A FORMER Glasgow 'polis' will kill time talking about murder at WH Smith in Dunfermline on Saturday.

Thankfully the action is not on the streets but captured within RJ Mitchell's latest thriller, The Shift, and he'll be signing copies from 11am.

It's a welcome return for the author, a former cop turned journalist, who enjoyed a sell-out visit to the Dunfermline store in March.

Mr Mitchell described his writing as "gritty, uber-realistic action driven tartan noir" and told the Press: "It's the fourth book in the Glasgow detective series featuring DS Thoroughgood and The Shift is based on my own experiences as a real cop in Glasgow in 1989, interwoven with a fictionalised account of the Ice Cream War and the Northern Ireland troubles spilling over into Glasgow.

"It's been nominated for the People's Book Prize and has gone down pretty well, especially in Ireland funnily enough, so I'm really looking forward to a 14-stop signing tour of Scotland with WH Smith.

"You'll know Fife is a hotbed of top quality crime-writing and the people in Dunfermline were really friendly on my last visit in March.

"Hopefully I'll bump into some familiar faces and make some new acquaintances."

The Stirling author said his thrillers are full of "heartbreak, betrayal murder and revenge" and he'll be signing copies of The Shift at the High Street store until 3pm.

His first three books are Parallel Lines: The Glasgow Supremacy, The Hurting: The Glasgow Terror and The Longest Shadow.

Mr Mitchell has signed a four book deal with independent publishers McNidder & Grace and his next novel will be the fifth in the Thoroughgood series, The Blood Acre.