December 2021 – Literary Review
Crime novels of the year chosen by Natasha Cooper
Phosphate Rocks by Fiona Erskine (Sandstone Press). A fascinating mixture of detection, science and memoir by chemical engineer Fiona Erskine. Beautifully written and clever.
November 9 2021 – Forbes
.An engaging novel that…seamlessly blends…memoir and fiction, science and mystery, to create a compelling story that feels authentic, complete with a memorable community of real-life characters …
July 26 2021 – Read all about it – Interview with Paul Cuddihy
A chat about life, career and books with 5 questions
What’s your favourite book from childhood.
Favourite book from teenage/university (formative) years.
A book you would recommend to anyone.
A book you couldn’t be paid to read again.
The last book you read or are currently reading
https://podtail.com/podcast/read-all-about-it/fiona-erskine-writer-professional-engineer/
July 14 2021 – Spice Radio Interview
Wednesday 14th July 2021 – E&T Magazine
…the best mystery novelist ever to have taken up the quill in the name of chemistry…
Tuesday 22nd June 2021 – Edinburgh Evening News
Thursday 17th June 2021 – Publication day Phosphate Rocks – Review
I am not sure how to succinctly articulate the utter pleasure I experienced reading Phosphate Rocks. Or the anguish, the horror, the fascination or the fun. This book had it all and, when it was done, I wasn’t. I wanted more.
It’s funny then it’s tragic and I want you all to read this story too.
Phosphate Rocks, currently my book of the year. It will take something incredible to top this one.
Sunday 13th June – ZOOM panel Scottish Books Long Weekend – Edinburgh’s Underworld
June 2021 – Literary Review
An original and fascinating combination of memoir and crime novel.
Saturday 28th May 2021
Review of Phosphate Rocks by Angus Batey in The Quietus
There aren’t many works of fiction that come with footnotes, fewer where those footnotes include the equations that describe chemical reactions, so we’re on fairly solid ground if we were to suggest that Fiona Erskine’s Phosphate Rocks (Sandstone Press) may be unique.
A compound of fictionalised memoir, social and industrial history, chemistry textbook, and whowozit (as opposed to whodunnit), Phosphate Rocks takes more than a few risks, but there is a precise and scientific method to Erskine’s apparent madness…
…she succeeds brilliantly with what you sense was her main mission: rebuilding that plant, and giving its resurrected workforce a form of eternal life, in the mind of the reader.
Thursday 13th May 2021
Delighted to announce that Point Blank have bought Books 3 & 4 in the Jaq Silver series
Book 1 The Chemical Detective
Book 2 The Chemical Reaction
Book 3 The Chemical Cocktail
Book 4 TBA
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/point-blank-nets-two-more-erskine-thrillers-1259477
The Chemical Detective 