An Ayrshire author has published a new crime thriller set in various locations of his regional home.
New Cumnock’s Ian McMurdo, who has previously written the successful books Knockshinnoch and Arran: Travels, Treasures and Tales, has turned his hand to fiction for the first time.
And ‘Dead Man Walking’ tells the story of young student, Ricky Anderson, who appears to have the world at his feet.
He is a budding nuclear physicist par excellence, has rugged good looks, a gorgeous girlfriend, job offers aplenty. In fact, he has it all.
However, his beloved mother has lost her way in life ever since the heartbreaking day when her husband died in an horrific road traffic accident.
Now the mixed fortunes of mother-and-son are about to meet head-on in another devastating ‘car crash’, as Ricky goes on the run for a crime he didn’t commit and with a whole cast of cops, corrupt politicians, seedy businessmen and ruthless underworld enforcers on his trail.
The question is: Can Ricky outwit his pursuers and prove his own innocence? Or is he really a dead man walking?
The book is set in the 1970s and readers will enjoy the memory of place and events of the time.
Starting in the fictional village of Glenside, loosely based on New Cumnock, the story sees Ricky in Ayr, Cumnock, Glasgow, Girvan and on the run in the Galloway Forest.
Published by Carn Publishing of Ayrshire, the book can be purchased at www.carnpublishing.com/dmw and also Waterstones in Ayr, Amazon or from any good book shop.
A spokesperson for the author said: “Ian McMurdo was born the son of a coal miner and raised in New Cumnock.
“As a glassy-eyed, would-be footballer who readily concedes that his ambitions far outweighed his talents, he eventually found his niche in young adult life as an aspiring chemistry teacher, before climbing all the way up the greasy pole of management to the heady heights of director of education.
“Now retired, Ian lives with his wife Nan and their two dogs in the village of Kildonan on the southernmost tip of the island of Arran. It is their favourite place on earth.
“He remains a well-known educational commentator and occasional journalist. This is his sixth book.”
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