John Dean – Crime Writer

Thirty-seven of Scotland’s best authors, including crime writer John Dean, are included in the first anthology put together by a new independent publishing company.

274 Miles will be published by Tantallon Tir, which is based in Glasgow and aims to showcase the very best in Scottish fiction, on  September 30, 2025. Copies can be booked in advance now.

The book is written in Scots and English  and includes short stories, both dark and uplifting, from Scottish and Scotland-based writers who were invited to contribute by the publisher.

The word count of each story was limited to 274 words to mirror the length of the Scottish mainland, from the Mull of Galloway to Cape Wrath.

Authors included in the anthology are Lisa Ballantyne, Gordon Brown, Ricky Monahan Brown, Douglas Bruton, Colin Burnett, Rachel Carmichael, Shay Patrick Collins, Seamus Connolly, Ross Crawford, John Dean, Margaret Elphinstone, Florence Flannigan, Dòmhnall Gall, Stephanie Garcia, Tony Garner, Alan Gillespie, J. Grobbelaar, Anne Hamilton, Alan Hay, Michele Hinchliffe, pictured here, Judith Hughes, Coinneach MacIntyre, Charles McGarry, Jack McInnes, Liam McLeod, Rob McClure, Callum McSorley, Iain Allan Mills, M. J. Nicholls, C.W. O’Sullivan, Philip Paris, Kate Peel, Anjali Ramayya, Dickson Telfer, Douglas Thompson, pictured here, LG Thomson, Thomas Welsh, and Kirsti Wishart.

John Dean, who has lived in Dumfries and Galloway for eight years and is a best-selling crime writer with 25 novels published by The Book Folks, a Joffe Books company, has contributed a piece about a naïve vicar who misreads a situation with disastrous consequences. More details about the book can be found at https://tantallontir.com, including fascinating question and answer pieces with authors included in the book, John Dean among them. You can also order hardcopies of the book, price £12 on the website