Festival date for businessman who turned to crime

After more than three decades in business, Glyn Harper decided to make crime pay.
Crime writer Glyn Harper.Crime writer Glyn Harper.
Crime writer Glyn Harper.

Now the award-winning paperback writer from Stenhousemuir, who uses the pen-name GD Harper, aims to tell an audience how it is done at an international crime-writing festival.

The Bloody Scotland event in Stirling’s Golden Lion Hotel this Saturday will see the 59-year-old share a platform with best-selling authors Ian Rankin, Lynda La Plant, Christopher Brookmyre and Val McDermid.

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His debut novel Love’s Long Road published by Matador last year reached number two in urban fiction, the top 70 for psychological fiction and number 338 in the list of best-selling eBooks on Amazon. He was also placed third in the Lightship Prize for first-time authors and shortlisted for best first chapter at the UK Festival of Writing.

Reviewers gave Love’s Long Road, the story of a young woman who leads a reckless double life after blaming herself for her ex-boyfriend’s suicide, five stars, calling it “spellbinding”, “an eye-opener” and a “sensational read”.

Glyn, who was educated at Larbert High School and now lives in Roy Bridge near Fort William, will be reading an excerpt from his work at 3.45pm on Saturday as part of the Crime in the Spotlight section of the prestigious three-day show.

He said: “After 35 years in business I found I had an urge to write, drawing on the time I was at university in Glasgow in the mid 1970s. Love’s Long Road is the result.”

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