School of Critical Studies

Val McDermid is one of the biggest names in crime writing. Her novels have been translated into 40 languages, sold over 16 million copies worldwide.

Val comes from Kirkcaldy, Fife, and read English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford (where she is now an Honorary Fellow). She was the first ever student from a state school in Scotland. Following graduation she became a journalist, and worked briefly as a dramatist.

Her first success as a novelist came with 'Report for Murder, the first Lindsay Gordon Mystery, first published in 1987. Val has created many notable characters such as journalist, Lindsay Gordon; the private investigator, DCI Karen Pirie, Kate Brannigan, and psychologist, Tony Hill. Her books include four main series: Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan, DCI Karen Pirie, and, beginning in 1995, the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, the first entry in which, The Mermaids Singing, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. The Hill ⁄Jordan series was adapted for the highly successful television drama; Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green.

Among her many awards are the Portico Prize for Fiction, the LA Times Book Prize, the Lambda Literary Pioneer Award and the Cartier Diamond Dagger. She has published 27 novels, short stories, non-fiction and a prize-winning children’s book. She is a regular broadcaster for BBC radio and lives in Edinburgh.

This event will take place on Monday 13 January 2020 from 1pm-2pm at the

University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel.

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First published: 9 January 2020