Macrae Burnet on Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist

Graeme Macrae Burnet is one of six authors on the shortlist

Kilmarnock-born writer Graeme Macrae Burnet is among six authors shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

Macrae Burnet's 19th Century-set novel His Bloody Project has put him in the running for the award.

It tells of the murder of three people in a crofting community in Applecross in the Highlands and the trial of the young man accused of the killings.

The winner of the fiction prize will be announced on 25 October in London.

Previous Man Booker Prize nominee Deborah Levy, Paul Beatty, Ottessa Moshfegh, David Szalay and Madeleine Thien have also been shortlisted.

Macrae Burnet's book tells of murders in a Highlands crofting community in the 19th Century

Macrae Burnet, who has degrees in English Literature and International Security Studies from Glasgow and St Andrews universities, won the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award in 2013.

His first first novel, The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau, was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award.

The writer, who lives in Glasgow, said: "I'm so thrilled to be on the shortlist, especially when you consider the calibre of authors that were on the longlist.

"As a writer, all you want is for readers to have the opportunity to discover your work, and a Man Booker nomination propels your book to a wider audience than I could ever have dreamed of. It's quite astonishing."

Sara Hunt, of the book's Scottish publisher Contraband, said: "We are so very excited, both for Graeme and the book - we couldn't be happier."