Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist.

Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime-writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.

Craig Robertson is a Sunday Times bestselling author, and his debut novel, Random, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger. His most recent novel, Murderabilia was longlisted for the UK’s top crime fiction awards, including Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2017 and the McIlvanney Prize 2017.

During his twenty-year career with a Scottish Sunday newspaper, Craig Robertson interviewed three recent prime ministers and reported on major stories including 9/11, the Dunblane school massacre, the Omagh car bombing, and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Gordon Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education. The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010 also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.

As Prime Minister, his tenure coincided with the financial crisis, and he was one of the first to initiate calls for global financial action; his administration also simultaneously introduced a range of rescue measures within the country.

Brown has a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh. A Member of Parliament between 1983 and 2015, he lives in Fife, Scotland, and is married to Sarah Brown, a charity campaigner, and the couple have two sons.

Stuart MacBride is the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae and Ash Henderson novels. He's also published standalones, novellas and short stories as well as a children's picture book.

Stuart lives in the northeast of Scotland with his wife Fiona, cats Grendel, Gherkin, Onion and Beetroot, some hens, horses and a vast collection of assorted weeds.

After a peripatetic childhood in Glasgow, Denise Mina left school at 16 before doing her law degree at Glasgow University. Her first novel, Garnethill, was published in 1998 and won the CWA John Creasey Dagger for Best First Crime Novel.

She has published twelve novels including the Garnethill trilogy, the Paddy Meehan series and the Alex Morrow series. She has been nominated for many prizes including the CWA Gold Dagger and has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice. In addition to novels, Denise has also written plays and graphic novels including the adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

In 2014, she was inducted into the Crime Writers’ Association Hall of Fame. She has also presented TV and radio programmes as well as appearing regularly in the media. She lives and works in Glasgow.

Ann Cleeves is the author behind ITV's Vera and BBC One's Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez - characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold millions of copies worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of 'Murder Squad', working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series.

Some of her other novels include the popular Vera Stanhope series, The Crow Trap, Telling Tales, Hidden Depths, Silent Voices, The Glass Room, Harbour Street and The Moth Catcher. In 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside.

Doug Johnstone is an author, journalist and musician based in Edinburgh. Doug is also a Royal Literary Fund Consultant Fellow. Doug has released seven albums in various bands, and is drummer, vocalist and occasional guitarist for the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He reviews books for The Big Issue magazine, is player-manager for Scotland Writers Football Club and has a PhD in nuclear physics.

Sara Sheridan studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and lives in Edinburgh. An historical novelist and journalist, she says, "History is a treasure chest which contains not only facts and figures, archive material and artefacts but stories. I love the stories."

She has received a Scottish Library Award and was shortlisted for the Saltire Book Prize. Sara is the author of the Mirabelle Bevan Mystery series, including London Calling and Brighton Belle.