Doug Johnstone

Tombstoning looking pretty good for 20 years old! Love these new proofs going out into the world. Published 12th Feb by Orenda Books. Preorder here: geni.us/Mb0bqB

I am THRILLED that my second novel, THE OSSIANS, is getting a shiny new reissue in April next year by Orenda Books with a lovely introduction by none other than Val McDermid! It’s a wild ride of a book, for sure:

Connor is twenty-four, brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal. 

Desperate to make their mark, they head off on a two-week winter tour across the cities and hinterlands of Scotland – a last-ditch attempt to find fame, purpose, and themselves.

But the tour soon spirals into a surreal, chaotic odyssey. From seedy bars and snowbound towns to a final, defining Glasgow gig, the band hurtles through a whirlwind of seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.

Raw, darkly funny and wild with energy, The Ossians is a gloriously anarchic story of rock’n’roll obsession, national identity and self-destruction, and what it means to belong – in a band, in a country, in a life unravelling at speed.

You can pre-order it here: geni.us/49IJe, or at your local indie shop. Looking forward to getting out and talking about this one again after all these years!

I’m thrilled to be appearing at next year’s Granite Noir, talking to Bryan Burnett about 20 years(!) as a published writer.

Finished a messy first draft of the next Skelfs book this morning. Still LOADS of work to do, but always happy to reach this stage. Ghost Notes, my 20th novel, will be published in August by Orenda Books.

All six Skelfs novels are now together in a bumper ebook boxset! geni.us/A8wWTa

Hey folks, just a heads up that I’m doing an interview with UK Crime Book Club tonight at 7.30pm. It’ll be over on their FB page.

I’m excited to be appearing at Motherwell Library as part of #BookWeekScotland – come and have a chat about books and stuff.

In an announcement suitable for Halloween my debut novel, Tombstoning, is back from the dead. The book was first published in 2006, so next year will be its twentieth birthday. To celebrate, my fantastic publisher Orenda Books are reissuing it with a lovely new cover and an even more lovely introduction by none other than Chris Brookmyre. What is the book about, you ask?

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…

You can pre-order this slice of classic Scottish noir here or at your local independent bookshop. There will be events and other fun stuff happening around release, so watch this space. Exciting!

Something to listen to while you’re reading. It’s pretty chill, honest. 

The book is off on a wee adventure around the internet, stopping at the following places on its blog tour. Can’t wait to see what the blogging community makes of it.