Deadly Still

A NOTE TO THE READER

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my novel, I hope that you enjoyed reading about the dark things that can happen on my idyllic little Scottish island on the edge of the world.

It is true that characters in a novel often take on a life of their own. That happened several times in this novel, when the story did not follow the path that I had imagined it would take. The characters felt so at home on the island of West Uist that they felt empowered to pay the piper to play their macabre tune.

I have been a lifelong fan of crime fiction, but to my mind the use of the laboratory and the revelations that DNA testing can instantly give, somehow rob many modern crime novels of their sense of romance. That was why I set my story on the remote Hebridean island of West Uist, so that it would be far removed from the modern forensic crime thriller. Also, because the island has the smallest police force in the country, it would not be another gritty, urban police procedural. Crimes would have to be solved in a very old-fashioned manner.

I studied medicine at the University of Dundee and did some of my training in the highlands. I loved the sense of community in villages and determined that if I ever wrote a crime novel it would feature a Scottish detective working in a remote place, aided by friends, family and the local newspaper. Years later when Inspector Torquil McKinnon walked into my imagination I set about learning to play the bagpipes, although unlike Torquil, the winner of the Silver Quaich I have never been anything other than dire. Nonetheless, playing around with my pipes helps me as I am working out my plots.

Since golf is also a hobby and I had played on the remotest Hebridean courses, those sheep-nibbled links complete with dive bombing gulls had to appear in the stories. When I venture onto my local golf course I imagine the Padre, a steady 8 handicapper, playing alongside me, advising me on how to hit the green, sink a putt — or solve the newest clue.

If you have enjoyed the novel enough to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads, then I would be truly grateful. I love to hear from readers, so if you would like to contact me, please do through my Facebook page or send me a message through Twitter. You can also see my latest news on the West Uist Chronicle Blog and on my Website.

Keith Moray

keithmorayauthor.com