A CRIME writing festival in Stirling has announced another stellar year after tickets sold out.

Audience numbers grew by 30 per cent at Bloody Scotland, which was marked by a gala reception at Stirling Castle, the publication of the first Bloody Scotland book, Denise Mina becoming the first woman to win the McIlvanney Prize, a torchlight procession for over 500 people led by Val McDermid and Ian Rankin celebrating their 30th anniversaries and much more.

For the first time events were completely sold out.

Next year's festival will run between September 21 and 23 with festival director Bob McDevitt saying: “Although Bloody Scotland 2017 has been the biggest yet in terms of authors attending and tickets sold it has retained an intimacy and a genuine feeling of a group of friends gathering together for some quality banter.

“Everyone from big international names to debuts and self-published authors have come together for songs, readings, football, plays, questions, answers, and lots and lots of laughs.”