A book festival celebrating the best of crime writing returned to Aberdeen this weekend for its second year.
Fans of the genre were able to hear talks featuring some of their favourite authors and screenwriters in venues across the city, and take part in writing workshops for both adults and youngsters alike.
Organised by Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA), the festival’s headliners this year included writers such as Val McDermid, Hugh Fraser and Ann Cleeves, the creator of the BBC detective drama Shetland.
And for the first time, parts of the festival were streamed live online, attracting viewers from as far away as Brazil, Canada and Spain.
As well as opportunities to meet writers and learn their craft, this year’s event also offered several exhibitions and special events.
Visitors going to the Seventeen art space on Belmont Street this week will be able to enjoy a specially curated display of historic crime scene photographs from the archives of the former Grampian Police service.
A “poisoned high tea” was held yesterday at His Majesty’s Theatre by author Kathryn Harkup, who showed diners how crime writing legend Agatha Christie transformed tasty treats into toxin-laced death sentences in her novels.
And at the Central Library yesterday, theatre make-up artist and special effects expert Raymond Wood held a workshop showing how to make realistic, grisly crime scenes for both TV and film.
On both Saturday and yesterday evening, Aberdeen University historian Chris Croly took Granite Noir visitors on a ghoulish walking tour through the city streets to reveal the city’s bloody history of medieval crime and punishment.
Jane Spiers, the chief executive of APA, said it has been a hugely successful second year for Granite Noir.
She said: “There’s a great buzz this year in our venues and on the streets.
“Tickets have been flying out the door and the feedback from authors and audiences has been terrific.
“We attracted some great authors again this year like Anne Cleaves and Val McDermid, but Granite Noir is also about finding the next best thing, and two of the novels I’ve loved this year are debut novels from festival authors Stuart Turton and Felicia Yap.
“I especially love the panel conversations as they are so insightful. This year our authors had lively discussions about the nature of truth, the relationship between parents and children, and the origin of evil.
“We’re already looking forward to next year’s festival.”
