A multi-million-selling Scottish crime author has this week released a new book four years after he feared he would die during lockdown.
Ed James (46), who lives in the Scottish Borders, released his new novel, ‘His Path of Darkness’ this week; a modern-day twist on James Hogg’s classic, ‘The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner’.
However the author, with 2.5m book sales and downloads to date, has revealed how a series of terrifying events involving his heart during the pandemic left him ‘staring into the void of his own mortality.’
Indeed, had it not been for the initial diagnostic skills of his local GP in Tweedbank, he fears he may not have seen the release of the work, the 6th in a series set in his Borders homeland.
The writer’s troubles stemmed from an ice-cold home-made smoothie he made himself back in 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown, ironically to boost his immune system.
Unbeknown to him, the freezing drink shocked his stomach, froze his vagal nerve and kicked his heart into Atrial Fibrillation, a condition which sent his heartbeat skyrocketing to 180bpm, even when simply walking his dogs or watching football on the sofa.
After being prescribed beta blockers and referred to a cardiologist at Borders General Hospital he was placed on the waiting list for Electrical Cardioversion to put his heart back into normal sinus rhythm.
After a 4 month wait due to Covid-related NHS backlogs, the procedure worked – after his heart had to be restarted six times using defibrillation paddles.
Worryingly, though, that was not the end of the crime author’s health ordeal, with a stroke possible at any time.
After enduring blood thinners and a drug which gave him sunburn in November, he suffered arrhythmia again and was booked in for further Cardioversion.
He was then referred to a cardiologist in Edinburgh for another procedure called catheter ablation, to burn away the electrical pathways to his heart.
With the procedure regarded as successful, he was given the all-clear in November 2023 only to suffer three further bouts of Atrial Fibrillation.
He is now on the waiting list for another catheter ablation after doctors discovered he was one of only 30% for whom the treatment does not fully work at the first attempt.
“I did fear I was going to die,” he admits. “Then there is the feeling you’ve survived something very serious. It makes you look at life differently. I’ve changed a lot of things in my life since then.
“Because I am an idiotic Scottish man in his forties who ignores medical issues, I could have had a stroke at any time. The NHS staff at Tweedbank and Edinburgh have been amazing.
“If my own GP hadn’t identified the problem and put me on beta blockers at the start, I dread to think what might have happened.
“What I’d say is that, if you feel your heart racing a few times, don’t ignore it. Don’t be like me. Go to the doctors immediately. Or even A&E.”
Whilst Ed has looked at life anew, his passion for Tartan Noir – and his place within that Scottish crime writing scene – hasn’t diminished.
‘His Path of Darkness’ – which borrows a quote from James Hogg’s ‘Confessions’ – is the sixth book in his DI Rob Marshall series, featuring a serial killer on the loose in close-knit Borders towns close to his home.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Hogg’s classic, regarded as one of Scotland’s finest, and the author wanted to give the Gothic masterpiece a modern-day rebirth.
“It was Scotland’s first serial killer novel, 200 years ago, so it was way ahead of its time. My villain’s motivations, in this book, stem from that one. Society may have moved on but evil still exists in the same way,” he says.
‘His Path of Darkness’ is available from 30th September 2024 from Amazon Kindle, Audible and in print from Ed’s own online bookshop, www.greydogbooks.co.uk.