Jodhpur Jeans are a must-have for your summer wardrobe

In my experience, finding a good pair of jeans can be as tricky as asking a colleague to make you the ‘perfect’ cup of tea. (Very strong Scottish Blend, piping hot with lots of milk, if you’re wondering). With all our different tastes, shapes and styles, it has always seemed to me that clothes are…

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A beautiful photographic guide to the Isle of Skye

The Isle of Skye is a photographic evocation of one of the best-known and most-iconic parts of Scotland. Iain Kirk Campbell’s large landscape-format book beautifully captures Skye’s many different moods, from the darker, more brooding side of the island’s character, to its bright lights and cheerful flora and fauna. Divided into sections, the book looks…

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A crime thriller that ticks all the right boxes

Brooke Magnanti’s first stab at a crime thriller hits all the must-haves of the genre – secrets, lies… and dead bodies. Protagonist Erykah Macdonald had little to call her own growing up, but she turned things around and has a ‘nice’ life now – the kind of life you’re meant to want; pleasant house, good…

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Heavenly retreat at Macdonald Pittodrie House

There is something utterly enchanting about an escape to the countryside; and although it might sound like the opening scenes to a Jane Austen novel, we really did have an idyllic start to our weekend retreat. Making our way down a winding driveway, seeing the dappled sunshine through the trees and listening to the gentle…

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The perfect book to entertain the little ones

Written by Alan Windram and beautifully illustrated by Chloe Holwill-Hunter, A Puppy’s Tale is a charming children’s book for two to five year olds. It tells the story of energetic little puppy Georgie who gets lost in the woods. There are so many exciting and interesting things to see and smell, and Georgie loves to…

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Gripping thriller will keep you glued into the night

Fans of the Inspector McLean crime novels will not be disappointed by this instalment, The Damage Done, with Oswald delivering another gritty page-turner that will keep you reading late into the night. When an Edinburgh Police vice squad raid goes embarrassingly awry, Inspector Tony McLean finds himself haunted by echoes of his first case. With…

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The brave RAF base that protected our skies from the Luftwaffe

When war broke out in 1939, the Luftwaffe attacked the Royal Navy base at Rosyth. Spitfires from the Drem airfield in East Lothian were scrambled to protect it, engaging in one of the first air battles over Britain, with Drem aircraft patrolling the skies over the Firth of Forth until the end of the war.…

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Life on Oronsay with a year in the Hebrides

Once the centre of the major sea route between Scotland and Ireland, the small, remote island of Oronsay has been inhabited by humans for 5,000 years. Columba landed there in AD 63, the Vikings in the 800s, and the Lords of the Isles founded an abbey in the 1300s. Now farmed by the RSPB for…

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True events inspired this werewolf trial novel

Inspired by true events, The Wolf Trial is a historical epic telling the horrifying tale of a man whose crimes were thought so great, locals wanted to try him as a werewolf. Fictionalising the first documented case of a convicted serial killer, the Herald writer tells the story of Peter Stumpf, a 16th-century German landowner…

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A new case for Sherlock Holmes in Edinburgh

A combination of an intriguing crime novel for young adults, with a new case for Sherlock Holmes and a reawakening of Scotland ‘s forgotten heroes, The Calling is a magical story set during the Edinburgh Festival. Nearly all of its characters can be  observed standing on plinths in the heart of the city. Only one…

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