From Scotland to Italy: historical fiction with D.V. Bishop and Kate Foster
Join us for a very special Independent Bookshop Week author event on Monday, 16th June at 7.30 pm, when we'll be joined at Dukes of West Barns by D.V. Bishop and Kate Foster.
The event will include an interview and Q&A with D.V. Bishop and Kate Foster about their approaches to writing historical fiction in their award-winning novels, focusing on their new releases, Carnival of Lies and The Mourning Necklace, followed by a book signing.
Purchase a copy of any of the authors' books via this page for free entrance to the event (admits one) - while spaces last! If selecting a paperback option of a previous book by either author, we will contact you via email to ask which paperback book you would prefer (or please let us know by replying to your order confirmation email).
Alternatively, please select an audiobook ticket option (admits one) and we'll email you a voucher to download the audiobook of your choice via xixxag.
Select 'local pick up' at the checkout if you would like to collect your copy/copies from Night Owl Books, or at the event. Alternatively, please select a Royal Mail option and we'll post your book(s) to you.
About Carnival of Lies:
Venice. Winter, 1539. When Cesare Aldo learns of a conspiracy to assassinate Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, he is hired to protect the ruler of Florence.
With his life, if necessary. The deadly attack which follows leads to bodies, bloodshed – and something far more dangerous. Those behind the plot obtain a journal of the duke’s, containing explosive secrets that – in the wrong hands – could destroy all of Florence.
Aldo must hunt down those responsible and reclaim the journal, or face banishment from the city and everyone he loves. The trail leads him towards the one place Aldo has sworn to never return, a city of masks and lies where he has no allies and far too many enemies: Venice. The fate of a dynasty rests on his shoulders, if he can make it out alive...
Carnival of Lies is the fifth Cesare Aldo mystery by D.V. Bishop, preceded by A Divine Fury, City of Vengeance, The Darkest Sin and Ritual of Fire.
Hardback, 384 pages, published 26th June 2025.
About The Morning Necklace:
1724. In a tavern just outside Edinburgh, Maggie Dickson’s family drown their sorrows, mourning her death yet relieved she is gone. Shame haunts them. Hanged for the murder of her newborn child, passers-by avert their eyes from her cheap coffin on its rickety cart.
But as her family pray her soul rests in peace, a figure appears at the door. It is Maggie. She is alive.
Bruised and dazed, Maggie has little time for her family’s questions. All that matters to her is answering this one: will they hang her twice?
Inspired by an infamous real-life case, The Mourning Necklace is the unforgettable new feminist historical novel from the Women's Prize-longlisted author of The Maiden, Kate Foster.
Event times:
Event: 19:30 - 20:30, followed by signing.
Doors: 19:15.
Venue information:
Dukes of West Barns, 5 Duke Street, Dunbar, EH42 1UR.
FAQs
- Will I be sent an e-ticket before the event?
Please note that we will have a guest list on the door on the night of the event, and you will not be sent an e-ticket for it - simply let us know your name/the name of the person who booked your ticket when you arrive, and we'll check you in!
- Can I collect my book at the event?
Absolutely! We'll send you a notification when the books have arrived at the shop and are ready to collect, but please do feel to pick them up on the night instead.
A note on Covid precautions: if you feel unwell on the day, please err on the side of caution, and please take a lateral flow test before attending, if you can.
D. V. Bishop is the author of the Cesare Aldo mysteries set in Renaissance Florence, published by Pan Macmillan. An award-winning screenwriter and TV dramatist, his love for the city of Florence and the Renaissance period meant there could only be one setting for his crime-fiction debut.
He was awarded a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship by the Scottish Book Trust in 2017 while writing the first Cesare Aldo novel, City of Vengeance. Bishop won the Pitch Perfect competition at the 2018 Bloody Scotland international crime fiction festival, and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel in 2024.
He was shortlisted for the 2021 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, won the 2022 NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Novel and was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA Historical Dagger. His novels have also been longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger.
About Kate Foster:
Kate Foster has been a national newspaper journalist for over twenty years. Growing up in Edinburgh, she became fascinated by its history and often uses it as inspiration for her stories. Her first novel, The Maiden, a feminist revisionist take on the Scottish legend of The White Lady of Corstorphine, won the Bloody Scotland Pitch Perfect competition in 2020 and the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year in 2023, and was longlisted for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2024. She lives in Edinburgh with her two children.