Bloody Scotland established itself as the leading Scottish International Crime Writing Festival in 2012. Based in Stirling, Bloody Scotland, now coming up for its twelfth festival, has brought hundreds of crime writers new and established to the stage with always enthusiastic attendees who make the festival every bit as much as the writers do. Glencairn are proud of their Scottish roots and their Glencairn Glass like Scottish Crime Writing, is enjoyed around the world. When the opportunity to sponsor the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Writing and the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Writing Prize came along – it was a natural fit for the world-famous whisky glass – the Glencairn Glass.

The full shortlist for the 2024 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize is:

• Suzy Aspley with Crow Moon (Orenda). Suzy was born in South Shields and grew up in Tyne and Wear but she has lived near Aberfoyle in Stirlingshire for the past two decades. A regular attendee of the festival she won Pitch Perfect in 2019 with the idea that became Crow Moon.
• Daniel Aubrey with Dark Island (Harper North). Daniel grew up in Cheshire but now lives in Moffat in Dumfriesshire. He first attended Bloody Scotland in 2022 when his friend, Sarah Smith, was shortlisted for the debut award and his own debut was just going out on submission. He was back in 2023 when his partner, Danielle Devlin, was selected for ‘Crime in the Spotlight’.
• Allan Gaw with The Silent House of Sleep (SA Press). A medical pathologist by training Allan was a runner up in the 2023 Glencairn Glass / Bloody Scotland short crime story competition and his story – The Last Tram to Gorbals Cross – went on to be published in Scottish Field magazine in April 2023.
• Doug Sinclair with Blood Runs Deep (Storm Publishing). Born in Edinburgh and now living in Armadale, Doug first visited Bloody Scotland in 2014 to attend the Masterclass. He has attended every year since and credits the encouragement of the friends and authors he’s met at the festival with the reason he finished the book, signed with an agent and secured a three-book deal.
• Martin Stewart with Double Proof (Polygon). A former English teacher and middle grade author, Martin supported the festival in 2017 by delivering schools events in Balfron and Stirling. He also made his debut in goals for the Scotland v England football match. He has represented Scotland twice since and is proud that all were Scottish victories. He lives in South Ayrshire.

When Glencairn announced their sponsorship of the McIlvanney Prize and Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Writing Prize, in 2020 it was important that we added value to the sponsorship. In the first year an idea was floated. Could the shortlisted authors for the debut prize; Deborah Masson, Marion Todd, Francine Toone and Stephen O’Rourke, along with Gordon Brown (an author and one of the Bloody Scotland founding directors) write a short story between them – that included the world famous Glencairn Glass. The result was ‘One With The Glass’.