James Oswald shortlisted for '˜Dagger' award

The Newburgh based author was nominated by library staff for his seventh Inspector McLean novel, Written In Bones, which is due for official release in Edinburgh on February 23.

He recently spoke out against the threat of closure of libraries under pressure from council cuts.

The nominees come from librarians across the UK, and take account a writer’s wider body of work, based on popularity with readers borrowing books.

Oswald, who is also a livestock farmer, flies the flag for Scotland in the 2017 award which has previously been won by Alexander McCall Smith and Stuart MacBride.

A total of 110 authors were listed.

Oswald was Britain’s biggest selling debut crime writer in 2013 with Natural Causes, a book which was previously rejected by all the leading UK publishers.

Since then, his Detective Inspector McLean mysteries have landed him a string of awards and have been translated into 20 languages.

The writer said he was grateful to the public library staff and those to borrowed his books.

“I am thrilled to have been nominated for this year’s CWA Dagger in the Library Award. Unlike other Daggers, this is picked by librarians themselves, and is for a body of work.

“To have been nominated by them is very special. I love libraries, and some of my most memorable book events have been talking to reading groups in libraries across Scotland and beyond.

‘‘The threat to library services is very real, with budgets being cut and libraries closed all over the country. It’s heartening to see that, despite that, there is still such enthusiasm for books out there.”