Thoroughly enjoyed @stuartmacbride.bsky.social's The Dead of Winter when it first came out. Rereading it again now we live in the Cairngorms and I'm bloody sure Glenfarach is based on our local village...

And, let's not forget that the main reason rehabilitation should be front and centre of the criminal justice system is that it helps prevent future victims. That's the bit most politicians ignore.

Yup, me too. So many prisoners have taken a wrong turning, and prison makes it almost impossible for a lot of them to get back on track. And don't get me started on how Methadone destroyed the vocational training we used to offer.

New, by me The real problem which blights our prison and punishment system The way we think about custodial sentences is what needs to change Reflections on the wrongful prison release news Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/the-real-p... Personal blog: davidallengreen.com/2025/11/the-...

Interviewer: Tell me about your unique skills. A: I'm not sure the skills I have are unique to me. Interviewer: Tell me about your weaknesses. A: I can be pedantic. #truestory

Yes. Yes it is.

Wonderfully pedantic letter in today’s @financialtimes.com

Yay. Priceless. The right column at the right time. And a gleefully English two fingers to the haters.

After a run of mostly meh books, I've just finished the simply brilliant Too Old For This by @samanthadowning.bsky.social. I do hope we see more of the adorable Lottie Jones, the grandma that never killed anybody who didn't need killing.

I read your book

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

This. Absolutely this. Russ's book is brilliant and I don't begrudge him pushing it at all - and October's resolution is to be more like Russ! 📚💙 #booksky

This woman is everything to me

If you can bring yourself to ignore the amateurish covers, you might enjoy reading about Finn's shenanigans in Leeds, north Wales, and Shetland. In the meantime enjoy this video of Shetland. There were brief moments of calm, despite Finn getting boisterous with the Russians... 📚💙 #booksky

I used an early version of AI to 'placemark' covers for the series. Finally sold enough books to be able to commission someone to create unique ones. Well, that didn't work out: Designer #1: Simply redid the covers in the same style using better AI. Told me "everyone does it". #booksky 📚💙 1/2

I used an early version of AI to 'placemark' covers for the series. Finally sold enough books to be able to commission someone to create unique ones. Well, that didn't work out: Designer #1: Simply redid the covers in the same style using better AI. Told me "everyone does it". #booksky 📚💙 1/2

A Journalist on the Inside Upends Good vs. Evil Criminal Stereotypes www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/b... #truecrime #journalism #prisons

Written by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.

Bear with me, I anticipate your disagreement. There is a clear pattern to the advice given to those who want to press back against rising racism. What it boils down to is that if you point out that racism is often being dressed up as “legitimate concerns” you will alienate people. /1

Hundreds of prison officers may have to leave UK after Labour’s visa rule change <sighs> www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

I really must stop ignoring widely lauded books on the basis they can't be *that* good. Because my life could have been filled with Kate Atkinson far sooner. What an extraordinary book Started Early, Took My Dog is. (Side note: How can any of us compete with writing of this quality?) 📚💙

Everyone's favourite library knocking it out of the park - again!

Forgot to say how good this is; melancholic yet offering the hope of redemption that's so important to those of us who've fucked up but spend each day trying to do better. Simply outstanding.

Compare Vonnegut buying an envelope with this tech bro running from his life

This is an astonishingly good novel from an astonishingly good writer.

He's not bloody wrong. A very dark book. Highly recommended.

Britain has been multicultural for the last 2000 years. That's why we have the Roman alphabet, a Middle East religion, Arabic numerals, a Syrian patron saint, an aristocracy with French ancestry and a German royal family.

Just removed the date label from an old book and discovered that someone has drawn a design for a teapot that can serve either tea or poison how's your day going?

And you should because Jimmy's great!

📢 @jdportes.bsky.social "We have yet to hear a Cabinet Minister point out that migrants now fill 1/5 jobs in the UK, that they are more likely to be employed & less likely to claim benefits. Diversity should be our greatest strength, and it is that argument that anti-immigration zealots fear most."

I have a LOT of experience of moving people from one place to another when they don't want to go. The idea that you could move 600,000 people without abandoning every legal, humanitarian, and social norm is wild. And that's just the logistics. Shame on the Daily Mail for propagating Farage's BS.

In the bookshop this morning: PARENTS: “Okay, we’re leaving now.” CHILD: *pulls another book from the shelf and sits down * CHILD: “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

@authorpetermay.bsky.social's The Black Loch is on sale as a Kindle book for 99p. That's the weekend's reading taken care of. Cutting the lawn can wait...

You should pre-order Russ's book too. Not only is he a damn fine writer (including correctly capitalising hashtags 😉), he's also publishing it himself, which keeps the price down for readers AND gives the author a healthy cut. 📚💙 #BookSky #BabysBreath

I've pre-ordered it. You should too.

I'm opening the Bloody Scotland festival this year on the Friday afternoon with a SETTING THE (CRIME) SCENE event with Simon Toyne and Allan Gaw, chaired by the wonderful Professor James Grieve. Info and tickets: https://bit.ly/3IpzG1l ##BloodyScotland #CrimeFiction

There aren't enough angry songs right now.

New covers for the #GovFinnBlack series. #BlackGold first, the thriller set on Yell in Shetland where we used to live. Absolutely delighted with them. Big shout-out to Adam Hay for taking my random ideas and turning them into something far better than I imagined. adamhaystudio.com #Booksky 💙📚

One of the first things I did when I was appointed head of security at a busy inner city prison was research 'gangs'. I concluded that gangs really didn't exist in any meaningful way. It was more a case of prisoners occasionally working together for a common goal. Which I thought was fascinating.

🤣

It's an interesting article. Like Tom, I ended up losing over £20k, the result of 2-3 years of work. I asked Boundless to return the book's rights to me, and they said they would - then didn't. Now, when you buy Decade In Tory from Amazon, who knows where the profits go? Boundless are bust...

Well, I'm a prison governor in a book and I'm rarely in meetings, wear expensive suits, and my boss supports me.

Lin Anderson lived in Orkney before she switched to crime-writing. She has regularly brought her protagonist, Dr Rhona MacLeod, to Orkney to work on cases. Join her and chair Stewart Bain to launch The Dead and the Dying, Lin's latest Orkney-set crime thriller. Tickets: https://bit.ly/44Akeb9

Bought the paperback years ago and loved it - and now I've got it on Kindle too. I really enjoy trying to portray life in Shetland but no one does island crime like @authorpetermay.bsky.social. Go on, treat yourself. After all, 99p doesn't even buy you a bar of chocolate these days. 📚💙 #booksky

Really enjoying Death in a Lonely Place by @thestigabell.bsky.social. Very atmospheric, great characters, and a quirky, off-beat feel. Highly recommended. 💙📚 #booksky

Just finished The Castle by @johnsutherland.bsky.social. What a cracking read - and set in my neck of the woods! Have tried Tomintoul whisky, must try Ballindalloch now. (Interesting to compare police negotiating with what I remember from HMPS. Lots of similarities, but a few key differences.)

It's #BookBoxDay for my latest Forensic Scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod Orkney-set crime thriller #TheDeadandtheDying !!! Thanks to @panmacmillan for producing such a lovely hardback 📚👍🙂 #LinAnderson #CrimeFiction

It's always a hard decision when you're choosing old books to withdraw from the book stock. Some are harder than others.

If you want to visit the locations in my Lewis Thrillers… www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/see-and-do/g...

little library gallows humor for ya :'D