It's Time for the Big Guns by Wendy H. Jones

However, not just big guns but little ones, antique ones, homegrown and foreign. Not just guns either, but swords, daggers and hand grenades. There is no limit to the places a crime writer will go to get a real feel for his or her book. Ensuring accuracy is crucial, or so I told myself as I found myself winding my way north to visit an armoury. I think my books are somewhat unique in that my Detective, DI Shona McKenzie, and her team run around the streets of Dundee with guns in their hands. This despite the fact the Scottish police are not armed. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Before you write to say I shouldn't do this, Police Scotland themselves told me I should. 

So, back to the armoury. I, and several other crime writers, spent the afternoon getting to know about, and handle, weapons of all shapes and sizes. I was particularly enamoured by the hand grenade. This is not fully loaded I may add, in fact it wasn't loaded at all but it was real. In fact here is the evidence. 

Everything, and everyone was fair game on the day. You should never let a bunch of crime writers loose in an armoury. You never know what chaos may ensue. I'm not quite sure why I am being picked on here but I was willing to defend myself to the death. 

Every weapon imaginable was here including swords and axes. I didn't know that swords had a special tiny part at the end of the hilt which was for crushing the skull through a helmet. This is called the pommel. I do now. This can be seen more clearly in the following photograph.

Who would have thought such a tiny piece of metal could cause so much damage. 

The most poignant part of the day was one special rifle. This was built in a concentration camp by jewish workers. It was then used by the germans in the war. From here it ended up in Israel and was used by the Israeli Defence Force. Having been in the Army, been to a concentration camp, and lived in Israel I found this tale to be emotional. 

I am sure that you will agree that being a crime writer means that research can take you in many different directions. This one was fascinating and a lot of fun. My advice to any writer is, if you get a chance to go to an armoury, grab it with both hands.

About the Author

Wendy lives, and writes, in Dundee Scotland. Her first book, Killer's Countdown, was published in November, 2014. The second book in the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries, Killer's Craft, was released on 20th July, 2015. The Third book, Killer's Cross, was released on 16th November, 2015. Power Packed Book Marketing: Sell More Books was released on 12th March 2016. You can find out more on her:

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