Barvick Falls

Join Rob McInroy as he discusses his latest novel, Barvick Falls, which is set entirely in Crieff at the outbreak of the Second World War. He will also talk about the other books in the series and how Crieff and Strathearn influence his writing.

Rob is the author of a historical crime fiction series set in Perth and Crieff during the 1930s and 1940s. His novels, which incorporate real events and locations, vividly portray the atmosphere of these towns before and during the Second World War.

He won the Bradford Literature Festival Northern Noir Crime Novel competition for "Cuddies Strip," which was also "highly recommended" by Val McDermid at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Additionally, he received the Darling Axe Novel First Page Prize for "Cloudland," and his short stories, mostly based in Crieff, have gained recognition in various competitions.

Having grown up in Crieff, Rob’s writing focuses solely on the Perthshire area, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s. His books will be available for purchase on the night.

Barvick Falls

September 1939, and war is declared. For Bob and Annie Kelty, life will never be the same again, not least because they are forced to foster twelve-year-old Ellen Laing, an evacuee from Finnieston in Glasgow. 

Amid growing tensions between the Glasgow evacuees and the residents of the sleepy village of Crieff, the feisty and quick-tempered Ellen struggles to settle. Ellen’s schoolteacher, Miss Carrington, who seems to take an immediate dislike to her, exacerbates her problems. 

There is something sinister about Lorna Carrington. 

As war rages in Europe, there are problems closer to home. A series of arson attacks rock the village. Locals blame the evacuees, but as he investigates, Bob Kelty begins to suspect a different, more surprising, source.

One that threatens to send everything Bob holds dear up in flames.