Just a Thought -- Scotland is the New Sweden?

When we visited the Book Expo America conference last week, one thing we heard over and over is that publishers think that “Scotland is the new Sweden.” Anyone who’s been paying attention to trends in mystery novel publishing probably knows what that means, but in case you don’t, mysteries set in Sweden have been hot properties ever since the break-out success of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That trend may finally be waning slightly, and publishers have turned their eyes toward another cold, bleak country as the setting for mystery stories…Scotland! If you’d like to get ahead of the trend, here are some authors who’ve been publishing mysteries set in Scotland already.

Bolton, S. J.  Sacrifice.

Jardine, Quintin. Skinner’s Rules.

MacBride, Stuart.  Cold Granite.

McClean, Russel. The Good Son.

McDermid, Val. The Distant Echo.

Mina, Denise.  Garnethill.

Rankin, Ian.  Knots and Crosses.