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The Bookseller of Inverness

A Gripping Historical Thriller Set in Inverness During 1746 Battle of Culloden

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The Bookseller of Inverness

By: S.G. MacLean
Narrated by: David Monteath
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About this listen

 A gripping historical thriller set in Inverness in the wake of the 1746 battle of Culloden from twice CWA award-winning author S. G. MacLean. Perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom and Andrew Taylor.

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.

Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness. One day, after helping several of his regular customers, he notices a stranger lurking in the upper gallery of his shop, poring over his collection. But the man refuses to say what he's searching for and only leaves when Iain closes for the night.

The next morning Iain opens up shop and finds the stranger dead, his throat cut, and the murder weapon laid out in front of him - a sword with a white cockade on its hilt, the emblem of the Jacobites. With no sign of the killer, Iain wonders whether the stranger discovered what he was looking for - and whether he paid for it with his life. He soon finds himself embroiled in a web of deceit and a series of old scores to be settled in the ashes of war.

(P) 2022 Quercus Editions Limited©2022 Shona MacLean Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting

Critic reviews

Delivers everything you could possibly want from a historical crime novel, and then gives you a bit more on top. The Jacobites are a perennially fascinating subject, the ultimate forlorn hope of history, and MacLean provides a fresh and intriguing slant on it, clearly based on rock-solid research. She paints a memorable and densely textured picture of post-Culloden Inverness and its surroundings. She's on home ground here, and it shows. Her best yet
The Bookseller of Inverness is everything you could ask for from a historical thriller - gripping, immersive and filled with intriguing characters. S.G. MacLean can make any period sing with life. If you've not read her before, this is the perfect place to start
S. G. MacLean just goes from strength to strength. The Bookseller of Inverness is an intricately wrought, compulsively page-turning tale of intrigue set in a post-Rebellion Scotland so perfectly conjured and so convincing that you can smell the heather and taste the blood
Well-written and well-plotted, MacLean is gifted with a writing style that blends literary storytelling with a fast-paced mystery
This is an expertly plotted crime thriller built around the complexities of Jacobite histories: Walter Scott meets tartan noir
With its superbly realised scenes and spirited narration, this slice of historical fiction takes you on a wild ride
An excellent work of historical fiction: rooted in fact ... with the imagined characters and situations seamlessly stitched into recorded reality
A gripping and thought-provoking novel. Highly recommended
A twisting, absorbing plot
A triumphant return to Scotland for S. G. MacLean
All stars
Most relevant
I am a great admirer of Shona Maclean's novels, but this time felt that the story was not as convincing or enthralling plotwise as 'The Redemption of Alexander Seaton' and The Damian Seeker series. The research behind the novel is clearly detailed and amongst other insights includes the deportations to the Caribbean which were new to me. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of the titular character, the setting of the bookshop/early lending library and the people who worked there. However, I would have liked to have known more about Iain, Ishbel, Julia and life in Inverness at the time, and a little less about Hector who felt too much of the stock romantic hero. Unfortunately, I was never surprised by any twists in the plot, which also felt familiar. However, I do feel that this is a difficult era to write a truly original novel about as their have been so many romances and histories set in this period, and my criticisms are perhaps more down to my heightened expectations of Shona Maclean's writing and my familiarity with the historical setting. The narration is excellent. Recommended with reservations.

Great research, not so sure about the story

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Really recommend for anyone who likes historical fiction. The narration is also excellent I will be looking for more listens from the author🤗

Great Book

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I know it’s fiction but it’s great to find something that’s written from a Scottish perspective.

A Scottish story that serves Scottish people.

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This is one of the best. historical novels I have ever read It is brilliant and one does not need to be a history buff to understand it all and to be drawn into the intrigues of what went on during the time of the Jacobites and the battle of Culloden and set around a bookstore !!

History intrigue at its best

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I love history and Scotland. This book was interesting and informative. However, I found it a little laboured and at times slow.
Mine is a personal not general observation. And on reflection I wish I had bought and read the book myself.

Good but a like laboured

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