The Bookseller of Inverness: an absolutely gripping historical thriller from prizewinning author of the Seeker series

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This story is set in 18th century Inverness and explores the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. The main story is about solving politically motivated murders. After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drummossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades. During her on-the-spot research, Shona was caught up in serious floods, having to bale out of her hotel as the river rose, and witness very old buildings pump out water. Surprisingly this was my first experience of S. G. MacLean’s writing although I have heard many good things. A captivating, well paced, well researched story full of intrigue and treachery. There's some great characters, real and fictional. I really liked Donald Mór, his cat Morag, and the Grande Dames.

Although I’m rather tired of the Scottish obsession with the Jacobites, MacLean handles the historical aspects excellently, weaving real history seamlessly into her fictional plot. She takes the Jacobite side, as is de rigueur in modern Scotland – a bit like the Spanish Civil War, this period of history has been written mostly by the losers, and we all now like to pretend we’d have been Jacobites for the romance of it, however ahistorical that might be. But MacLean shows that there were good people and bad on both sides of the divide, and that honour wasn’t the sole preserve of the Jacobites. In this sense, it reminded me rather of DK Broster’s wonderful The Flight of the Heron trilogy, also seen from the Jacobite side but which also recognises that there were honourable people on the Hanoverian side. This is not, however, as romanticised as The Flight of the Heron – MacLean’s characters ring truer and this makes the book feel more modern, not in an anachronistic sense but in that they think and act as normal flawed humans, rather than as the impossibly virtuous Highlanders of Broster’s creation. As the story unfolds , the book explains the various intrigues and connections surrounding the Jacobite cause across the years. This is never ‘heavy’ though and gives the reader enough to understand without burdening them with the weight of history.

Alis Hawkins is the author of the Teifi Valley Coroner historical crime series and of medieval mysteries. The use of Gaelic in conversation and in names was an authentic touch as it would have been (and still is) in common usage in the Highlands and indeed is on the rise across Scotland - a current learner right here. Very much enjoyed the character of Donald Mòr the grumpy book binder who speaks almost exclusively in Gaelic and has time for nobody but a soft spot for the young Tormod. The fifth and final book in a gripping series of crime novels . . . the last outing does a credit to our 17th-century hero. I will miss Damian Seeker - The Times on The House of Lamentations Meanwhile, she is preparing for an appearance at The Wee Crime Festival hosted by The Bookmark in Grantown on Spey on October 28-29.

Luath Press takes its name from Robert Burns, whose little collie Luath (Gael., swift or nimble) tripped up Jean Armour at a wedding and gave him the chance to speak to the woman who was to be his wife and the abiding love of his life. Burns called one … At the end of the book you'll notice a well detailed Author's Note, where the important historical details, concerning this period of history, are superbly documented. Mary Paulson-Ellis was born in Glasgow and studied Politics and Sociology at Edinburgh University. She worked for several years in arts administration before giving it all up to become a writer. She began with an evening class as part of the Edinburgh …But ultimately, it’s the characters who make the book sing. The way in which their lives are changed forever by the murderous events at the heart of the plot draws the reader into their world and makes latter-day Jacobites of us. Even though history tells us that there were no more rebellions after 1745, we will the Elibank plot to be successful and the Highlanders freed from the oppression of the Hanoverians. Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes. The start of a new series set in Inverness. The story is about the Jacobite movement and the 1746 Battle of Culloden. Someone is left for dead on Drumossie Moor, and that is the start of the adventure into this historical epic of a novel. Six years on from Culloden, the man left for dead, Iain MacGillivray is now a bookkeeper in Inverness. One day, he notices a stranger searching his shelves for a particular book, but he feels he is after something else and that this stranger is not going to bring good news. And loss. The loss of many men, young and old, on the battlefield or afterwards in merciless manhunts.

If I’m walking along somewhere with lots of old buildings and ruins and things like that. I’m always trying to imagine what it was like.Maclean guides her characters through the twists of an intriguing plot with great aplomb - The Sunday Times on The House of Lamentations Her father, who was born in Daviot Manse not far from the battlefield, could make it sound as though the uprising had taken place yesterday when he spoke of the events.

Hector’s flamboyant delivery of himself into English hands, while repaying a debt of honour, could easily be seen as symbolic of some of the Prince’s more quixotic decisions and goes some way, perhaps, to explaining why, despite their passionate convictions, the Stuarts could not prevail against the ruthless pragmatism of the English state. This was an amazing historical fiction that captivated me right from the start and was a superb well paced tale that also managed to keep me wanting to know more. I wasn’t at all familiar with London, I’d hardly ever been there, I didn’t know the layout, the topography, there was a huge amount of work to be done. Own history This marvellous book is an awesome retelling about the hope and determination of another Jacobite rising within the Highland clans in Scotland who're supporting this cause of action. She’ll be appearing alongside Christopher Brookmyre, Douglas Skelton, G.R. Halliday, Michael Malone and Neil Lancaster.After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades. Shona was born in Inverness and grew up in Lochaber where her parents had the Roy Bridge Hotel. Highland roots