CROMARTY CRIME AND THRILLERS WEEKEND

​CROMARTY CRIME AND THRILLERS WEEKEND CROMARTY BLACK ISLE APRIL 2018
 
Cromarty Crime and Thrillers Weekend is an excellent opportunity to attend courses and listen to crime and thriller writers talk about their books. Cromarty, famous to anyone familiar with the shipping forecast is situated on the Cromarty Firth in the north east coast of Scotland. The historic fishing village, boasting museums in the form of a thatched cottage to writer Hugh Miller and Cromarty Court House which re-enactment ancient trials. 
It happens to be one of my most favourite places so I booked as soon as it was possible to do so.
 
For those who opt for the residential weekend, accommodation is in the Old Brewery with meals and generous portions of wine included.  The weekend flew past, opening with a reception dinner which was followed by series of three hugely entertaining whodunits presented by the local drama society. I won’t give details –no spoilers here. 
On Saturday I was lucky enough to be able to attend a workshop held by Shona McLean who-as I was able to proudly tell anyone who would listen- was in the same latin class as me at school. Ian Rankin chatted entertainingly and informatively to his editor about the publishing process and then there was an intriguing talk by Mary Ellis about her book, The Other Mrs Walker.  The evening entertainment was dinner and a film.  On Sunday, I found myself next to Professor Dame Sue Black who is a particular hero of mine, at breakfast, so star struck or what, it was a real privilege to chat to her about ‘the headless corpse,’ episode on Dan Snow’s History Hits.  Sue was, in the course of the program, dubbed, much to her disgust by Dan Snow, as a national treasure.  The episode concerned of course the investigation into a coffin at Wardlaw Mausoleum alleged to hold the body of Simon, The Fox, Lovat, the last man to be beheaded for treason at the Tower of London. Also, for Outlander fans the very real uncle of fictional character Jamie Fraser. The episode concluded that the body in the coffin was that of a thirty-year-old woman.  Simon the Fox therefore has continued to be as wily in death as in life. Whilst it would appear his body lies in the Tower of London, many Fraser enthusiasts believe the wrong coffin was opened and that his body was returned to his highland seat as he wished and lies in one of the other coffins in the mausoleum.
Breakfast over it was a real privilege to listen to the updates on Rosmarkie Man and Prof Dame Sue Black talking about her one and only fictional book –All That Remains- I can’t wait to read it. The weekend closed with presentations my local authors and prize awards for a writing competition. An excellent weekend. Thoroughly recommend it!