The writing is so amazing for a debut novel! We have Jean, deaf and unable to tell her story. Therefore, we never receive her POV. Instead we develope events of the plot by the POV of the characters Jean encounters, as well as the POV of Robert as he interprets her story and investigates what led to the events of 24th February 1817 and Jean's arrest. While this made it a compelling read, I do feel that this somewhat took the emotion out of Jean's story, and I was unable to connect to her character as much as I hoped to. path.clippath-edit [d="M187.5,58.16512107880641C214.4945046332268,59.30276163829959,240.41535832379228,68.72236200134503,261.78778803761725,85.2516316332289C282.6963949126211,101.42218431683145,296.2754933156812,124.37907582369479,305.2578826140189,149.23814455202273C314.5057597154312,174.83195982984464,320.0838754322527,202.03724793161848,313.5298613798452,228.44958427581457C306.6583326902681,256.1414881223187,290.83098734814035,281.1988876688588,268.20101111928966,298.5754126683334C245.16831466772666,316.2611681304027,216.53668119789893,325.62489475112585,187.50000000000003,325.2221577332822C158.73449362423528,324.82318189387473,130.91057796810622,314.28402967263787,108.40922684047621,296.3591102528553C86.58905693366876,278.9768301805616,70.90812686232724,254.59777998884854,64.70208061110648,227.39946266587222C58.8416634254869,201.71588252365981,67.79730141430146,176.29522490265987,75.24770143191402,151.027017247812C82.93310142028363,124.96180164091662,87.58075225990811,96.11399681754017,108.51928649173257,78.7923738613074C130.0109766221446,61.01314686243889,159.6321989020446,56.990676825663876,187.5,58.16512107880641" style="transform: scaleX(1) scaleY(1) translateX(0px) translateY(0px) rotate(0deg);"] There are different forms of justice meted out to various characters and this raises some interesting questions about punishment, revenge and rehabilitation. The Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing first awarded in 2012 was renamed The McIlvanney Prize in 2016. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was introduced in 2019 and won by Claire Askew who this year made the McIlvanney longlist along with Deborah Masson who won the Debut Prize in 2020.

Bloody Scotland receives vital funding from Creative Scotland, Stirling Council and Culture and Business Fund Scotland. We are also grateful to our many sponsors and supported including The Glencairn Glass, H W Fisher, Stirling Castle, Literary Tours in Egypt, Waterstones, The Open University in Scotland and Go Forth Stirling along with a wide range of publishers. Karen Campbell & Charlie Roy: Things We Don’t Remember, Things We Can’t Forget Charlie Roy’s The Broken Pane follows Tam’s flight into her past, after a tragic discovery throws her life off course. Karen Campbell’s Paper Cup journeys with Kelly, who is homeless and decides to leave the streets of Glasgow to return to her child… Hear No Evil' is based on the true story of Jean Campbell, a deaf woman accused of throwing her baby in the river in 1817. The first character we meet is Robert Kinniburgh, a teacher from the Deaf and Dumb institute, who has been called in to try and establish what happened. Taken from her home of Glasgow to the cells in Edinburgh, it isn't clear at first if Jean even knows what she's been accused of. If found guilty, Jean faces two equally terrible punishments; death by hanging, or commitment to an asylum. But there is more to her story and situation than Kinniburgh had expected. Moving uneasily from interpreter to investigator, Jean's case starts to swallow his own life; and it will take a whole community to help Jean's story be heard. In the burgeoning industrial city of Glasgow in 1817 Jean Campbell - a young, deaf woman - is witnessed throwing a child into the River Clyde from the Old Bridge. Based on a case from Scottish legal history, Smith's novel s kilfully combines crime fiction with a woman's struggle to speak the truth' The TimesOften in historical fiction, characters will display uncharacteristically “woke” personalities - because that is what a modern reader hopes for, that our predecessors were not as bigoted as we’ve been taught. Author Sarah Smith does not step into this trap, and it is interesting to note the reader’s feelings - because as much as I want realism, I also felt distinct distaste at the narrow-mindedness of some characters (even the sweet Robert Kinniburgh). But if you’re not making your readers feel something, what are you doing with your words, anyways? A fascinating exploration of deafness and human value amid the sights, sounds and smells of urban Scotland in 1817.'- Sally Magnusson

What a debut from Sarah Smith! The writing talent coming out of Scotland at the moment is immense and Smith is right up there with the best. I mostly liked all of the characters apart from the obvious villains of the piece and I could vividly imagine both them and their surroundings; I particularly felt so much for poor Jean and I am away to search more on her case and her life and I can't wait to see what other books the author comes out with and hope each one will be as enjoyable as this.George Paterson, The Girl, The Crow, The Writer and The Fighter (Into Books). An epistolary tale of murder and chicanery which spans continents and lifetime by a writer, DJ and musician. The fact that Jean was a deaf woman adds such a unique concept to this that I’ve never see explored before. Born in a time when it was near on impossible to communicate with the majority of society, Jean stands trial for the murder of her baby boy. I found the history around the “deaf and dumb” societies and schools fascinating and it has helped fill in a lot of my ignorance around the subject. It really made me think of how much has actually changed between then and now and whether there is more to be done. Lights Off The Quay - pt1 (A L Kennedy) We commissioned and published new stories and poems from four of the finest Scottish writers: A L Kennedy, Janice Galloway, John Burnside and Don Paterson. Lights Off The Quay, our first publication of new writing, is the result. A sold-out event at the B… I’ve spent most of my working life on projects that try to improve access to education, employment, and services for disabled people. I got to know a lot of Deaf people and ended up working for an organisation called Deaf Connections in Glasgow. There, I met Robert Smith, a retired history teacher who had written a history called The City Silent: A History of Deaf Connections, and it was Robert who first told me about the case and piqued