The Needle Room

A heart-pounding thriller set in Lanark in 1934 by Martin Travers.

Hit’s no the ayebidin damnation A’m wirried aboot. Hit’s the needle. Pittin hit intae ma airm. A micht be needin a haund tae dae hit.

Lanark, June 1934. Despite her brutal upbringing, Rebecca McCrea has always believed in doing what’s right. Now everything is going wrong. As housekeeper of Castlepark, home of the wealthy Galbraith family, Rebecca
has learned to manage the whims of her employers. She cooks, cleans and tries to make peace between matriarch Jessie and her bitterly estranged son, Duncan.

But when Clydesdale is gripped by a vicious heatwave and Jessie’s health suddenly declines, terrible secrets erupt - and even Rebecca has something to hide. The bleak future she’s worked so hard to escape is suddenly on the doorstep, and she must make an unthinkable choice.

This edition was published to coincide with Braw Clan’s tour of Clydesdale in September 2025.