Crime writer turned Traitors contestant Harriet Tyce has said her appearance on the show has transformed sales of her books and made her a sought-after guest at literary festivals.
The Edinburgh-born former barrister, 53, was best known for her psychological thrillers “Blood Orange”, translated into 27 languages, and “A Lesson in Cruelty”.
Her fifth novel, “Witch Trial”, set in Edinburgh, has been a huge success after she was a contestant on hit BBC reality show The Traitors earlier this year.
She told the Bloody Scotland podcast: “It’s been the most surreal year of my life. I didn’t know there were as many crime festivals in the UK or as many crime fiction fans.
“It’s been a brilliant few months since the show was aired. I’m loving it.
She said people now spot her in the supermarket, adding: “People say ‘I’m sure I know you’ and sometimes I’m like ‘no, maybe I’ve got that kind of face’, or I just say ‘yeah, did you watch Traitors’ and we just get it out of the way and move on.
“But I can’t lie, it’s had a massively positive effect on sales, and I’m being invited to things that I wasn’t previously invited to so that’s nice.
“Long may it last.”
Witch Trial is about a heart surgeon named Matthew, called to jury service on a murder trial of two teenage girls who believe they are witches, after the death of a schoolmate in a park in Edinburgh following a ritual gone wrong.
TV production companies have shown interest, with Tyce insisting any screen adaptation must also be set in the Scottish capital
She said: “I felt Edinburgh as a setting overall was a character (in the book).
“Any discussions I’ve had with production companies about potential options, the one condition I’ve put down is that it must be Edinburgh if it’s to get anywhere.”
She added: “It should have been obvious from the start, because of the history of witch trials, executions and persecution, it’s the perfect place.
“Edinburgh and North Berwick, I think I read, were into the thousands of people who died or were tortured in the late 1500s and early 1600s.”
Tyce kept her true identity under wraps throughout most of her spell in the fourth series of The Traitors, which finished in January.
She used her skills as a criminal barrister and crime novelist to correctly pinpoint Hugo and Rachel as traitors, before revealing her professional background to the group over breakfast in the castle.
Despite being one of the group’s faithfuls, her tactics backfired as she was banished at the round table, and Rachel went on to share the prize pot with fellow traitor Stephen.
* The Bloody Scotland international crime writing festival will run in Stirling from 18-20 September.
Related