Unveiling Winter’s Secrets: Val McDermid’s Riveting Journey Through the Season’s Darkest Mysteries
Then there’s the rummage, a philosophy of soup-making passed down from McDermid’s mother. There’s no recipe — just stock, vegetables, and whatever else feels missing, simmered for a few hours to make a hearty, rich soup to stave off the winter chill.
My favorite is the Loony Dook, the newest of the local traditions in the book. On New Year’s Day, revellers brave freezing temperatures to plunge into the North Sea and ring in the New Year. The tradition started in Edinburgh and has since spread across the East Neuk of Fife, down to East Sands in St Andrews where I coincidentally spent a year studying for a Masters in Global History.
