Quoyloo Quill

  When is a crime novel not a crime novel and why might it matter?   by guest contributor  Les Cowan, author of the David Hidalgo crime / thriller series     T here is little doubt in the modern world that crime undoubtedly pays. Or at least in the world of fiction it does. Crime is by far the biggest genre, apparently bigger than all the others put together and the bookshops (when they're open) seem to be stuffed with crime series, clever sleuths and dark deeds. But what is a crime book? The overwhelming formula is pretty well defined. First a murder, second a professional detective and third an investigation with a satisfactory conclusion. The fact that my David Hidalgo series is on the crime shelves might lead you to suspect more or less the same but here you may be surprised - though I hope not disappointed. David Hidalgo is not a policeman, like Rebus, not a gifted amateur like Miss Marple and not a private investigator like Philip Marlowe. In fact he i...

  I often get asked how the Marna Mystery Series started and I usually answer, 'ask Kathleen' (the 'K' of B K Bryce) as it was originally my sister's idea, but since lockdown she has not been able to travel up to Orkney as she would like, so instead I shall give an A-Z reply - archaeological zoology. Joking apart, when Kathleen first came up with the idea of writing a Neolithic Whodunit I thought it was one of her mad ideas which she would soon forget about, however it turned out she was serious. 'Fine,' I answered, 'As long as you do the research.' I was pretty confident this would put her off, but no. My sister had studied history at university and although had not pursued a career in that direction, she was determined to come up with the information needed. Since Quoyloo is a giant's stone throw from Skara Brae it seemed a good idea to set the books there. While Kathleen began learning about fire making, felting, brewing ale from bread and oth...

In Quoyloo we are incredibly fortunate to have many talented individuals. One such is musician Kathie Touin Brown. Originally from 'across the pond', Kathie gives us her view on life in Orkney in 2020 and how she has adapted her musical schedule.     Throughout lockdown, and the easing of restrictions, there have been vast differences in how people react to isolation and various levels of confinement.  Speaking for myself, I know that if my husband and I were still living in our London flat we both would have gone slightly mad and probably ended up with one of us locked in the bathroom and refusing to come out until it was all over. Which wouldn't have worked as there was only one bathroom.   But living here in the Orkney Islands, I've been very lucky. We have nearly an acre of land, with plenty of plants, trees and flowers that need looking after, and many entertaining avian visitors, including starlings and sparrows demanding food. Swallows nested in our ga...