Behind The Novel
PhD Research: Adaptation, Crime, and Creative Practice
I am currently undertaking a practice-based PhD titled Based on the Novel By, which explores Scottish crime fiction and adaptation theory at the University of Dundee. My research examines how crime narratives evolve when adapted across mediums, with a particular focus on the ethical and structural tensions that arise when the adapter is also the creator.
At the centre of the project is Be Nice or Leave, a psychological crime story developed first as a four-part television drama and now being reimagined as a novel. The creative and critical strands work in tandem, allowing me to interrogate questions of authorship, control, and complicity within both the narrative and the adaptation process.
My approach challenges traditional hierarchies in adaptation theory, placing equal value on screenplay and novel, and foregrounds the blurred boundaries between professional, personal, and criminal domains. The work is grounded in Scottish settings and sensibilities, drawing on the dark traditions of Tartan Noir while subverting genre expectations through structure, perspective, and pacing.
Research interests include:
- Creative-critical methodologies
- Adaptation as authorship
- Scottish crime fiction and its evolution
- Intersections of gender, power, and narrative structure
- Practice-led research in screenwriting and prose
This research contributes to wider conversations around how crime fiction reflects (and refracts) social truths, and how form can shape the way we experience justice, guilt, and ambiguity.
Note: This page is part of the broader research dissemination for my practice-based PhD at the University of Dundee. While it supports scholarly inquiry into adaptation and crime fiction, it is also intended as an open resource for readers, writers, and creatives curious about the evolution of Be Nice or Leave, a psychological crime story rooted in Scottish settings and real-world tensions.
I believe that behind every story is a deeper question, and that research should invite conversation, not just citation.