Ryan MacDonald is a bestselling Scottish author and former police inspector with almost thirty years of experience in military and civilian policing. His career began with the Royal Air Force Police, including operational deployments overseas, before moving into civilian policing in Scotland, where he worked in counter-terrorism, criminal intelligence, major crime investigations, crime scene management and operational command.

He is the author of Blue Lights, Dark Mind, a number one bestselling memoir exploring his policing career and the psychological impact of frontline service, including his experiences of complex PTSD. His writing received recognition at the 2026 Page Turner Awards, where he was shortlisted in three categories: the Phoenix Award, Book Cover Award and Non-Fiction Book Award.

Ryan has secured a three-book publishing deal with Acorn & Ink Publishing for his Drummond Road Police Station crime series. His debut psychological crime thriller, Eight Minutes, is set in Dundee and draws on his professional experience to explore the realities of criminal investigations, the people behind them and the lasting consequences of crime.

He is also the author of The StrongMind Method Journal, a guided journal focused on resilience, recovery and mental wellbeing.

Now writing both fiction and non-fiction, Ryan has a particular interest in character-driven crime stories that explore the human side of policing, complex relationships and the personal consequences of serious crime.

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