In the tradition of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, this is a darkly humorous modern classic of Scottish literature about a doomed adolescent growing up in the mid-20th century.

Janet lies murdered beneath the castle stairs, attired in her mother’s black lace wedding dress, lamented only by her pet jackdaw…

Author Elspeth Barker masterfully evokes the harsh climate of Scotland in this atmospheric gothic tale. It has been compared to the works of the Brontës, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edward Gorey. Immersed in a world of isolation and loneliness, Barker’s ill-fated young heroine, Janet, turns to literature, nature, and her Aunt Lila, who offers brief flashes of respite in an otherwise foreboding life. People, birds, and beasts move through the background in a tale that is as rich and atmospheric as it is witty and mordant. The family’s motto—Moriens sed Invictus (Dying but Unconquered)—is a well-suited epitaph for wild and courageous Janet, whose fierce determination to remain steadfastly herself makes her one of the most unforgettable protagonists in contemporary literature.

Mark Renton is finally a success. An international jet-setter, he now makes significant money managing DJs, but the constant travel, airport lounges, soulless hotel rooms, and broken relationships have left him dissatisfied with his life.

He's then rocked by a chance encounter with Frank Begbie, from whom he'd been hiding for years after a terrible betrayal and the resulting debt. But the psychotic Begbie appears to have reinvented himself as a celebrated artist and – much to Mark’s astonishment – doesn't seem interested in revenge.

Sick Boy and Spud, who have agendas of their own, are intrigued to learn that their old friends are back in town. But when they enter the bleak world of organ-harvesting, things start to go so badly wrong.

Lurching from crisis to crisis, the four men circle each other, driven by their personal histories and addictions, confused, angry – so desperate that even Hibs winning the Scottish Cup doesn’t really help.

One of these four will not survive to the end of this book. Which one of them is wearing Dead Men's Trousers?

Fast and furious, scabrously funny and weirdly moving, this is a spectacular return of the crew from Trainspotting.

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three philosophers named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence. While all three agree that a god exists, they differ sharply in opinion on God's nature or attributes and how, or if, humankind can come to knowledge of a deity.

In the Dialogues, Hume's characters debate a number of arguments for the existence of God and arguments whose proponents believe through which we may come to know the nature of God. Such topics debated include the argument from design—for which Hume uses a house—and whether there is more suffering or good in the world (the argument from evil).

"A Decent Ride" sees Irvine Welsh back on home turf, bringing us the outrageous adventures of 'Juice' Terry Lawson, a character who is as shameless as he is oddly decent. This rampaging force of nature wreaks havoc on the streets of Edinburgh as a top shagger, drug-dealer, gonzo-porn-star, and taxi driver.

Can Terry discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison? Will he uncover the true motives of unscrupulous American businessman and reality-TV star, Ronald Checker? And, crucially, will Terry be able to navigate life after a terrible event robs him of his sexual virility? Perhaps a newfound fascination with the game of golf might offer solace.

In his funniest, filthiest book yet, Irvine Welsh celebrates an un-reconstructed misogynist hustler, finding new ways to craft wild comedy from fantastically dark material. So fasten your seatbelts, because this is one ride that could certainly get a little bumpy!

Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye've produced. Choose life.

The bestselling novel by Irvine Welsh that provided the inspiration for Danny Boyle’s hit film takes us into the world of Mark Renton and his attempts to escape the bleak and destructive lifestyle of Edinburgh's heroin addicts. With its raw Scottish dialect and brutal honesty, Trainspotting navigates the challenges of addiction, poverty, and the quest for meaning in a seemingly indifferent world.

Queens' Play is the second book in the legendary Lymond Chronicles series. It follows the adventures of Francis Crawford of Lymond, who is called into the service of Mary Queen of Scots. Though she is merely a young girl, the Queen is already entangled in malicious intrigues that stretch from her homeland to the French court.

Lymond must travel to France, where he faces the challenge of safeguarding the young Queen amidst a web of deceit and danger. With his sharp wit and skilled swordplay, he undertakes a daring masquerade to ensure her safety.

This historical adventure is set in the mid-1500s and captures the essence of the era with its vivid depiction of the culture, customs, and political intrigue. It's a tale of espionage, royal plots, and the struggle for power, all woven together in beautifully crafted prose.

Marabou Stork Nightmares is a daring and audacious novel by the acclaimed author Irvine Welsh, known for his cult classics like Trainspotting and The Acid House. This novel plunges readers into the mind of Roy Strang, a man trapped in a coma, whose hallucinatory adventures unravel the path that led him there.

Roy's surreal quest involves eradicating the malevolent marabou stork, a predator-scavenger, in an imaginary South Africa, while being constantly interrupted by vivid and disturbing memories of his dysfunctional family and tumultuous upbringing in a Scottish housing scheme.

As the boundaries between reality and hallucination blur, Welsh crafts a lethally funny cocktail of pathos, violence, and outrageous hilarity, showcasing his unique ability to blend dark humor with deep psychological insights.

Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders... and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood.

Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions, and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn't just one cop trying to catch a killer, he's the man who's got all the pieces to the puzzle...

Knots and Crosses introduces a gifted mystery novelist, a fascinating locale, and the most compellingly complex detective hero at work today.