lead as a dead end. But when a fresh murder disturbs the city, the clock is ticking and Don is drawn far away from his usual beat onto a dark path to catch a violent killer. 'Welcome to your new crime addiction!' Peterborough Telegraph

Your next must-read Scottish crime novel

Paul Bassett Davies

Elodie Harper

Michael Button

Neil Hudson

Manuela Saragosa

SIX SCARY STORIES SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY STEPHEN KING Winning stories from The Bazaar of Bad Dreams Hodder-Guardian competition The Number 1 bestselling writer Stephen King introduces and presents six gripping and chilling stories in this captivating anthology: WILD SWIMMING by Elodie Harper EAU-DE-ERIC by Manuela Saragosa THE SPOTS by Paul Bassett Davies THE UNPICKING by Michael Button LA MORT DE L'AMANT by Stuart Johnstone THE BEAR TRAP by Neil Hudson Stephen King discovered these stories when he judged a competition run by Hodder & Stoughton and the Guardian to celebrate publication of his own collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. He was so impressed with the entries that he recommended they were published together in one book. Reader beware: the stories will make you think twice before cuddling up to your old soft toy, dipping your toe into the water or counting the spots on a leopard...

Stuart Johnstone

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