Gillian Galbraith has now written four novels featuring Detective Sergeant Alice Rice, a policewoman based at St Leonards Street in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Blood In The Water (Excerpt) used her previous experience as an Advocate practising at the Scottish Bar and specialising in medical negligence. Alexander McCall Smith said of her debut novel:
“A vivid and exciting story… not a dull page from start to finish.”
The backdrop for her second book Where The Shadow Falls (Excerpt) extends beyond the capital city and into the countryside of East Lothian and the hills of Kinross-shire. It is concerned with wind farms, the huge sums of money at stake in their construction, and the high emotion aroused in the clashes between developers, residents and anti-wind farm protesters. The Scottish Field said of it:
“From its blood-stained opening… gritty and charming in turns.”
Her third book Dying Of The Light (Excerpt) delves into the murky world of prostitution in Leith and involved extensive research with the Scottish Prostitutes Education Project in Edinburgh and with an expert in blood products at Baylor University in Texas. Reviewing it, The Bookbag noted:
“The third book in the Alice Rice series… maintains the winning combination of character development and crime. If Galbraith can build on, or at least maintain, the good work she has done so far, the Alice Rice mysteries could be a really great series.”
The fourth, No Sorrow To Die (Excerpt), released in May 2010, is a passionate tale of deception, betrayal and the value of life and love.
Gillian also contributed to Shattered, a collection of crime stories produced by Birlinn ltd and including stories by Louise Walsh, Christopher Brookmyre, Alan Guthrie and others. The proceeds from sales of the collection go to Victim Support, Scotland.