Granite Noir
Aberdeen’s Crime Writing Festival
Granite Noir is inspired by the incredible popularity of crime fiction in all its forms, by the fantastic contribution that Scottish writers make, by our love affair with Nordic Noir, on the page and on screen, and most of all inspired by Aberdeen, which is the perfect backdrop for the festival – steeped in history, atmospheric, quirky and with a strong sense of place.
DARE TO BE THERE
Granite Noir is produced and curated by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
We are grateful for the support of our funders Aberdeen City Council, Creative Scotland and Event Scotland. Granite Noir is presented with our partners Aberdeen City Libraries, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, Belmont Cinema and Robert Gordon University.
Granite Noir: X
The 2026 festival was the 10th edition of Granite Noir!
The tenth anniversary of our international crime writing festival marked a decade of darkness in the Silver City. It took place across Aberdeen from Tuesday 17 to Sunday 22 February 2026, where it celebrated ten years of thrilling mysteries, chilling tales and unforgettable encounters with some of the world’s finest crime writers including Denise Mina, Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves, Shari Lapena and so many more.
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ATTENDED BY
Almost 19,000 people attended in person or online
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VISITORS FROM
UK, USA, Australia, Switzerland, Estonia, Canada and the Netherlands
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EVENTS
Around 50 events, performances and workshops
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SOLD-OUT
Celebration of Shetland with Ann Cleeves and guests
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AUTHORS
Over 100 authors, speakers and performers
Granite Noir Exhibition
Launched Into Eternity: Aberdeen, Scotland and the Spectacle of Execution, 1560 – 1963
Exhibition curated by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives
We had a special exhibition displayed at the Music Hall which was curated by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives with an additional talk about the exhibition presented at the Cowdray Hall by City Archivist, Phil Astley.
From the witchcraft panic of the late 16th century to the last hanging in Scotland, the story of capital punishment in Aberdeen is a long and storied one. To those in the crowd, public executions were undoubtedly intended as a warning of the consequences of crime while hanging in chains and anatomisation added further humiliation to the criminal corpse.
Over time, attitudes to execution changed as did the locations where it took place. These changes reveal much about societal attitudes and the balance between crime and punishment.
“An illuminating window to crime fiction in North East Scotland”
– Audience Member
Short Story Competition
Short Story Competition
For the third year, Granite Noir partnered with the Press and Journal to run the Granite Noir short story competition, which was open to writers of 18 years and above with crime noir stories of between 1500 and 2000 words.
Writers were challenged to write about the number ’10’ or ‘X’ as the main theme, in celebration of Granite Noir’s tenth anniversary. Judges were thrilled with the quality of entries they received.
However, there could only be one winner and Andrew Robb’s Pay on Exit won first place in the tough competition. A mystery that spans a decade and begins its sordid tale in a famous Aberdonian car park.
Thank you to The Press and Journal and Evening Express for partnering with us on this competition.
Read Pay on Exit and Andrew Robb’s full interview over at The Press and Journal.
Locals in the Limelight
Supporting Homegrown Talent To Stage
Granite Noir is proud to offer a stage to North-east writers. This year, eight of the region’s most talented authors read extracts from their noir fiction ahead of some of the festival’s main events. Supporting homegrown authors is a central part of this festival, and it’s a privilege to once again work with Scotland’s freshest and fiercest talent for our 10th year anniversary in 2026.
EWAN WALLACE
Aberdeenshire Takes Centre Stage
Tuesday 17 February, Lemon Tree
BERNARD BRIGGS
Deathly Funny
Wednesday 18th February, Lemon Tree
JEZ CONOLLY & MANDY MACDONALD
Into The Dark
Thursday 19th February, Lemon Tree
LEXIE CONYNGHAM
Queens of Crime
Friday 20th February, Music Hall
SUSAN TEMPLE
Way Up North
Friday 20th February, Lemon Tree
MJ BURNS
Technology Bites
Saturday 21st February, Lemon Tree
ELINE VLAAR
Family Lost and Found
Sunday 22nd February, Lemon Tree
Granite Noir Xtra
Streaming the Silver City’s Secrets
For those that couldn’t attend the events live, EventScotland made it possible for a wider Granite Noir audience to access some of the titular events through livestreams.
⏯️ Scheming Together with Thomas Enger & Johana Gustawsson
⏯️ A Grand Career To Date with Graeme Macrae Burnet
⏯️ Way Up North with Heather Critchlow & Lin Anderson
⏯️ A Milestone Year with Doug Johnstone
⏯️ Queens of Crime with Val McDermid & Denise Mina
⏯️ Technology Bites with Adam Oyebanji & Thomas R. Weaver
⏯️ Messy, Complicated and Dangerous Women in partnership with Scottish BPOC Writers Network
with Oyinkan Braithwaite, Mo Moshaty & Celine Saintclaire
⏯️ Shetland: A Celebration with Ann Cleeves, Dr James Grieve, Alison O-Donnell & Dawn Steele
⏯️ Bold New Voices with Natalie Jayne Clark, Laura Elliot & Elspeth Wilson
⏯️ Stalking Hell with Tanya Blake & Tanya Sweeney
⏯️ Missing Without A Trace with Shari Lapena
With thanks to Event Scotland and GloCast for their support and making it happen.
“Granite Noir is one of my favourite festivals and l look forward to it so much every year.”
– Audience Member
Granite Noir: Investigations
A Unique Granite Noir Mystery
Crack the code and solve puzzles chapter by chapter to figure out whodunnit!
The story began last year… and the next chapter is about to begin.
Granite Noir 2025 introduced a new mystery to the crime fiction festival with Granite Noir: Investigations. Each week, clues were sprinkled out across our webpages which lead to a new chapter and puzzle to be solved. The case built up week by week and in the end it was up to the audience to figure out whodunnit! A lucky winner was drawn randomly from our astute detectives and they were the recipient of many great prizes. From a goodie bag, tickets to Granite Noir events and vouchers to Aberdeen Performing Arts.
If you missed out, you can catch up on the story so far through the button below.
“A world class international book festival which inspires, education and entertains.”
– Audience Member
Photo Gallery
Granite Noir 2025
Previously on Granite Noir…
Granite Noir 2025 was our ninth edition that saw over 80 authors, artists and speakers participate over the four day festival. Including nine emerging North East writers as part of Granite Noir’s leading Locals in the Limelight series. Audiences travelled from across the country and tuned in around the world to enjoy events that dove into the thrilling world of crime fiction.
There were short story competitions, a new investigative puzzle series, exhibitions, livestreams and so much more happening over last years festival.
See the full breakdown from last years event over at Granite Noir 2025.
Granite Noir Supporters
Granite Noir is produced and curated by Aberdeen Performing Arts.
We are grateful for the support of our funders Aberdeen City Council, Creative Scotland and Event Scotland. Granite Noir is presented with our partners Aberdeen City Libraries, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, Belmont Cinema and Robert Gordon University.
We are also indebted to Waterstone’s for their enthusiastic support.
If you have a little extra and would like to support the work we do here at Aberdeen Performing Arts, then consider donating to us directly.
Your donation can help develop local talent, provide opportunities to those who don’t have the chance to join in or assist in producing unique performances.
