Waterstones' Book of the Month accolade delights Black Isle-based cop turned crime writer Neil Lancaster as Dead Man's Grave gets major showcase
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THE latest book by a Black Isle-based crime writer has been included in the monthly top list of one of the UK's biggest book retailer.
Dead Man's Grave, written by former Met policeman Neil Lancaster (55), was selected by Waterstones as Scottish book of the month for January.
The author, who moved to the Black Isle in 2015, said he was delighted to see his hard work getting such recognition.
"That's fantastic," he said.
"Obviously, there is a rich vein of Scottish crime coming out all of the time and Scotland is known for its crime writing, so when you think of the huge heavy weights that we have up here with James Oswald, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Stuart McBright, to be picked out of that number is flattering to say the least!
"It's one of the things all writers dream of, to be in a big bookshop and your book is all over the place."
Mr Lancaster moved to Ross-shire after he retired to be able to spend more time with his family and find a more sustainable pace of life.
His first book, Going Dark, was published in 2019 and two more following the story of Tom Novak were released in the following 18 months.
His last published work, Dead Man's Grave, was long-listed for Scottish Book of the Year at the 2021 McIlvanney Prize, and is very much linked to the Highlands.
Mr Lancaster said the idea for this book came from the father of a friend who sadly passed away last year
"He told me a story of when, back in the 1960s, he was looking for a particular graveyard in which he thought he could find answers to where his family's wife came from, up in the wilds of Caithness," said the writer.
"He came across this graveyard and found a grave that had 'This grave is never to be open' written on it, and I found this very interesting so I went in search of this place and found the particular grave, in this most remarkable place in the wilds of Caithness. This grave is really evocative and made me want to write a story about it.
"Being in the Highlands has had a huge influence on my writing. I always say that it's like a character in its own right in the book: there are things happening all around Scotland, but I always wanted to have things happening in these remote wild parts of the Highlands, because I love them so dearly, and I wanted to use it, as I said, almost as a character.
"I reflect the landscape that I live in, because I love it so much. It's quite easy to introduce tension, because it's wild and remote, and can be quite dark.
"What I like is the duality of Scotland, between staggering beauty that in a heartbeat can change because of the weather; how it can go from the sublime to the ridiculous in a moment, and I think this is a good way to set the scene and introduce atmosphere."
Being on the Black Isle, he found a strong support of the local community.
"They love reading about things happening in this area," he said.
"I recently went to a book talk in Culbokie, and I have had great support. Is good to feel part of the community. I will keep coming back to the Black Isle in my books, because is wonderful to be in touch with this community."
Mr Lancaster will soon be releasing his new book, the Blood Tide, which is set to be released on February 23 in ebook and audio and whose opening scene is set to be in Loch Torridon.
