The Edinburgh Book Festival — on the crime side

As I’ve said before, one of my dearest wishes is to attend the Edinburgh Book Festival. It just looks like so much fun and always has a stellar lineup, especially on the crime fiction front. So if you’re lucky enough to be in the area and aren’t sure who to look out for, here’s a quickie guide:

Tonight, two of Polygon’s newest authors make their debut appearances at the fest — Brian Hennigan, whose second effort THE SCHEME OF THINGS was released in June, and Allan Guthrie, whose fabulous TWO-WAY SPLIT is just out now in the UK. Chairing the event is Paul Johnston, who may well be the hardest working guy at the Festival — he’s hosting over 20 events, if word is to be believed…

Ian Rankin’s always a staple of the Fest, but don’t even bother trying to go to his two gigs, one on the 21st and the other on the 25th — they sold out ages ago. But if you’re looking for somewhere to go earlier in the day on the 25th, don’t miss Mark Billingham, Peter Guttridge and Johnston talking books and sundry (emphasis on the latter, I suspect.)

More accessible will be Monday’s event featuring Lin Anderson & Alex Gray, who set their tales in Glasgow, and Stuart MacBride, who sets his in Aberdeen. And on the 26th, surprisingly with tickets stil available, is Val McDermid’s event.

On the last day of the festival, meet up with Quintin Jardine who will speak about his Edinburgh-set police procedurals.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to go one of these years…