Private investigator Jasmine Sharp’s father was murdered before she was born, and her mother went to self-sacrificing lengths in order to shield her from the world in which he moved. Since her mother’s death, all she has been able to learn is his first name – and that only through a strange bond she has forged with the man who killed him: Glen Fallan. But when Fallan is arrested for the murder of a criminal her mother knew since childhood, Jasmine is finally forced to enter his domain: a place where violence is a way of life and vengeance spans generations.
Detective Superintendent Catherine McLeod has one major Glaswegian gangster in the mortuary and another in the cells for killing him – which ought to be cause for celebration. Catherine is not smiling, however. From the moment she discovered a symbol daubed on the victim’s head, she has understood that this case is far more dangerous than it appears on the surface: deeper than skin, darker than blood; something that could threaten her family and end her career.
As one battles her demons and the other chases her ghosts, these two very different detectives will ultimately confront the secrets that have entangled both of their fates since before Jasmine was even born.
Flesh Wounds – Launch and promotional events
Glasgow
Wednesday July 31, 7:00pm
Sloan’s Ballroom, Argyle St. Tickets from Waterstones Argyle St.
Edinburgh
Thursday August 1, 6:00pm
Waterstones, Princes Street.
Glasgow
Saturday August 3, 11:00am
Costco, Springburn (signing only)
Braehead
Saturday August 3, 1:00pm
Waterstones (signing only)
Dundee
Tuesday August 6, 7:00pm
Steps Theatre, the Wellgate. Tickets from Waterstones.
North Berwick
Thursday August 8, 2:00pm
Fringe by the Sea festival, Baby Spiegeltent, North Berwick Harbour.
Edinburgh
Monday August 19, 8:00pm
Edinburgh International Book Festival, Baillie Gifford Main Theatre.
East Kilbride
Thursday August 29, 6:30pm.
Waterstones, The Plaza.
Largs
Friday August 30, 7:30pm.
Tidelines Book Festival, The Lounge bar, Main Street.
Cologne
Friday September 6, 5:30pm
Crime Cologne festival
Schiff “Pure Liner”, Holzmarkt im Rheinauhafen.
Bath
Tuesday September 10, 8:00pm
Topping Books, The Paragon.
Bristol
Wednesday September 11, 6:30pm
Festival of Ideas. Foyle’s Cabot Circus.
Stirling
September 13, 8:30pm
Bloody Scotland festival. Albert Halls, Dumbarton Road.
Brookmyre and Billingham are Indiscreet.
Events in June
Banchory Aberdeenshire, Saturday June 1st Margins Festival, Woodend Barn. Time tbc.
Glasgow Sloans Ballroom, Argyle Street, G2 8BG
Thursday, 13 June 2013, 7:00PM.
Double header launch event with Mark Billingham for When the Devil Drives paperback and The Dying Hours.
Tickets are £3 or £2 for Waterstones cardholders. Available in store at Waterstones Argyle St.
Further details: 0141 248 4814
Melrose Borders Book Festival,
Harmony Garden, Melrose, 9:15 pm.
Brookmyre and Billingham are Indiscreet: The joy of any book festival is in hearing authors come together in celebration and mutual respect. But, there’s only so much of that you can stomach, so by about nine o’clock we reckon you’re ready for the dark side. Mark Billingham and Chris Brookmyre present a show where readings from their latest novels and the weighty discussion of genre are jettisoned in favour of cheap laughs and dirty stories, lifting the lid on the real world of being a writer. The angry letters from readers. The backstage shenanigans. The banter and the bampots. Expect strong language, very strong language, and at least one extremely disturbing story about a chicken.
Jaggy Splinters Audio Book
The audio version of the short story collection “Jaggy Splinters” is now available from What Noise Productions
The adaptation is available on 3-CD set (through Amazon) and download (via bandcamp.com).
It includes the Parlabane short story “Place B”, as well as the Rules of Playground Football read by my good self.