Denise Mina discusses Peter Manuel book at Wigtown festival
- Published
Denise Mina is giving her first talk about The Long Drop since winning the McIlvanney Prize
The rural setting of the nation's book town is not the first place you would think of discussing one of Scotland's most notorious serial killers.
Yet Denise Mina is coming to Wigtown for its festival fresh from receiving the McIlvanney Prize for The Long Drop, based on a story about Peter Manuel.
It is an invitation she was more than happy to receive given her fondness for the quiet corner of southern Scotland.
The affection was born when bringing her children for family holidays.
"It is always a treat to come down to Wigtown - it feels like a very unknown part of the country," she told the BBC Scotland news website.
"Your GPS cuts out halfway through the forest - I don't know if you know that - but you do feel as if you're heading off to Brigadoon or something.
"And then you get there and it is absolutely beautiful."
The writer said she had a soft spot for the "unknown part of the country"
The crime writer has been to the festival before and said she appreciated the attitude of locals to the event.
"What is so lovely about it is all the people in Wigtown seem to participate in it very willingly, " she explained.
"There is none of that Edinburgh festival slight resentment - 'Oh no, I'm in your town!' - kind of feel.
"It really feels like people really embrace it and come out and fill every event, it is lovely."
However, she admitted that she quite enjoys visiting the area at quieter "non-festival" times too.
Ms Mina spent family holidays in the area when her children were younger
That dates back to times spent at Killantringan Lighthouse in Portpatrick with friends and family, so she knows the area pretty well.
But would she ever consider setting one of her books in the region?
"I would love to do that, I've never thought of that," she said.
"I don't really know the people that live there that much because we are always on holiday and when we go on holiday what we do is we just don't really talk to anybody to be honest.
"We are doing touristy things as well - we're going to see botanic gardens, and we're going to see the castles and Logan gardens and the fish pond and things like that - we're not really kind of participating in the area."
Next weekend, however, she will be fully participating in the area with her talk as part of the Wigtown Book Festival which has just started.
It is about her award-winning book based on a story about Peter Manuel, The Last Drop.
Other highlights at this year's festival
Jeremy Bowen will also be appearing at the Wigtown Book Festival this year
Andrew O'Hagan, 23 September, 13:30
Judy Murray, 29 September, 18:00
Jeremy Bowen, 30 September, 12:00
Alan Johnson, 1 October, 13:30
Mary Contini, 1 October, 15:00
"I always wanted to write a true crime book and I wrote this book as a play and it was on in Glasgow," she said.
"It was a throwaway line in a true crime book about Peter Manuel and it said that he had met the father of three of the victims for a drink and they ended up spending 12 hours getting drunk in Glasgow together."
The project did not initially start out as a book.
"I thought that was so interesting and so I wrote a play where the father didn't know anything about what was going on and Peter Manuel obviously knew what was going on," she said.
"It was on in Glasgow and at the end of the play every single day Glasgow pensioners would basically corner me and say: 'You've told that story wrong, it's a much better story'.
"Then they would tell me the story that was known in the city at the time. So it was an attempt to tell that story - because they were right - it was a much better story, the story they told me."
'Life story'
Her appearance at Wigtown will be her first talk since winning the coveted McIlvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year.
Nonetheless, she admitted that - like many writers - she had mixed feelings about such events.
"I am not that outgoing to be honest with you," she said.
"It is part of your work, everybody's got bits of their work they're not mad keen on.
"The bit I like is at the end when people come up to get books signed and tell you their life story."
She said that one recent talk produced a particularly memorable encounter.
The author said she preferred to meet people rather than hear herself "chuntering on"
"I was doing an event at Bloody Scotland and the two surviving sons of one of Peter Manuel's victims were there and they agree with the version of the story that I have got in the book and I had never met them before," she said.
"At the end of the signing queue the crowds parted and they were sitting there and they said: 'Do you know who we are?'. And I said: 'You're not them are you?'. And they said: 'We are them!".
"So, for me, really amazing things happen in signing queues, or people tell you their whole life story or that they're just out of prison or stuff like that.
"That's the bit I look forward to rather than hearing myself chuntering on."
Fans will get the benefit of a bit of both when she appears in the festival marquee on Saturday 30 September as one of the biggest names at Wigtown.
'High Noon'
However, they might be just as likely to find her hidden away in some quiet cafe enjoying the peace the Dumfries and Galloway town offers.
"I went in the off-season once and it was lashing down and the whole place looked completely deserted - it was like High Noon," she said.
"We went into this wee cafe and it was full of damp pensioners and they had put all the fan heaters on - it was like walking into a sauna.
"And then we went to pay for the tea with a £20 note and the guy said: 'Oof a big one!'. That is so Wigtown!"
And that is precisely what the award-winning writer loves about her trips to south west Scotland.
Denise Mina is appearing at the Wigtown Book Festival on Saturday 30 September at 13:30 in the festival marquee.
- Published22 September 2017
