'The Health of Strangers' Book Launch, Edinburgh Waterstone West End

It was a dark and stormy night... exactly the kind of weather you don't want people to have to brave to come to the launch of your new novel!

Still this being Edinburgh in summer, the monsoon almost immediately gave way to a damp, cloying heat. The book-buying public turned out in good numbers to hear about 'The Health of Strangers,' an Edinburgh-based crime novel, set against a background of a new - and deadly - Virus.

Before I left home, dressing up in a bio-hazard suit for the Launch had seemed like a great wheeze - you know - fits in with the Virus theme?

Two minutes actually inside the suit and I realised that I would absolutely melt. The fancy dress was quickly abandoned.

Kudos, bio-hazard suit wearers of the world. I don't know how you do it.

I persuaded my friend Martin, a chef, to produce some Virus-themed nibbles. I give you syringes filled with gazpacho...

... and petri dishes with melon and beetroot!

And we ended with some Virus-related audience participation!

Thank you Waterstones West End... it was a fab night!