Polygon 2012 Catalogue

POLYGON New Titles 2012

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Contacts

Address Birlinn Ltd West Newington House 10 Newington Road Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: +44 (0) 131 668 4371 Fax: +44 (0) 131 668 4466 info@birlinn.co.uk Customer and Trade Orders Booksource 50 Cambuslang Road Cambuslang Investment Park Glasgow G32 8NB Tel: 0245 370 0067 Fax: 0845 370 0068 Intl: +44 (0) 141 643 3961

Managing Director Hugh Andrew hugh@birlinn.co.uk

Birlinn Limited was established in 1992, by Managing Director Hugh Andrew, and comprises a number of imprints.

Publishing Director Neville Moir neville@birlinn.co.uk

Birlinn publishes Scottish interest books, from biography to history, military history, sport and Scottish Gaelic. The name comes from the old Norse word ‘birlinn’, meaning a long boat or small galley used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.

Publicity and Marketing Director Jan Rutherford jan.ppw@blueyonder.co.uk Rights Director Maria White maria@birlinn.co.uk Mobile: +44 7766657558 Sales Director Laura Poynton laura@birlinn.co.uk

Polygon publishes literary fiction and poetry, both classic and modern, from Scottish writers such as Robin Jenkins, George Mackay Brown and the author of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith, as well as selected music and film titles. Polygon was originally set up by students of Edinburgh University in the late 1960s.

Mercat Press, founded in 1970 and acquired by Birlinn in 2007, is now an imprint publishing walking and climbing guides. Mercat is the Scots language word for ‘market’ or ‘trade’.

Creative Director James Hutcheson jim@birlinn.co.uk Editorial Manager (Birlinn) Andrew Simmons andrew@birlinn.co.uk

Academic books about Scotland are published under the imprint John Donald.

Managing Editor (Polygon) Alison Rae alison@birlinn.co.uk Academic Editor ( John Donald) Mairi Sutherland mairi@birlinn.co.uk Export Manager, Digital Development Manager, Sports Editor Peter Burns peter@birlinn.co.uk Mobile: +44 7967076636 Production Manager Liz Short liz@birlinn.co.uk Sales and Marketing Liaison Vikki Reilly vikkir@birlinn.co.uk Events Manager Kenny Redpath kenny@birlinn.co.uk

www.birlinn.co.uk

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www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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West Carol Crawford Email: carolc@seol.co.uk Tel: 07810 484001 East Vikki Reilly Email: vikkir@birlinn.co.uk Tel: 07920 018136 Argyll Hugh Andrew Email: hugh@seol.co.uk Highlands and Islands Carole Hamilton Email: caroleh@seol.co.uk Tel: 07780 606493 England and Wales Compass DSA 13 Progress Business Centre Whittle Parkway Slough SL1 6DQ Tel: +44 (0) 1628 559500 Fax: +44 (0) 1628 663876 Sales Administration Maureen Carrington Email: maureen@compass-dsa.co.uk Ireland Compass Ireland 38 Kerdiff Avenue Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland Tel: (+353) 45 880805 Fax: (+353) 45 880806 Managing Director Alasdair Verschoyle Email: alasdair@compassireland.ie OVERSEAS SCANDINAVIA, SPAIN, TURKEY, PORTUGAL, EASTERN EUROPE Bill Bailey Publishers’ Representatives 16 Devon Square Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 2HR Tel: +44 (0) 1626 331079 Fax: +44 (0) 1626 331080 Email: info@billbaileypubreps.co.uk

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AUSTRIA, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, ITALY, BENELUX, SWITZERLAND

Ted Dougherty 72 Hadley Street London NW1 8TA Tel: +44 (0) 207 4822439 Fax: +44 (0) 207 2679310 Email: ted.dougherty@blueyonder.co.uk AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND NEWSOUTH BOOKS c/o TL Distribution 15-23 Hailes Avenue Moorebank NSW 2170 Australia Tel: (02) 8778 9999 Fax: (02) 8778 9944 Email: orders@tldistribution.com.au Website: www.newsouthbooks.com.au CANADA McArthur & Company 322 King Street West Suite 402 Toronto, Ontario M5V 1J2 Tel: (416) 408 4007 Fax: (416) 408 4081 Email: info@mcarthur-co.com Website: www.mcarthur-co.com

NORTH AMERICA, USA & CANADA ( John Donald Only) Independent Publishers Group (IPG) 814 North Franklin St Chicago, Illinois 60610 USA Tel: (312) 337 0747 Fax: (312) 337 5985 Email: frontdesk@ipgbook.com TRADE TERMS All orders are subject to a 35% discount, unless otherwise arranged. The standard discount will be applied to all subscriptions and cash with order. Single copy orders are subject to a 20% discount. Orders with a net invoice value under £30 may be subject to a reduced discount of 25%.

Returns Policy All books must be in mint condition and suitable for resale.

All returns requests must be authorised in advance by Birlinn Ltd or an authorised representative.

SOUTHERN AFRICA (Polygon Only) Penguin South Africa 24 Sturdee Avenue Rosebank Johannesburg 2196 Tel: (+27) 11 327 3550 Fax: (+27) 11 327 3660/6574 Email: info@za.penguingroup.com

No out-of-print titles may be returned unless permission is sought from the publisher.

USA Interlink Publishing 46 Crosby Street Northampton MA 01060-1804 USA Tel: (+1) 413 582 7054 Fax: (+1) 413 582 7057 Email: sales@interlinkbooks.com

Single copy returns will not normally be accepted unless by special arrangement.

MILITARY TITLES ONLY Casemate 2114 Darby Road Havertown, PA 19083 USA Tel: (+1) 610 853 9131 Fax: (+1) 610 853 9146 Email: casemate@ casematepublishing.com

Representation

SCOTLAND Seol Ltd West Newington House 10 Newington Road Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: +44 (0) 131 668 1456 Fax: +44 (0) 131 668 4466

Books may not be returned within three months or after twelve months from receipt by the customer.

Faulty books must be returned complete. Title page is not acceptable.

Returns must be sent to the Booksource warehouse within one month of written authorisation being received, otherwise they may not be accepted.

Returns should NOT be sent to the publisher’s office. All returns must have an authorised returns label and should be addressed to: Booksource 50 Cambuslang Road Glasgow G32 8NB

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Alexander McCall Smith

9781846972324 2 August 2012 216x138mm hbk 368pp Fiction £16.99 Rights: UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada

ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors.

For many years he was a professor of Medical Law, then, after the publication of his highly successful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over 25 million copies, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction. His various series of books have been translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world.

These include the 44 Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, the von Igelfeld series and the Corduroy Mansions novels.

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SUNSHINE ON SCOTLAND STREET A 44 SCOTLAND STREET NOVEL

With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another instalment in this popular series, now running in its eighth season in The Scotsman. Will Big Lou find true love at last? Will Bertie’s healthy snacks go down well at his school fair? And has Bruce Anderson really won the Lottery? It’s time to catch up with the delightful goingson in 44 Scotland Street!

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Alexander McCall Smith

‘One of the world’s best-loved authors.

An hour in his company is an hour of sheer delight’

9781846972454 1 November 2012 170x126mm hbk 192pp Fiction £9.99 Rights: UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada

TRAINS AND LOVERS THE HEART’S JOURNEY

In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: for Mark, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that turned into love; and Michael discovers that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance. These are very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. And loving others, as one of the characters observes, is the good thing we do in our lives.

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Alexander McCall Smith

9781846972195 2 February 2012 185x125mm pbk 96pp Children’s Fiction (6+) £6.99 Rights: UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada (eBook also available)

PRECIOUS AND THE MONKEYS PRECIOUS RAMOTSWE’S VERY FIRST CASE

Well before she founded her No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the sevenyear-old Precious Ramotswe was already solving mysteries. Here, in this delightful, enchanting tale for children, we find out just who has been stealing her schoolfriends’ snacks and how the young Precious became the crafty and intuitive private investigator we all know and love!

‘Exquisitely illustrated by Iain McIntosh, its wise, kindly, conversational tone is no different from other McCall Smith novels, addressing all readers as friends and equals’ – the times

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Alexander McCall Smith

9781846972317 185x125mm hbk 96pp Children’s Fiction (6+) £9.99 Rights: UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada (eBook also available)

PRECIOUS AND THE MYSTERY OF MEERKAT HILL A NEW CASE FOR PRECIOUS RAMOTSWE

Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve.

Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family’s most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing.

Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill.

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Tom Pow

9781846972065 6 September 2012 260 x 210mm pbk 48pp Children’s Fiction £6.99 Rights: World (eBook also available)

TOM POW is an award-winning author of both children’s and adults’ books. His picture book Who is the World for? began in Africa and Transfusion, his poem sequence about Ali and Mandela, was partly based on a journey from Nairobi to Cape Town, passing through Malawi.

WHEN THE RAINS COME Illustrated by Malika Favre

When The Rains Come tells the story of three children who are looked after by their grandmother, while embedding within that real life story, a folk tale from Malawi. The folk tale was told to Tom Pow as he was being driven to one of the villages where the charity MUMs works.

Everyone involved in the book determined that When The Rains Come would be full of joy – dancing, love, stories, colour, laughter – as well as highlighting MUMs’ work. This is a lively story for children that highlights some of the challenges facing Malawi and how they are being met, simultaneously drawing on the folk tales of the country.

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Tom Pow

9781846971952 7 June 2012 220x150mm pbk 256pp 32 b/w illustrations Travel Writing £12.00 Rights: UK and Commonwealth excluding Canada

IN ANOTHER WORLD

AMONG EUROPE’S DYING VILLAGES In one of the great defining moments in human history, more people now live in cities than in rural areas, and the effects of this depopulation and the plummeting birthrate are being felt keenly throughout Europe, which has the fastest-declining population in the world.

Tom Pow sets out to explore what this means in some of the most rapidly vanishing areas of Europe. From Spain to Russia, he uses the tools of his trade – travelogue, essay, story and poem – to make connections, not only with what he encounters in numerous dying villages, but to reflect on his own experiences of memory, identity and loss. In Another World is an open book: not an argument, but an invitation to remember, to reflect and to engage with one of the most significant social issues affecting Europe today.

Praise for Tom Pow: ‘Masterly, a marvellous chronicle of thirty years of work . . . by one of the most fluent poets to grace Scotland’s bookshelves’ – the scotsman on In the Becoming

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Sara Sheridan

9781846972287 5 July 2012 198x129mm pbk 256pp Crime Fiction £7.99 Rights: WEL (eBook also available)

SARA SHERIDAN writes fiction for adults and children. Previous recent novels include The Secret Mandarin (2009) and Secret of the Sands (2011), both HarperCollins.

She studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin. Sara sits on the committee of the Society of Authors in Scotland and is Project Manager for the 26 Treasures Project in Scotland 2011. Sara has her own website and is very active on Facebook and Twitter: www.sarasheridan.co.uk.

She lives in Edinburgh with her family.

BRIGHTON BELLE

A MIRABELLE BEVAN MYSTERY 1951. Brighton. With the war over and the Nazis brought to justice at Nuremberg, Mirabelle Bevan (Secret Service, retired) thinks her skills are no longer required. After her lover’s death she retires to the seaside to put the past behind her and takes a job at a debt collection agency run by the charismatic Big Ben McGuigan. But when the case of Romana Laszlo – a pregnant Hungarian refugee – comes in, Mirabelle soon discovers that her specialist knowledge is vital. With enthusiastic assistance from insurance clerk Vesta Churchill, they follow a mysterious trail of gold sovereigns and corpses that only they can unravel.

Praise for Sara Sheridan: ‘A truly sumptuous, action-packed Oriental adventure that might just be our favourite historical romance of the year’ – daily record on The Secret Mandarin ‘An enchanting story that draws you in . . . perfect for whiling away the hours on a rainy day’ – closer on The Secret Mandarin

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Barry Fantoni

9781846972270 7 June 2012 216x138mm hbk 208pp Fiction £12.99 Rights: UK & Commonwealth (eBook also available)

HARRY LIPKIN, P.I.

THE WORLD’S OLDEST DETECTIVE He might not be the fastest P.I. in Miami, but octogenarian Harry Lipkin is definitely the oldest. His specialty is taking on the cases the police just aren’t interested in – and his latest case is a doozy. Someone on the staff of wealthy widow Norma Weinberger is stealing from her. Nothing fancy, no diamond-encrusted teapots or anything, but enough to rattle her. Harry takes on the case, navigating his way – gingerly – through a twilight world of boxing, gambling and gangs to find the truth.

Elegantly written and illustrated throughout, Harry Lipkin, P.I. is a life-affirming tale of ageing and mortality as well as a laugh-out-loud whodunit. The fact that the guy keeps his gun next to his false teeth should tell you a lot An intoxicating blend of Woody Allen, Raymond Chandler and Larry David, this book is perfect for Father’s Day and fans of Private Eye. ‘Wisecracking and wise, humorous and humane – this is a great new tale with an original twist’ – Ian Hislop

BARRY FANTONI has had a long and illustrious career in the arts – from writing scripts for That Was The Week That Was and presenting BBC series A Whole Scene Going (for which he won TV Personality of the Year) to writing and drawing cartoons for Private Eye and The Listener, and being an art critic for The Times.

He attended the Slade School of Fine Art and was a key figure in the 1960s pop art movement.

Barry now lives in France where he plays jazz, writes plays and poetry, and plans to write two volumes of memoirs.

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Anonymous Edinburgh’s Paper Sculptures

9781846972485 1 September 2012 190 x 148mm hbk 96pp Art/Sculptures £9.99 60 colour illustrations throughout Roghts: World

GIFTED

THE TALE OF TEN MYSTERIOUS BOOK SCULPTURES GIFTED TO THE CITY OF WORDS AND IDEAS One day in March 2011 staff at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh noticed a wonderful paper sculpture left on a table. Carved from paper and mounted on a book, it bore a tag expressing support for the Library’s work. From then until November nine more mysterious paper sculptures appeared in arts venues throughout Edinburgh, including the National Library of Scotland, the Filmhouse Cinema, the National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Left anonymously, they appear to be the work of one highly talented and generous artist. In a farewell note the artist identified herself as a woman and an artist/artisan, and she announced that the project had ended.

‘As symbols of love for libraries go, cutting up books wouldn’t be most readers’ first thought. But the delicate paper sculptures that have been left anonymously in recent months around Edinburgh’s cultural institutions have been enchanting’ – the guardian ‘It is an extraordinary thing that someone has done these beautiful things for absolutely nothing other than pleasure and interest and enthusiasm and love for places and books’ - Lilias Fraser, Scottish Poetry Library

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Sam Meekings Also available

Under Fishbone Clouds 9781846971686 pbk £9.99

The Bestiary 9781846970467 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

9781846972140 2 February 2012 198x129mm pbk 400pp Literary Fiction £9.99 Rights: World (eBook also available)

THE BOOK OF CROWS A girl is kidnapped and taken to an isolated mountain brothel; two thousand years later, an alcoholic civil servant searches for a missing colleague; a thirteenth-century Franciscan monk begins an extraordinary deathbed confession; while five hundred years earlier, a grieving Chinese poet is summoned to the Emperor’s palace. With a narrative of subtly interlocking stories, we follow the journeys of characters whose lives, separated by millennia, are all in some way touched by the mysterious Book of Crows – a mythical book in which the entire history of the world – past, present and future – is written down.

Praise for Sam Meekings: ‘A powerful and mesmerizing novel, both mythic and intimate . . . a great accomplishment of imagination, insight and lyricism’ – Amy Tan on Under Fishbone Clouds ‘Meekings’ prose is exemplary’ – the herald

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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SAM MEEKINGS has garnered international acclaim for his debut novel, Under Fishbone Clouds, which is also set in China. Born in Margate, Sam took an undergraduate degree in Modern History and English Literature at Mansfield College, Oxford University. At the end of his Masters Degree in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, in 2005, that he moved to China to teach English.

He works in Qatar as a teacher and editor.

In 2006 and 2007 Sam was longlisted for the Eric Gregory Award for Poets under 30 for his debut collection of poetry, The Bestiary, also published by Polygon.

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Stuart Clark Also available

9781846972157 pbk £8.99 (eBook also available)

9781846971877 2 February 2012 216x138mm hbk 288pp Historical Fiction £12.99 Rights: World, excluding Japan, Korea, Greece and Canada (eBook also available)

STUART CLARK is a former editor of the UK’s bestselling popular astronomy magazine Astronomy Now and a visiting fellow of the University of Hertfordshire. His book The Sun Kings (Princeton University Press, 2007), established him as a popular science writer par excellence. He is Astronomy Consultant for the New Scientist. www.stuartclark.com

THE SENSORIUM OF GOD

THE SKY’S DARK LABYRINTH TRILOGY: BOOK II Sex, lies and spies – science and religion clash in this gripping fictionalisation of the lives of Newton, Halley and Hooke.

In the mid-seventeenth century no one understands why the planets move as Johannes Kepler so elegantly described almost a century earlier.

Edmond Halley, adventurer, astronomer and ladies’ man, asks the reclusive alchemist and fearsome mathematician Isaac Newton for help with solving the problem. From this simple act the lives of both men are plunged into crisis, Europe is pushed headlong towards the Age of the Enlightenment and science is catapulted into a seismic clash with religion.

Praise for The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth: Book I: ‘Moving and eye-opening story of brilliance and bravery’ – daily mail ‘If Kepler wasn’t already your favourite historical astronomer, he will be after reading this book ’ – new scientist **** Book of the Month, BBC Sky at Night

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Jake Simons Also available

The English German Girl 9781846972089 pbk £8.99 (eBook also available)

9781846972263 1 March 2012 234x156mm pbk 336pp Fiction / T hriller £12.99 Rights: WEL excluding USA/Philippines (eBook also available)

THE PURE Disaffected ex-Mossad agent Uzi works as a security guard and low-level drug dealer in London. He gets the chance to expose the ruthlessness of his former employers by giving the details of a topsecret assassination operation to WikiLeaks – a story so damaging to the Israeli government that an opposition party is prepared to pay to ensure WikiLeaks gets the scoop. But once it’s out there, Uzi will be a marked man …

Praise for the Jake Simons’ The English German Girl: ‘Fascinating and moving’ – Monica Ali ‘Absolutely compelling’ – Sarah Crown, the guardian ‘Well-researched and very moving’ – the times ‘Rings with such authenticity … his research is formidable’ – the melbourne age

JAKE SIMONS is a novelist, journalist and graphic artist. His acclaimed first novel, The Exiled Times of a Tibetan Jew, was named by the Independent on Sunday as a Book of the Year. Jake writes features for The Times, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday, the Telegraph, La Repubblica and other publications, and he is a contributor to BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent. Born in London in 1978, he is a fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, and Practitioner-inResidence at Bournemouth University. He lives with his family in Winchester. www.jakewallissimons.com

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Gillian Galbraith

9781846970740 4 October 2012 198x129mm pbk 202pp Crime Fiction £7.99 Rights: World (eBook also available)

GILLIAN GALBRAITH grew up near Haddington.

For seventeen years she was an advocate specialising in medical negligence and agricultural law cases. Before qualifying in law she worked for a time as an agony aunt in magazines for teenagers. Since then she has been the legal correspondent for the Scottish Farmer and has written law reports for The Times. She lives near Kinross with her husband and daughter, plus assorted cats, dogs, hens and bees.

BLOOD IN THE WATER AN ALICE RICE MYSTERY

This thrilling police-procedural debut from crime writer Gillian Galbraith introduces readers to Alice Rice, Edinburgh’s latest fictional detective and a new female presence in the macho world of crime detection. Galbraith draws on her own experience to give a realistic portrayal of the medical and legal worlds. Smart and capable, but battling disillusionment and loneliness, Alice races against time to solve a series of grisly murders amongst the professional elite of Edinburgh’s well-to-do New Town.

Praise for Gillian Galbraith: ‘Highly readable’ – Alexander McCall Smith ‘Avenger of evil, DS Alice Rice, has come of age’ – scottish field ‘[Galbraith] offers a much needed female perspective on the city and the genre’ – scottish field

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Gillian Galbraith Also available

Where the Shadow Falls 9781846971068 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

Dying of the Light 9781846971433 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

No Sorrow to Die 9781846971754 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

9781846972256 5 April 2012 216x138 hbk 224pp Crime Fiction £12.99 Rights: WEL (eBook also available)

THE ROAD TO HELL AN ALICE RICE MYSTERY

When the body of a half-clothed woman is discovered in an Edinburgh park, a murder investigation is launched. The victim has not been reported missing and there are few clues to her identity. Soon after, the naked corpse of a prominent clergyman is found, also in a park.

DS Alice Rice wonders if the same killer is at work, and if so, what is the connection between the apparently motiveless attacks? The Road to Hell, the fifth in the Alice Rice series, takes the policewoman to new personal depths and along a trail that leads to some of Edinburgh’s darkest and scariest corners.

Praise for Gillian Galbraith: ‘Highly readable’ – Alexander McCall Smith ‘Avenger of evil, DS Alice Rice, has come of age’ – scottish field ‘[Galbraith] offers a much needed female perspective on the city and the genre’ – scottish field

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Shirley McKay Also available

Hue & Cry 9781846971525 pbk £8.99

(eBook also available)

Fate & Fortune 9781846971808 pbk £8.99

(eBook also available)

9781846972188 5 April 2012 198x129mm pbk 320pp Historical Fiction £8.99 Rights: WEL (eBook also available)

SHIRLEY McKAY was born in Tynemouth but now lives with her family in Fife.

At the age of fifteen she won the Young Observer playwriting competition. She went on to study English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in romantic and seventeenth-century prose. The first Hew Cullan mystery, Hue & Cry was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Shirley works as a freelance proofreader.

TIME & TIDE

A HEW CULLAN MYSTERY 1582, St Andrews. In the swell of a storm, a battered ship is wrecked in St Andrews harbour. Aboard is a young Flemish sailor – the only survivor. The cargo of the ship appears a welcome windfall but it soon brings devastation to the town as petty squabbling turns to hysteria and tragedy. Hew traces the ship to its source in Ghent, where he uncovers a strange secret. Unwilling to allow the law to take its course, he returns once more to the role of advocate and finds his deepest principles being tested to the core.

Praise for Shirley McKay: ‘An intelligent and entertaining novelist who deserves to be better known.

TV producers take note: these books, with their vividly realised settings, just beg to be dramatised’- scots magazine ‘Intoxicating mix of dramatic crime and repressed passion’ – new books ‘A gripping mystery that holds the reader to the very last page’ – John Burnside

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Ken McClure Also available

Donor 9781846971624 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

Wildcard 9781846971631 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

White Death 9781846971488 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

Dust to Dust 9781846971815 pbk £7.99

(eBook also available)

9781846972133 7 June 2012 B pbk 256pp Thriller/Fiction £7.99 Rights: World (eBook also available)

LOST CAUSES

A DR STEVEN DUNBAR THRILLER Against his will, Dr Steven Dunbar is persuaded to return to Sci-Med when a number of people die in suspicious circumstances, including a former health minister. And then the UK comes under bio-terrorist attack.

A disease not seen in the country for a hundred years is let loose on major cities and a group of young fundamentalists are arrested. But something is not quite right. Steven begins to suspect that there is a dark conspiracy at the heart of the outbreak, one that is much closer to home.

Praise for Ken McClure: ‘His medical thrillers out-chill both Michael Crichton and Robin Cook’ – daily telegraph

KEN McCLURE is an internationally bestselling author whose books have been translated into over 20 languages and who has earned a reputation for meticulous research and the chilling accuracy of his predictions. McClure’s work is informed by his background as an award-winning research scientist with the UK’s Medical Research Council.

Dr Steven Dunbar, an ex-Special Forces medic, is one of his most popular characters.

‘His forte is to take an outside-chance medical possibility, decide on the worst possible outcome . . . and write a book’ – the scotsman

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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John Buchan

9781846972232 5 July 2012 198x129mm pbk 240pp Fiction £7.99

9781846972249 5 July 2012 198x129mm pbk 240pp Fiction £7.99

(eBook also available)

JOHN BUCHAN was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist. He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He was born in Perth, an eldest son, and studied at Glasgow and Oxford.

In 1907 he married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor and they subsequently had four children. After spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George’s Director of Information and a Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935 where he served as Governor General until his death in 1940.

(eBook also available)

THE GAP IN THE CURTAIN

HUNTINGTOWER INTRODUCTION BY ANN WIDDECOMBE

INTRODUCTION BY STUART KELLY

After selling his business, rich middle-aged merchant Dickson McCunn decides to set out on a walking holiday in the Scottish Borders. There he meets a young English poet, and both soon become embroiled in the plot of an international gang to capture a Russian princess. With the help of the Gorbals Die-hards, an indomitable gang of urchins from Glasgow, they frustrate and finally defeat the gang. And in the process Dickson happens to discover a new meaning to life . . .

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What begins as a straightforward holiday weekend for Sir Edward Leithen in a splendid stately home in the Cotswolds soon turns into something altogether different when one of Lady Flambard’s other guests, the enigmatic Professor Moe, enlists the help of Leithen and his companions in a bizarre experiment to glimpse the future. For those who take part, the consequences are dramatic and Leithen’s formidable powers of reasoning are brought to the fore.

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Ken McNab 2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the release of ‘Love Me Do’

9781846972386 6 October 2012 198x129mm pbk 320pp, 16pp b/w ilustrations Popular Music £9.99 Rights: World (eBook also available)

THE BEATLES IN SCOTLAND The Fab Four: George, John, Paul and Ringo, a quartet of working-class kids whose magical songs and revolutionary influence remain inspirational four decades on. More has been written about the Beatles than any other rock group in history and it is difficult to imagine that there remains anything new to say, but lifelong Beatles fan Ken McNab reveals for the first time, in intimate detail, the pivotal part Scotland played in the genesis of the group and the extraordinary connections that were fostered north of the border before, during and after their meteoric rise to global fame. McNab follows the Beatles as rough-and-ready unknowns on their first tour of Scotland in 1960 – when they were booed off stage in Bridge of Allan – and again, in 1964, as all-conquering heroes. He also discovers that the momentous decision to break up the band was made in Scotland and provides details of the McCartneys’ lives in Mull of Kintyre and Lennon’s childhood holidays in Durness.

KEN McNAB is a lifelong Beatles fan and award-winning journalist with Scotland’s Evening Times. He lives in Glasgow with his wife and children.

‘Wonderful photographs and I-was-there accounts . . . superb’ – sunday times ‘One of the most audacious additions to Fab Four literature’ – the herald

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Ron Butlin

9781846972362 2 August 2012 198x129mm pbk 112pp Poetry £9.99 Rights: UK and Commonwealth

RON BUTLIN is a poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer and opera librettist whose works have been broadcast in the UK and abroad and have been translated into many languages. His volumes of poetry include the award-winning Ragtime in Unfamiliar Bars (Secker & Warburg, 1985) and Histories of Desire (Bloodaxe, 1995). His New and Selected Poems was published by Barzan in 2005. His novels include the novels The Sound of My Voice (winner of the Prix Mille Pages 2004 and Prix Lucioles 2005, both for Best Foreign Novel), Night Visits and most recently Belonging. He was appointed Edinburgh Makar in May 2008.

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THE MAGICIANS OF EDINBURGH The city of Edinburgh has long inspired writers, from Robert Louis Stevenson to Murial Spark. In this sparkling new collection of poems about the city in the twenty-first century, renowned poet and novelist Ron Butlin draws on his experience as Edinburgh’s Makar, or Poet Laureate. With verve and wit Butlin leads the reader on a journey through multi-faceted Edinburgh, a place of sweeping vistas and strip bars, grand towers and failed tramlines, world heritage and homelessness.

Underlying all these poems, whether satirical or celebratory, is a deep love for the landscape, architecture, and people of Scotland’s capital city.

The Magicians of Edinburgh will delight long-time residents and visitors alike.

‘Butlin is the best, the most productive Scottish poet of his generation’ – Douglas Dunn ‘After reading this tribute to the capital, no-one should quibble with the selection of Ron Butlin as Edinburgh’s Makar’ – the herald

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Aonghas MacNeacail Also available

Hymn to a Young Demon 9781846970023 pbk £9.99

9781846972300 7 June 2012 216x138mm pbk 192pp Poetry £14.99 Rights: WEL

DÈANAMH GÀIRE RIS A’ CHLOC DAIN UR AGUS TAGHT

LAUGHING AT THE CLOCK NEW AND SELECTED POEMS

Widely regarded as the foremost poet writing today in the Gaelic language, MacNeacail casts his eye on love, aging, memory, language, politics and landscape in this masterful bilingual collection. Demonstrating MacNeacail’s usual tight mastery of form and beautifully controlled rhythm, this collection, published to mark the poet’s seventieth birthday, is a celebration of the best of contemporary Scottish poetry.

Praise for Aonghas MacNeacail ‘As visionary, melodious and important as Neruda’ – Kevin MacNeil ‘As striking as his politics is the sensuousness of the language’ – Meg Bateman

AONGHAS MacNEACAIL was born in Uig on Skye in 1942. He is a poet and songwriter, journalist, researcher, broadcaster, scriptwriter and filmmaker.

He has published collections of poems in both Gaelic and English, and his writing has appeared in literary journals in Scotland and worldwide.

He has had poetry broadcast on radio and television, has given readings throughout Scotland and has toured and published extensively abroad.

He was winner of the 2006 Gaelic Prize of the Wigtown Poetry Competition for his poem ‘An fhìor bheinn’, and in 2007 was among the prize-winners of the major Ireland-based Strokestown International Poetry Competition.

‘A poetry collection with the richness and subtlety of a good malt’ – the herald on Hymn to a Young Demon

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Kenneth Steven

9781846972126 7 June 2012 198x129mm pbk 72pp Poetry £7.99 Rights: World

KENNETH STEVEN was born in Glasgow in 1968 and spent his schooldays in Perthshire.

He studied in Norway and translates from both Norwegian and Sami. A widely published poet, novelist and children’s author, his most recently published collections of poems include Evensong, Iona and Wild Horses. His translation of Lars Saaybe Christensen’s Half Brother was a finalist for the 2004 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He travels widely to give reading and writing workshops for both adults and youngsters. He lives in Dunkeld with his family. www.kennethsteven.co.uk

A SONG AMONG THE STONES In the sixth century, Celtic Christian monks are thought to have made dangerous and difficult journeys from the west coast of Scotland to seek solitude in Iceland. This evocative, pared-down sequence of poems – the imaginary fragments of a lost manuscript – tells their remarkable, littleknown story of faith, courage and determination.

Praise for Kenneth Steven: ‘Strong and impressive work’ – A. J. Alvarez ‘There is a grave beauty in these lines, revealing a poetic voice of great sensitivity’ – Alexander McCall Smith on Evensong ‘An atmospheric, wintry tale of fragile human relationships set in a beautiful but unforgiving landscape’ – James Robertson on The Ice and Other Stories

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Kevin MacNeil (editor) Also available

A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde 9781846971839 pbk £7.99 (eBook also available)

9781846972119 1 March 2012 216x138mm pbk 288pp Poetry/Anthology £9.99 Rights: World

THESE ISLANDS, WE SING

AN ANTHOLOGY OF SCOTTISH ISLANDS POETRY Many of Scotland’s most important poets grew up or chose to live on Scottish islands. This anthology pays tribute to the islands’ creative output by bringing together a huge array of poetic talent, from the internationally renowned – Sorley MacLean, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hugh MacDiarmid – to those fantastic poets deserving of more attention – Jim Mainland, Aonghas MacNeacail, Meg Bateman, Alex Cluness, Jen Hadfield, and many more – in one wonderful collection. With poems exploring the themes of love, language, landscape, identity and belonging, These Islands, We Sing is a significant and heartfelt celebration of poetry and place.

‘Rich and diverse anthology of old and new voices from the margins of the nation . . . themes of love, space and place run throughout’ – the shetland times

KEVIN MacNEIL was born and raised in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Novelist, poet, playwright, editor, aphorist and lyricist, his books include A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde, The Stornoway Way, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides and Be Wise Be Otherwise. He is currently working on an album with William Campbell, a new novel, a film, a play and a travelogue-memoir based on his 1,300 km cycle down the Danube in September 2009 for two cancer charities. www.kevinmacneail.com

‘Captain MacNeil has mustered a talented crew’ – Roger Hutchinson, west highland free press

‘Full of unearthed treasures. Evidence, if we needed it, that the language of our northern isles and the poetic mind seem made for each other’ – Simon Armitage

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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Reprints

FOR THE ISLANDS I SING An Autobiography

A TIME TO KEEP

‘He gave one hope for poetry and language’ _ Peter Levi

‘George Mackay Brown is one of the masters of the short story form’ – Ali Smith

GREENVOE

AN TUIL

George Mackay Brown 9781846970832 17 May 2012 198x129mm pbk 192pp Autobiography £6.99

George Mackay Brown 9781904598176 17 May 2012 198x129mm pbk 240pp Fiction £6.99

George Mackay Brown 9781904598657 17 May 2012 198x129mm pbk 192pp Fiction £6.99

Robert Black (editor) 9780748662197 2 August 2012 234x156mm pbk 416pp Poetry Anthology £25.00

‘Greenvoe is a poetic, distinguished and totally delightful Orcadian story . . . full of humour and sensitivity and of the unsentimental poetry of raw experience’ – sunday times

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Reprints

THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY John Neil Munro 9781846970887 23 October 2012 198x129mm pbk 272pp Biography £9.99 (eBook also available)

STUART ADAMSON In a Big Country Allan Glen 9781846971914 17 May 2012 198x129mm pbk 192pp Biography £8.99

‘An overdue tribute to a visionary musician and honourable man’ – mojo

BOYRACERS

Alan Bisset 9781846971785 20 November 2012 198x129mm pbk 256pp Fiction £7.99 (eBook also available)

THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS John Buchan 9781846971983 7 September 198x129mm pbk 160pp Fiction £6.99 (eBook also available)

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

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