Books

Dark Loch

by Keddie Hughes

Dark Loch is a story of sibling love and one woman's crusade for justice in a world she finds hostile, set in the atmospheric surroundings of St Andrews and the Highlands of Scotland.
Effie McManus is an outsider who survives by keeping people at a distance and controlling every element of her life. She is thrown into disorder when her brother, Bruno, and his girlfriend, Monika, inadvertently eat poisonous mushrooms and fall into comas, both critically ill. Effie travels to St Andrews to keep vigil by her brother's bedside.

When Bruno dies, the police and doctors conclude it as a tragic accident. Pavel, Monika's brother, convinces Effie that they are wrong, and Effie and Pavel join forces to investigate a potential murder. They are an oddly matched team: Effie is analytical, acerbic and articulate; Pavel is a warm-hearted, laid-back drifter and yet their chemistry works. Together they uncover clear evidence of murder, however, they cannot convince the police, and when Monika wakes from her coma she confirms it was an accident. Effie believes Monika is unaware of the actual circumstances of the poisoning, but Pavel has had enough of the investigation and drops the case. Effie, inflamed by injustice has no option but to take matters into her own hands with shocking consequences.

Small Change

by Keddie Hughes

An unsolved murder, a marriage at breaking point and a football club in crisis collide into one woman’s life in this dramatic new novel, set against political upheaval in Glasgow in 2011.

Forty-two-year-old Izzy Campbell wants more from life than a husband who is a fanatical Glasgow Rangers football supporter and a borderline alcoholic. She has always put her family’s needs first, but with her son turning eighteen she decides it’s time things change.

Izzy volunteers at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and enrols for a part-time degree in Social Sciences, and when she encounters a charismatic journalist, Sean Docherty who is investigating alleged financial mismanagement at Rangers, she finds herself offering to help. Before she knows it, she is drawn into the excitement of political activism and the arms of an attractive man. Her loyalties are further tested when she discovers her husband’s part in the murder of a young fan from Rangers’ arch enemy – Celtic. The choices Izzy makes will determine the future of her life.

An engaging and heartfelt story ofone woman’s personal transformation.

An Obstinate Vanity

by Keddie Hughes

When Beth Colquhoun – a successful, attractive single woman in her mid forties – wakes up one morning to find that one side of her face is paralysed, her world is turned upside down.

She is told she has Bells Palsy and hopes the effects will be temporary. Being a confident, positive woman she is obstinate in her resolve to carry on as normal. As Chief Executive of The Agency she is determined to show this male dominated world what she's made of. Will she be successful or will her enemies prevail?

She chairs the judging panel of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Competition and the winner is Benjy McKinnon with his bold plans to expand the family's oyster farm in Skye. Little does she know at the time but Benjy's father is Dougie McKinnon, her ex fiancé from University. Although curious to meet up after 20 years, Beth has no illusions about rekindling their romance.

What happens from this point onwards is full of twists and turns from dangerous and exciting relationships, to double crossing and back-stabbing. Is Beth as strong as she thinks she is? Will she and Dougie heal the wounds of their past? Will Benjy's ambitious plans for Skye come to fruition?

Join Beth as she discovers how betrayal and redemption can come from the least expected places.