John Dean – Crime Writer

John Dean features in a number of anthologies, including:

274 Miles Short Stories Anthology

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

274 Miles is published by Tantallon Tir, which is based in Glasgow and aims to showcase the very best in Scottish fiction.

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 26 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 copies of the book, price £12 on the website

REVIEW by John Dean

OK, admission out of the way from the start, I am reviewing a book in which I feature but, since my fragment is one of 40 stories included in the anthology, I feel justified in doing so. I did not intend writing a review for the very reason that I was one of the authors invited to contribute but then I started reading and knew that I needed to think again because 274 Miles is terrific.

Forty authors, who are either Scottish or live in Scotland, were invited to send stories in by new independent publishing company Tantallon Tir, which is based in Glasgow. 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.

There is a real art to flash (short) fiction – even with severe strictures on length, every story must have a beginning, a middle and an end and every word must be carefully selected to do a job.

There must be strong characterisation and sense of place, pace and, if space allows, a theme, plus dialogue, if required (it often isn’t in flash fiction).

Quite a challenge for the author given 274 words to play with, but from the deft  observations of Allan Gillespie in the opening story Resolutions to the quirky twist at the end of A Cocktail of Death by Morgan Cry, from the richly evocative and irreverent storytelling of those writing in the Scots language, such as Colin Burnett and Dickson Telfer, to the surreal humour of M J Nicholls, and the searing depiction of a bleak life in Night of the Damned by Anjali Ramayya, all of life is here and told by writers in complete control of their craft – there isn’t a weak story in it.

A Trainfull of Stories

Writing group The Inkers has paid tribute to the historic role that its hometown played in the development of the railways 200 years ago, with the publication of a collection of short stories, including one by best-selling crime writer John Dean.

Inspired by the 2025 bicentenary of the world’s first passenger service – the Stockton and Darlington Railway – A Trainful Of Stories is a vibrant anthology of short stories, memoir and poetry written by members of the group.

Based in the south Durham town of Darlington, they have come up with a collection that ranges from crime and fantasy to science fiction, and offers a rich variety of tone and style, all bound together by the overarching theme of railway travel.
Within its pages you’ll find content including a poetic reflection on the Underground Railroad, a Eurostar journey to Germany to claim a long-forgotten legacy, and a whimsical day-trip to Whitby featuring a talking tortoise.
The Inkers, a community of creative writers based at the Friends’ Meeting House in Skinnergate, Darlington, invite readers to climb aboard, take a seat, and travel through landscapes both real and imaginary.

The Inkers emerged from the Inkerman Writers, which was created by students attending John Dean’s creative writing classes at the Friends’ Meeting House more than twenty years ago. John moved from Darlington to South West Scotland eight years ago but remains a member of the writing group.

Costing £8.99 for the paperback and £1.99 for the e-book, the book can be purchased on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/TRAINFUL-STORIES-INKERS-ebook/dp/B0FLTRZ8RN/