Busy Old Day

Slept till almost midday and wandered down to the hotel bar for a bleary brunch. Then up the hill to present the trophy to the winners of the Bloody Scotland crime writers' Scotland-England football match, which our brave Scottish writers won by a resounding 14-1.

Then it was on to my event at the Albert Halls, animated by that doyenne of Scottish crime writers, Alanna Knight. We had a huge audience of 500, and I spent almost an hour afterwards signing books.

Thence to the Bloody Scotland Awards dinner for the announcement of the winner of the Deanstons Scottish Crime Novel of the Year - for which "Entry Island" was one of six shortlisted books.

AND IT WON!

I then spent most of the rest of the evening signing copies of the book.

All in all, a rather splendid day, and the perfect way to finish off my 28-day tour.

But after a very late night, it's up at the crack of dawn to catch an early flight back to Toulouse. And home. Finally.