Robbie Burns Day: Scottish Crime Fiction and Food

A very brief post.

I’m reading Val McDermid’s new Karen Pirie novel, Silent Bones. It is, of course, terrific.

Scottish crime fiction is fascinating, and I’ve written about Denise Mina and a few other writers previously, but it’s worth repeating: some of the most exciting developments in the police procedural, the domestic thriller, and the amateur investigator novel are taking place in Scotland. And if we claim Kate Atkinson as a Scottish writer, since she studied at Dundee and now lives in Edinburgh, it might be fair to say that Scottish crime fiction makes up the preponderance of the British crime fiction I now read and love.

Food, and then some photos from last fall’s trip to Scotland.

There’s a wonderful piece–with better photos–by Alison Gzowski in the Globe, if whisky is of more interest. I didn’t taste a single dram in Scotland, although some may have been incorporated into desserts lush with cream and raspberries. (The Scottish raspberries! Who knew?)

So, food: I’m making rumbledethumps, cullen skink, and a raspberry-cream-whisky-toasted oatmeal concoction known as cranachan. I would prefer Scottish trifle (and that’s the fallback, if the fresh raspberries are–as I suspect them to be–on the edge of mould). We’ve ruled out haggis after giving it a good try. Have a wonderful Robbie Burns, everyone who is reading or celebrating.

And a few Scotland photos, because I’m feeling nostalgic: