Philip Miller
@philipmiller.bsky.social
The Diary of Lies: A Wall St Journal and Airmail Mystery Book of 2025. Poetry collection: Blame Yourself (Nine Pens). The Goldenacre won a Shamus. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/E8G/a-shona-sandison-investigation/
Pinned
Philip Miller
@philipmiller.bsky.social
· Dec 13
The Best Books of 2025: Mystery
Great crime fiction can take root almost anywhere—in a rock-strewn wilderness, a London legal sanctuary or a swanky Manhattan apartment tower.
www.wsj.com
Thanks to @wsj.com for naming The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year alongside such fine writers including @damedenisemina.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Reposted by Philip Miller
Kirkcudbright Book Festival 2026
5–8 March
Kirkcudbright Book Festival celebrates local & national voices, local history, Scottish culture, children’s authors, crime fiction, nature & the environment & much more – full programme online now
www.kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
5–8 March
Kirkcudbright Book Festival celebrates local & national voices, local history, Scottish culture, children’s authors, crime fiction, nature & the environment & much more – full programme online now
www.kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
Full Programme — Kirkcudbright Book Festival
Kirkcudbright Book Festival March 5-8th 2026 Programme
www.kbtbookfestival.org
January 31, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Kirkcudbright Book Festival 2026
5–8 March
Kirkcudbright Book Festival celebrates local & national voices, local history, Scottish culture, children’s authors, crime fiction, nature & the environment & much more – full programme online now
www.kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
5–8 March
Kirkcudbright Book Festival celebrates local & national voices, local history, Scottish culture, children’s authors, crime fiction, nature & the environment & much more – full programme online now
www.kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
Love Song, a poem published last year.
February 13, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Love Song, a poem published last year.
Reposted by Philip Miller
I’m an Ambassador for this brilliant charity, Bookbanks, giving away books with food parcels at food banks. There are two part-time jobs going for Regional Leads in London and East Anglia.
Link below.
Please share far and wide :)
Link below.
Please share far and wide :)
Get Involved — Bookbanks
www.bookbanks.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 11:10 AM
I’m an Ambassador for this brilliant charity, Bookbanks, giving away books with food parcels at food banks. There are two part-time jobs going for Regional Leads in London and East Anglia.
Link below.
Please share far and wide :)
Link below.
Please share far and wide :)
My second book, out of print in the UK…but takes in the afterlife, the cosmos, the rise of fascism, a boy and his dog, and the fate of newspapers….
February 6, 2026 at 11:04 PM
My second book, out of print in the UK…but takes in the afterlife, the cosmos, the rise of fascism, a boy and his dog, and the fate of newspapers….
Reposted by Philip Miller
We've lost the great Allan Massie. An absolute giant of Scottish literature and journalism, and an inspirational, kind and generous man, too. I think his son @alexmassie.bsky.social is only sporadically on Bluesky, but he has written a beautiful obituary. alexmassie.substack.com/p/allan-mass...
Allan Massie, 1938-2026
Father died this afternoon.
alexmassie.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:35 PM
We've lost the great Allan Massie. An absolute giant of Scottish literature and journalism, and an inspirational, kind and generous man, too. I think his son @alexmassie.bsky.social is only sporadically on Bluesky, but he has written a beautiful obituary. alexmassie.substack.com/p/allan-mass...
Reposted by Philip Miller
‘When Shona finally discovers the masterplan, it's a social policy so cruel and retrograde that, 10 years ago, I would have laughed at its hyperbolic preposterousness. It says something about our historical moment that the scheme no longer seems laughable.’
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
A dogged reporter takes on a mysterious cabal in 'The Diary of Lies'
Philip Miller's sinister thriller is set in a Great Britain that's lost its bearings. But even when she's terrified, fictional journalist Shona Sandison will always risk everything to get the story.
www.npr.org
January 18, 2026 at 2:12 PM
‘When Shona finally discovers the masterplan, it's a social policy so cruel and retrograde that, 10 years ago, I would have laughed at its hyperbolic preposterousness. It says something about our historical moment that the scheme no longer seems laughable.’
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
Grendel over Victoria Park.
January 28, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Grendel over Victoria Park.
There’s not going to be another Boards of Canada album is there.
January 23, 2026 at 6:28 PM
There’s not going to be another Boards of Canada album is there.
‘When Shona finally discovers the masterplan, it's a social policy so cruel and retrograde that, 10 years ago, I would have laughed at its hyperbolic preposterousness. It says something about our historical moment that the scheme no longer seems laughable.’
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
A dogged reporter takes on a mysterious cabal in 'The Diary of Lies'
Philip Miller's sinister thriller is set in a Great Britain that's lost its bearings. But even when she's terrified, fictional journalist Shona Sandison will always risk everything to get the story.
www.npr.org
January 18, 2026 at 2:12 PM
‘When Shona finally discovers the masterplan, it's a social policy so cruel and retrograde that, 10 years ago, I would have laughed at its hyperbolic preposterousness. It says something about our historical moment that the scheme no longer seems laughable.’
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/13/n...
‘There's no need to read the two preceding novels, but those who have will notice right away that the sense of ancient mythos and of a universe that's not automatically friendly is still throbbing in Miller's version of Edinburgh and its surroundings.’
kingdombks.blogspot.com/2025/08/scot...
kingdombks.blogspot.com/2025/08/scot...
Scottish Noir, THE DIARY OF LIES by Philip Miller (3rd Shona Sandison Book)
Reviews of mystery books and crime fiction, classic to cutting edge, cozies to hard-boiled to espionage.
kingdombks.blogspot.com
January 17, 2026 at 6:32 PM
‘There's no need to read the two preceding novels, but those who have will notice right away that the sense of ancient mythos and of a universe that's not automatically friendly is still throbbing in Miller's version of Edinburgh and its surroundings.’
kingdombks.blogspot.com/2025/08/scot...
kingdombks.blogspot.com/2025/08/scot...
Morning in Edinburgh.
January 16, 2026 at 8:43 AM
Morning in Edinburgh.
The @nytimes.com on The Diary of Lies… ‘Excellent . . . Admirers of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series will appreciate the similarly jaundiced tone.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/b...
Thrillers With Twists You Won’t See Coming
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:19 AM
The @nytimes.com on The Diary of Lies… ‘Excellent . . . Admirers of Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series will appreciate the similarly jaundiced tone.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/b...
What a band, Agriculture. Second half of their latest record is particularly immense.
January 13, 2026 at 7:16 AM
What a band, Agriculture. Second half of their latest record is particularly immense.
Reposted by Philip Miller
Well played, Transport for London
January 11, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Well played, Transport for London
Looking forward to talking about my books in Kirkcudbright in March….@kbtbookfestival
kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
Full Programme — Kirkcudbright Book Festival
Kirkcudbright Book Festival March 5-8th 2026 Programme
kbtbookfestival.org
January 6, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Looking forward to talking about my books in Kirkcudbright in March….@kbtbookfestival
kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
kbtbookfestival.org/full-programme
Outside my friends, Mark Fisher was one of the first people to say he rated my (non-journalism) writing. I think if K-Punk often and those times. Another world.
December 30, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Outside my friends, Mark Fisher was one of the first people to say he rated my (non-journalism) writing. I think if K-Punk often and those times. Another world.
It’s taken me this long to realise Will Stanton’s circles are not solid. How else could he put them on his belt….#thedarkisrising
December 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
It’s taken me this long to realise Will Stanton’s circles are not solid. How else could he put them on his belt….#thedarkisrising
Not out of the woods yet. But there’s always hope.
December 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Not out of the woods yet. But there’s always hope.
This is probably one of my favourite stories from my time as a journalist. It led to a bit of a stir.
www.heraldscotland.com/news/1239625...
www.heraldscotland.com/news/1239625...
Iconic Scottish painting was work of little known Frenchman, say experts Research challenges Raeburn as artist
EXCLUSIVE
www.heraldscotland.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:11 PM
This is probably one of my favourite stories from my time as a journalist. It led to a bit of a stir.
www.heraldscotland.com/news/1239625...
www.heraldscotland.com/news/1239625...
Reposted by Philip Miller
Budding writers: we'll soon be announcing details of how to enter the Finchale Prize for Short Fiction 2026.
It's for anyone living or working in the North of England, and we've got a couple of smashing judges lined up.
£1000 and a rosey glow to the winner.
newwritingnorth.com/northern-wri...
It's for anyone living or working in the North of England, and we've got a couple of smashing judges lined up.
£1000 and a rosey glow to the winner.
newwritingnorth.com/northern-wri...
Enter - New Writing North
The Northern Writers’ Awards discover and support writers in the North of England, with a focus on supporting new work-in-progress.
newwritingnorth.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Budding writers: we'll soon be announcing details of how to enter the Finchale Prize for Short Fiction 2026.
It's for anyone living or working in the North of England, and we've got a couple of smashing judges lined up.
£1000 and a rosey glow to the winner.
newwritingnorth.com/northern-wri...
It's for anyone living or working in the North of England, and we've got a couple of smashing judges lined up.
£1000 and a rosey glow to the winner.
newwritingnorth.com/northern-wri...
‘Miller is chilling and doom-laden in his furiously poetic depiction of a once great civilization going off the rails. Addressing this through the framework of crime fiction—laced with surreal doses of Old English and Celtic folklore—produces a fascinating hybrid that is Miller’s alone’ - Airmail.
December 16, 2025 at 9:22 PM
‘Miller is chilling and doom-laden in his furiously poetic depiction of a once great civilization going off the rails. Addressing this through the framework of crime fiction—laced with surreal doses of Old English and Celtic folklore—produces a fascinating hybrid that is Miller’s alone’ - Airmail.
‘Philip Miller hears England screaming. His version of post-Brexit, post-pandemic Great Britain, viewed through the investigative journalism of his heroine, Shona Sandison, is dark and apocalyptic.’
Thank you to @airmail.news for including The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year….
airmail.news/books/2025/1...
AIR MAIL's 10 Best Best Mystery of 2025
Don't miss "King of Ashes," by S.A. Cosby, "The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne," by Ron Currie, "The Killer Question," by Janice Hallett, and more.
airmail.news
December 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
‘Philip Miller hears England screaming. His version of post-Brexit, post-pandemic Great Britain, viewed through the investigative journalism of his heroine, Shona Sandison, is dark and apocalyptic.’
Thanks to @wsj.com for naming The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year alongside such fine writers including @damedenisemina.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
The Best Books of 2025: Mystery
Great crime fiction can take root almost anywhere—in a rock-strewn wilderness, a London legal sanctuary or a swanky Manhattan apartment tower.
www.wsj.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Thanks to @wsj.com for naming The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year alongside such fine writers including @damedenisemina.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
Reposted by Philip Miller
Our reviewers select the year’s outstanding books. Plus, 50 luminaries from politics, business and the arts share what they read in 2025. on.wsj.com/3Mzqeuj
The Best Books of 2025 and More
Our reviewers select the year’s outstanding books. Plus, 50 luminaries from politics, business and the arts share what they read in 2025.
on.wsj.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Our reviewers select the year’s outstanding books. Plus, 50 luminaries from politics, business and the arts share what they read in 2025. on.wsj.com/3Mzqeuj
Thank you to @airmail.news for including The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year….
airmail.news/books/2025/1...
AIR MAIL's 10 Best Best Mystery of 2025
Don't miss "King of Ashes," by S.A. Cosby, "The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne," by Ron Currie, "The Killer Question," by Janice Hallett, and more.
airmail.news
December 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Thank you to @airmail.news for including The Diary of Lies as a mystery book of the year….
airmail.news/books/2025/1...