© Close to the Bone Publishing
Malkied – a Scottish word meaning ‘murdered’ – is the title of a short story of mine that has just appeared today, New Year’s Eve 2024, on the website of the crime and mystery fiction publisher Close to the Bone. It’s attributed to Steve Cashel, the pseudonym I use when I write Scottish stories, often with a crime-related bend.
I suspect Close to the Bone scheduled Malkied for publication today because it’s set in Edinburgh, and Edinburgh is famous for its Hogmanay Street Party held every December 31st to welcome in the New Year. However, by a sad irony, this evening’s Edinburgh Street Party has just been cancelled on safety grounds. The weather forecasters have warned that the city tonight is going to be dangerously stormy. A few Edinburgh Hogmanay events are still going ahead, though. These include the New Year’s Eve concert at the George Street Assembly Rooms featuring the excellent indie-rock band Idlewild, whom I’ve seen play live on no fewer than four occasions; and, also at the Assembly Rooms, the New Year ceilidh – among the ceilidh bands providing music for it is the brilliantly-named Jimi Shandrix Experience.
Malkied is inspired by a real-life incident that involved my brother… And that’s all I’m saying, because I don’t want to give anything away about its plot. It can be accessed here.
And meanwhile, a Happy New Year to you all.