Crime writer to launch new Orkney series

Acclaimed crime writer Lin Anderson will be returning to Orkney next week to launch her new book, The High Island.

Set in Hoy, her latest thriller follows Detective Inspector Erling Flett, as he gets tangled in a web of secrets, family feuds and ghosts from the past.

With her Dr Rhona MacLeod series, Lin always came to Orkney to showcase the book, if the county featured in the story.

Now that DI Flett has his own series, she is continuing that tradition with a launch at King Street Halls at 7pm on Wednesday, July 29. There will be an interview with Stewart Bain and a signing.

“Whenever Orkney featured in a Dr Rhona MacLeod book, I did an event at Kirkwall library,” Lin said.

“With Erling Flett now being the star of the show, it was important to launch his series in Orkney.

“So, I’m very excited and happy about coming to do that, especially with Stewart Bain hosting.

“I’ve known Stewart for a long time, having met him in the library way back when Paths of the Dead, the first Orkney-based Rhona MacLeod book, came out.

“Stewart said recently that he’d always hoped I might some day star Erling in his own series, and this is that day.”

Asked what brought the series to Hoy, Lin explained that when she lived in Orphir she would go to Hoy at the weekends with her husband John and friends Charlie and Pam Menzies.

“We camped on the site of an old Nissen hut, and fished down in Lyrawa Bay, which features in the book.

“There’s also a scary scene in the book which basically happened to us on one of those visits, although I wrote it as happening to Erling and Magnus Pirie.

“You’ll have to read the book to find out what it was!”

The book grips the reader from the first page, full of twists and turns and characters who almost step off the page.

Lin stated that her favourite character in the book is DI Fleet, but her second favourite character is one who is introduced early on in the pages.

“My second most favourite character is Auld Mackie who is a near neighbour of Erling’s,” the author explained.

“He’s in his nineties and his knowledge of Orkney folk past and present is extensive.

“He knew Erling as a terrible teenager, although back then Erling wouldn’t have been remotely interested in what Mackie had to say about him or anything else.

“Now, Erling recognises the old man’s wealth of knowledge and insight can help him do his job better.”

Hoy and its history have inspired the plot throughout the book, including the opening scene.

This was Lin’s favourite scene to write, as she was hooked on the idea of why a young woman was travelling to Betty Corrigall’s grave.

“I never know what’s going to happen next,” Lin told The Orcadian.

“I’m not a planner. As Erling tries to solve the mystery, so do I.”

Tickets for the book launch are available at The Orcadian Bookshop for £6, which can be redeemed at the book launch for £3 off the price of your book.

The High Island is also available for pre-order at The Orcadian Bookshop, and will be available from July 30 in hardback for £20.