My debut novel Tombstoning is reborn today. My publisher Orenda Books have produced a 20th anniversary edition of my first book, with a beautiful cover by Mark Swan and a fantastic introduction by Chris Brookmyre. Special thanks to Karen Sullivan at Orenda for making this happen.

You can buy the paperback here or at your local independent bookshop.
You can buy the ebook here.

What is Tombstoning about?

Your best mate just fell off a cliff in mysterious circumstances. You were the last person to see him alive. What do you do?

If you’re David Lindsay from Arbroath, you leg it – and don’t go back. Not for fifteen years.

Then Nicola Cruickshank – yes, that Nicola, the girl you always fancied but never had the guts to speak to – gets in touch. She wants you back for a school reunion. At the very place it happened. Of course you say yes. Not to lay ghosts to rest, but because you still fancy Nicola.

The thing is, if you are David Lindsay, then returning to Arbroath isn’t going to bring closure. Because when someone else tumbles off the cliffs – an act the locals now call tombstoning – David has a choice: run away again, or finally find out why people around him keep dying…

What did people say about Tombstoning 20 years ago?

The book made a bit of a splash back in the day:

‘Very funny, with a touching and believable romance thrown in’ Kate Saunders,The Times

‘[A] pacy debut thriller. . . Johnstone skilfully coaxes the reader into identifying with these difficult-to-love characters and maintains the tension and drama’ Metro

‘[Leads] to comparisons with the Scots writer Christopher Brookmyre … with a touch of romance [and] a gripping action sequence in the final chapters’ Scotsman

‘Detailed and atmospheric descriptions … funny and sparky dialogue’ Sunday Herald

‘Excellently written, intriguing storyline, and different from anything else around. A very impressive debut’ Allan Guthrie

‘A brilliant new author … a rollicking tale of mystery set in Auld Reekie and the east coast town of Arbroath…’ The List

‘A vibrant and engaging debut, by turns humorous, irreverent and poignant’ Bill Duncan 

‘A seductive and thrilling evocation of what lurks beneath the surface of small-town Scotland – or, indeed, small-town anywhere’ Christopher Brookmyre