The ‘father’ of Tartan Noir has joined the Bloody Scotland line-up.

William McIlvanney, who created hardened detective Laidlaw, will share the sage with Parker Bilal, the crime writing alter ego of critically-acclaimed author Jamal Mahjoub, at the event next month.

Both authors will discuss their work between genres, as authors of both crime and literary fiction, in an event in the Stirling Highland Hotel at 5.30pm on Saturday 20 September.

The event will be chaired by the novelist, film-maker and television producer James Runcie, whose novel series The Grantchester Mysteries will air on ITV this autumn.

McIlvanney’s appearance will be in addition to his place on the panel of the Sunday Herald and Bloody Scotland Independence Debate, also on Saturday 20.

Bloody Scotland will take place at various venues in Stirling from 19 to 21 September.