About

Hard-boiled or cool-headed? World-weary or quietly relentless? Why do these archetypes of the classic detective still shape contemporary crime fiction? In this compelling conversation, two titans of Tartan Noir examine the influence of two iconic figures from the golden age of mystery: Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret. Denise Mina returned to the world of Raymond Chandler, the latest being The Second Murderer, a stylish and surprising reinvention of the hardboiled hero. Meanwhile, Graeme Macrae Burnet’s The Gorski Trilogy is a droll and unsettling psychological portrait of the small unremarkable French town of Saint-Louis, and Inspector Gorski, a detective notably inspired by Simenon’s Maigret.

Moderated by Janet Smyth.

Burnet’s and Mina’s appearances are supported by Scottish Books International.

Graeme Macrae Burnet

Graeme Macrae Burnet was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, and now lives in Glasgow. His Bloody Project, his second novel, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016, won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award 2016, and was shortlisted for the LA Times Book Awards 2017. His fourth novel, Case Study, was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 and was included in the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022. A Case of Matricide is his fifth novel, the third featuring Chief Inspector Georges Gorski. Burnet's appearance is supported by Scottish Books International.

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Denise Mina

Denise Mina is the author of twenty novels, including the Reese's Book Club pick Conviction and its sequel Confidence, as well as The Second Murderer, The Less Dead, The Long Drop—winner of the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year—and the Garnethill trilogy, the first installment of which won the John Creasey Memorial Award for best first crime novel, among others. Mina has twice received the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.

Read more about Denise Mina