18 top crime novels set in Scotland
It’s not hard to see why so many authors choose to set their books in Scotland. From the remote islands to the gritty city streets bursting with rich culture, the atmosphere, landscape and people of Scotland have influenced some of the best crime novels around. And it’s not just Scottish crime writers who have found themselves inspired: authors from around the world are getting in on the action too.
If you’re looking for a good book to help immerse yourself in bonnie Scotland then look no further. With these gripping crime and thriller reads you can pay a visit to Glasgow with Denise Mina, explore Aberdeen with Stuart MacBride and lose yourself in the Highlands with G. R. Halliday.
Here’s our pick of crime novels set in Scotland, by both Scottish crime writers and those from further afield.
From the Shadows by G. R. Halliday
Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again. A body is soon found on the coast of the Scottish Highlands. DI Monica Kennedy stands by the victim in this starkly beautiful and remote landscape. Instinct tells her the case won’t begin and end with this one death.
Meanwhile, Inverness-based social worker Michael Bach is worried about one of his clients whose last correspondence was a single ambiguous text message; Nichol Morgan has been missing for seven days. As Monica is faced with catching a murderer who has been meticulously watching and waiting, Michael keeps searching for Nichol, desperate to find him before the killer claims another victim.
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
It’s DS Logan McRae’s first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn’t get much worse. Three-year-old David Reid’s body is discovered in a ditch: strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he’s only the first. There’s a serial killer stalking Aberdeen and the local media are baying for blood.
Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing; more are going to die. And if Logan isn’t careful, he could end up joining them.
Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
In the very first John Rebus novel, two young girls have been abducted and brutally murdered in Edinburgh. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer.
And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses, taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.
The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
On a freezing Fife morning four drunken students stumble upon the body of a woman in the snow. Rosie has been raped, stabbed and left to die in an ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young men now stained with her blood.
Twenty-five years later the police mount a ‘cold case’ review of Rosie’s unsolved murder and the four are still suspects. But when two of them die in suspicious circumstances, it seems that someone is pursuing their own brand of justice. For the remaining two there is only one way to avoid becoming the next victim – find out who really killed Rosie all those years ago.
Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves
Wild Fire is the final book in Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series – the inspiration behind the BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall.
Drawn in by the reputation of the welcoming, wild and remote Shetland islands, a new English family move to the area, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny’s body is found hanging in the barn of their home, rumours of her affair with the husband begin to spread like wild fire. With suspicion raining down on the family, DI Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate.
Sleep by C L Taylor
All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty.
To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare. Each of the guests has a secret, but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
Meet Jack Laidlaw, the original damaged detective. When a young woman is found brutally murdered in Kelvingrove Park, only Laidlaw stands a chance of finding her murderer from among the hard men, gangland vi