A new book by a brilliant Scottish crime writer is always an occasion to celebrate, so we’re very excited to have two of them published on the very same day! Join us (virtually) for an evening with Doug Johnstone and Val McDermid to launch their cracking new novels on 20 August.

The two authors will be in conversation broadcast live from The Portobello Bookshop, and if the books are anything to go by they’ll be covering life, death and everything in between. There’ll be a chance to ask questions during the event.

The Big Chill is the second in Doug’s Edinburgh-set Skelfs series about a family of female undertakers who also run a private investigator business. It’s every bit as thrilling as we’ve come to expect from his books, and as funny, too. Still Life is a brand new novel in the DCI Karen Pirie series, with Karen delving into a cold case which leads her into a sinister world of lies and dark secrets. Val is the bestselling Queen of Crime with good reason, and this is another storming instalment to her latest series.

Val McDermid & Doug Johnstone Online Book Launch Live