Meet the author: All That’s Dead writer Stuart MacBride

There’s trouble on the cards for Scots crime ace, Stuart MacBride.

He admits his latest offering, All That’s Dead, has all the hallmarks of hassle. The 12th book in the Detective Logan McRae series tackles a thorny issue.

He tells P.S.: “This book probably will get me into trouble. It was written because of something that had been bothering me for a while.

“Scotland is a really welcoming nation of people. If you choose to make your home in Scotland, we’re quite happy to call you Scottish, and yet there are still people who will treat the word ‘English’ as a four-letter word.

“It is bizarre that it seems to be an acceptable form of racism when in reality it is just old-fashioned Scottish bigotry.

“Social media has facilitated a lot of this, particularly during the independence referendum.

“There was a lot of ugly stuff and some genuinely unpleasant people on both sides, while I think the majority of us just wanted to have a grown-up debate.

“There is also something about Brexit which has emboldened a lot of people who think you can say whatever they like, no matter how offensive or nasty.

“All That’s Dead is about that clash between Alt Nats (Alternative Nationalists, which I think I’ve made up) and Unionists, which gets out of hand.”

In the book,anti-independence campaigner Professor Wilson goes missing, leaving nothing but bloodstains behind. There’s a war brewing between factions for and against Nationalism and infighting in the police ranks. In among it all someone is trying to make a point – and they’re making it in blood.

Says Stuart: “I’ve always had a theme in the books but always buried it. This is the first where I’ve been overt about what it is about.”

But he is bracing himself for some flack when it’s released. He smiles: “If I’m lucky I will get an equal amount of hate mail from both sides. It’ll mean I will have done a reasonably balanced job.”

And then he and his wife are taking a well-earned break. Stuart, who writes murder and mayhem from his idyllic country home in North East Scotland with his “baby”, Grendel the cat snuggled against his chest, says: “I’ve been on a rolling deadline for 16 years and I haven’t had a holiday in about seven. So I’m taking six months off – but I’ve no idea where we’re going.”

And that’s par for the course for the Dumbarton-born writer who was ‘talked into’ trying his hand as an author by pals. He hasn’t looked back since, winning awards and topping book charts.

It’s a far cry from his earlier life. “When I was 18 I tried for a job as an undertaker,” he reveals.

“But I failed the interview.”

Stuart MacBride All That’s Dead, HarperCollins, £16.99 (out May 30)