James Andrew
We are saddened to hear of the passing in December 2023 of HighlandLIT member James Andrew.
Member Drew Hillier comments of James on Facebook 'He was much appreciated by HighlandLIT, and supported us to the hilt' and Helen Forbes writes 'Jim was a lovely man, always courteous, interesting and talented. He was a great friend to other authors, always supportive and helpful. I will miss him very much. What an achievement to have published so many books - it’s wonderful to know he left such legacy' We send our condolences to James' family.
James's web site is http://www.jasandrew.wordpress.com
See here for a report of an author event with James, held on July 21st, 2020.
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James’ latest novel Where Wolves Prowl is a contemporary crime novel set in the Scottish Highlands – in Nairn.
A young man called Jason Sutherland arrives in Nairn to teach in a high school there. When he is
invited to a pool party by a beautiful young lady who is part of the local fast set, he thinks things are looking up, but, after a drunken bash at
what is a luxury house, someone is found dead in the pool. The police pronounce murder, and the once happy and carefree crowd turn on one
another. But newcomer Jason, with his past coming out into the open, will be at the centre of it all. Who was the killer? And who will go down for the crime? Available on Amazon Kindle and as a paperback from Amazon.
Look also for Burning Suspicion, also published by The Book Folks, another crime novel set in Nairn. After a devastating house fire, suspicion
is rife and, when Detective Inspector Black investigates, all family secrets will be laid bare. Available on Amazon Kindle.
James has also written a quartet of crime novels set just after the First World War. They are: The Body Under The Sands, Death Waits For No
Lady, The Riddle of the Dunes, and The Suitcase Murderer. These were also published by The Book Folks and are available on Amazon Kindle as a box set called The Yorkshire Murders, as well as being for sale on Kindle individually.
All of James’ crime novels can also be purchased in paperback from Amazon.
James has had three books of poetry published, one by Dionysia Press called Sailing The Sands, which won a Scottish Arts Council award,
and one called Birdsong and Flame, published by Kevin Troop Publishing.
His third poetry book is called The City That Moved, and is published by Dionysia Press. Says James: ‘It is mostly about my inter-reaction with
Istanbul where I lived and worked at the time – a song to Istanbul in a way.’ The City That Moved is now available in Kindle format from Amazon.
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[As part of the July 2020 HighlandLIT online, James prepared two short videos for HighlandLIT’s Vimeo channel in the first of which he discusses and reads from his poems (from The City that Moved, his recent release from Dionysia Press) and in the second of which he introduces us to his crime novels set in the aftermath of World War I (with particular reference to The Suitcase Murderer, published in April 2020.) See link below. ]
Settled-in by James Andrew
As I stroll up the drive,
my eyes turn up
to the squatters on my roof,
long-faced, beaked ones:
herring gulls.
One rests on the nest
made of foliage
gathered from the trimmed hedge,
her smugness resplendent
as her body shelters the hidden egg.
Her mate lounges further up the roof
and glints at me
with eyes
that threaten
to be threatening.
That nest flounces
so leafily solid
just above my front door
which is now
beside their front door,
but I go in mine anyway
and search for
pest control
in Yellow Pages,
though I know,
in their beaky brains,
I’m the pest
that they just
haven’t deigned
to acknowledge yet.