Plague plot of Bonnyrigg library assistant’s debut novel sounds familiar

A library assistant from Bonnyrigg has swapped looking after books to writing them, self publishing his first novel, released last week.

Ryan Sturrock with his debut novel Death’s Whisper, now available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon.

Ryan Sturrock’s novel ‘Death’s Whisper’ begins during the plague in 1645 Edinburgh, moving to the present day when the plague returns, with eerie similarities to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the 27-year-old, who works for Midlothian Library Service at Roslin Library, insists it is purely a coincidence, although admits it prompted him to finish the book. He said: “I started writing the book almost two years ago, long before Covid-19 came along. As the virus spread across the world, it gave me the push I needed to finish off the book which was quickly becoming eerily similar to the pandemic we are all currently living through.

“I’m not entirely sure if that will help or not. On one hand it’s current so it might interest some people, but it also might put people off as it could be a bit too close to home.

“I’m hoping for a good response overall. It’s primarily a horror novel with a tiny bit of historical fictions.

“If it was to take off it would be great to make a living as an author but I will have to see how it pans out.

“My mind is very active so there are always ideas of stories floating around in my head, so I hope to make a go of it and write more books.”

Ryan, who is also a DJ at Crystal FM in Penicuik, added: “Lockdown helped me find the time to finish it off. If it wasn’t for that it probably would have taken three or four more years to complete.

“However, although the libraries have been close since March, we have been doing different things, mainly house deliveries for people sheltering and isolating. And I was still doing my radio show, so I did have other things to keep me going other than the book.

“t’s my first one so we’ll see how it goes. It will be interesting to see what people think about it.

“Originally when I first came up with the idea, I saw it as a film, but the more I got into it I thought it could work as a novel. I’m just quite happy to see it finished at last.”