Scottish Crime Book of the Year finalist

Plus: a flashback to 2010, and making your creative space work for you

Dear Reader,

I’m thrilled to share some exciting news – A SPY LIKE ME is a finalist for the 2024 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year!

It's an honour to appear on a shortlist with the Queen of Crime herself Val McDermid, and to be in the company of Chris Brookmyre, Abir Mukherjee and D.V. Bishop. Plus, I'm delighted to learn I'm Scottish now!

The winner will be announced on Friday 13th (naturally) at the opening of Bloody Scotland festival.

A SPY LIKE ME is the first adult Bond continuation novel to appear on a prize list, something I'm so proud to contribute to the legacy of Ian Fleming.

It’s incredibly gratifying and surreal to find myself on a crime prize list. Here I am in 2010, midway through my degree posing outside a bookshop because of a sign we spotted in the window:

I posted the picture on Facebook fourteen years ago with this caption:

Obviously, being shortlisted for a prize doesn’t make me the Queen of Crime Writing – but to be on a list of luminaries like this, including the actual Queen Val, blows my mind. A girl can dream.

I was on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday celebrating paperback publication and it was very hard to keep the shortlist to myself, as it was embargoed until the next day. But you can probably hear the happiness in my voice. Listen here from 2.45pm onwards.

A while ago, I wrote about making the ideal creative space for yourself. For paying subscribers, there’s an update below on decorating my study and finding the mental and physical time and space to write. I’d love to hear how your space is developing!

From Kim, With Love x