Hello

Hi

Welcome to my site. I'm Alistair and I write novels under the pen name of AJ Liddle (Alistair

Liddle being too much of a mouthful I thought). Here are a few details about me. 

I was born in Edinburgh in 1957 and brought up mainly in Gorgie, going to Balgreen Primary School  and Trinity Academy. My plan after leaving school was to study Political History at university but, bored with academic education, I joined the merchant navy as a deck cadet.

I stayed in the merchant navy for fifteen years, working on general cargo ships, bulk carriers, container ships and tankers, where I eventually served as master (captain). Being at sea is tough on families though and I left the merchant navy after my daughter was born to manage an aircraft fuelling facility at Newcastle Airport. Subsequent work in the oil and gas industry took me to Shetland, Humberside, the North Sea, London and the Republic of Georgia.

I retired from the oil and gas industry in 2019 and took up writing. No Harm Done, featuring Georgian detective, Lieutenant Ramaz Donadze, was my first novel and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2021 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. My second novel in the Donadze series, No Way Back, was published in December 2021 and my third, No Rules Apply will be published in June 2023. I wanted to locate my books in Georgia as I know the country well and thought readers would find the descrptions of Georgian life and culture interesting.

I'm married with two grown children, a granddaughter and a grandson. When I'm not not writing, my hobbies include travel, walking, cooking, supporting Heart of Midlothian FC, swimming in Scotland’s beautiful lochs, playing guitar (badly) and writing occasional songs for his old-guys band, The Grumps. I've spent my life travelling but am now settled in Stirling, Scotland.