The Bookseller of Inverness: a gripping historical thriller from the double prizewinning author

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Its a great story populated by unforgettable characters in whose company I would be happy to take to the heather. The author does an excellent job of describing the trauma of battle and its immediate aftermath as well as the long-term effects of losing a war and being under occupation by a hostile country. Out’ for Charles Edward Stuart, Prince or Young Pretender depending which side is naming him, Iain was badly wounded in the battle that brought the 1745 Jacobite rebellion to its bloody end, but he was luckier than the many hundreds of men who perished during the battle or in the reprisals that followed it. While reading the book, I did stop and brush up a bit on my Scottish history, the better to understand what was going on. From then on, the story gains pace as Iain puts himself into danger seeking out a missing book which may name those of his contemporaries who are traitors to the cause.

Certainly, he realises he can no longer leave the past behind and he finally gains real understanding of his charismatic father, Hector. And any World’s Fair is a great choice for time travel – personally I think I’d go for the Great Exhibition though. MacLean mentions in her notes that it was around this time that black people began to be mentioned in Scotland’s historical records, as Highlanders’ initially enforced connections with the slave-owning colonies were formed. The Scottish author SG MacLean is best known for her Seeker series and before that, the Alexander Seaton series originally published under the name Shona MacLean.The setting here is glorious – the smells, noises, language of the time are all here to soak into your conscious. I’m looking forward to the Alexander Seaton book as I remember it got great reviews when it first came out and I don’t know why it’s stayed unread on my TBR for so long! They wouldn’t let me on the plane because unfortunately when the aliens abducted me I was only wearing pyjamas and slippers. The plot is driven by character, and the conflicts and drives of the characters are driven by their world, language and experiences. The Jacobite rebellions may have been crushed, but the King over the Water still has many supporters.

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 has written four highly acclaimed historical thrillers set in Scotland, The Redemption of Alexander Seaton (shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger), A Game of Sorrows , Crucible of Secrets and The Devil's Recruit , and a series of historical thrillers set in Oliver Cromwell's London.From that moment, it was impossible to disconnect the place in my mind from what had happened there. I was swept up by aliens, who took me for a lovely ride in their balloon-shaped ship over North America when suddenly we were blasted out of the sky somewhere over Alaska. The characters -- Hector MacGillivray, his son Iain, the British 'redcoat' officers, the Grandes Dames and the other ladies -- are well drawn. This is never ‘heavy’ though and gives the reader enough to understand without burdening them with the weight of history. The dog is much more conducive to this kind of thing than the children, although I have realised that a close reading of my books reveals the true hero of most of them to be a canine.