He was editor of Scotland's leading daily newspaper, The Herald, for five years and editor of The Sunday Times Scotland. He has also held senior roles with The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. When he was Scottish correspondent of The Independent he reported on both the Lockerbie and Piper Alpha disasters. His career began as a student in South Africa where he edited the newspaper at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. After the apartheid government banned a number of editions, he was deported from the country. He is married with two children and lives in Edinburgh. The Sea Detective is his first novel.show more