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The Bookseller of Inverness
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.
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.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 755 reviews
July 18, 2022
After The Seeker historical series, the award winning SG MacLean returns with this well researched piece of historical fiction set in Inverness focusing on the Jacobite movement after the crushing defeat at the 1746 Battle of Culloden. It is where Iain MacGillivray is left for dead on Drumossie Moor, next to the dead body of his beloved cousin, Laclan. Traumatised and scarred, his face brutally slashed, he makes it out alive with the Redcoats patrolling the corpses of his Jacobite comrades by feigning death. Six years later in 1752, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a very different and quiet life, he is no longer the outgoing man he used to be, and is working as a bookseller in Inverness, with his assistant Richard Dempster, and the talented bookbinder, Donald Mor.
Amongst several of his regular customers, there is a stranger lurking in the upper gallery of his shop, desperately searching his collection, refusing to say what he wants and only leaving when Iain closes for the night. When Ian returns to the bookshop the following morning, there is the shocking sight of 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. In a town where the spirit of Jacobite rebellion is far from dead, where allegience to the Stuart cause often comes before family, Ian soon finds himself in danger and mired in a web of deceit, death and intrigue. He looks for a missing book of forbidden names bought as part of the book collection owned by the Old Fox, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, that appears to hold the answer as to why certain people are being found dead.
MacLean atmospherically evokes this historical period with skill, immersing the reader in the culture, politics and the complex community loyalties and the marvellous Highland location of Inverness. The highlight for me were the stellar characters the author created, such as Ian, his grandmother, Mairi and the Grandes Dames, Hector, Donald, Ishbel MacLeod, the confectioner, and young Tormod, who effortlessly steals the show. This is an enthralling and riveting historical read, a blend of fact and fiction, that will likely appeal to those interested in Scottish history and the repercussions of the Battle of Culloden. I am not sure if this is the first in a series, but I hope it is as I loved so many of the characters here. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
Amongst several of his regular customers, there is a stranger lurking in the upper gallery of his shop, desperately searching his collection, refusing to say what he wants and only leaving when Iain closes for the night. When Ian returns to the bookshop the following morning, there is the shocking sight of 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. In a town where the spirit of Jacobite rebellion is far from dead, where allegience to the Stuart cause often comes before family, Ian soon finds himself in danger and mired in a web of deceit, death and intrigue. He looks for a missing book of forbidden names bought as part of the book collection owned by the Old Fox, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, that appears to hold the answer as to why certain people are being found dead.
MacLean atmospherically evokes this historical period with skill, immersing the reader in the culture, politics and the complex community loyalties and the marvellous Highland location of Inverness. The highlight for me were the stellar characters the author created, such as Ian, his grandmother, Mairi and the Grandes Dames, Hector, Donald, Ishbel MacLeod, the confectioner, and young Tormod, who effortlessly steals the show. This is an enthralling and riveting historical read, a blend of fact and fiction, that will likely appeal to those interested in Scottish history and the repercussions of the Battle of Culloden. I am not sure if this is the first in a series, but I hope it is as I loved so many of the characters here. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
May 14, 2025
Do you remember a time when we were halfway human, in blissful ignorance of the iron rails of appetency that impelled our parents toward a life of drudgery?
I do.
But at uni I discovered that that life of drudgery began for Everyone in the late eighteenth century, at the time in which this novel is set.
It was called The Industrial Revolution. We were about to be saved from work by Machines.
Oh, yeah?
Instead we became stressed out, cynical and angst-ridden.
***
This is a novel of The ill-fated Jacobean Rebellion, mercilessly crushed by the British war machine which ran on those highly regimented iron rails of appetency.
It was the last gasp of the Old vs the New!
And dear to those of us whose sympathies are with the Celtic Catholic diaspora.
***
I know it's no secret to any of you that I prefer the Old Ways.
And you'll see in this novel, if you're anything like me, an expertly told tale (one of my FAVORITES of 2024) of our resistance to the machine.
What's not to love? Blood ‘n Thunder Romance. Warm human passion. Hatred of the War Machine. A battle to the death for the last rags of our humanity.
And the true Face of our modern Freedom to Worship.
Buy it!
You won't regret it.
I do.
But at uni I discovered that that life of drudgery began for Everyone in the late eighteenth century, at the time in which this novel is set.
It was called The Industrial Revolution. We were about to be saved from work by Machines.
Oh, yeah?
Instead we became stressed out, cynical and angst-ridden.
***
This is a novel of The ill-fated Jacobean Rebellion, mercilessly crushed by the British war machine which ran on those highly regimented iron rails of appetency.
It was the last gasp of the Old vs the New!
And dear to those of us whose sympathies are with the Celtic Catholic diaspora.
***
I know it's no secret to any of you that I prefer the Old Ways.
And you'll see in this novel, if you're anything like me, an expertly told tale (one of my FAVORITES of 2024) of our resistance to the machine.
What's not to love? Blood ‘n Thunder Romance. Warm human passion. Hatred of the War Machine. A battle to the death for the last rags of our humanity.
And the true Face of our modern Freedom to Worship.
Buy it!
You won't regret it.
April 23, 2025
An EXCELLENT read whether you love historical fiction, Scotland, mysteries, or just reading a really good book…you should read this!
June 16, 2023
Interesting story of Jacobite betrayal and revenge, where fact and fiction are well combined. There was a detailed sense of the time period, and the tension of living in a post civil war society was effectively portrayed.
August 7, 2022
Absolutely loved it, cannot wait for the next one
January 27, 2025
A friend recommended this book before I visited Edinburgh last year. I found it on the trip in an Oxfam shop brought it home and then it sat on my shelf. A few nights ago I was fussing about something to read that promised a good mystery. This book was that and so much more. I recently read Say Nothing about the time of the Troubles in Ireland. Reading this spoke to me of a time of the Scottish Troubles. Yes there is a mystery, a good one, who is doing all the killing--there are a number of bodies piled up along the way. But I felt the history actually had the driver's seat in this. At times I almost forgot about the killer and wanted more of the background that fleshed out this time of troubles when Highlanders fought and died in order to bring the House of Stuart back to the throne.
My knowledge of this time in Scottish history is sketchy at best. I had to go back into Wiki to get a better idea of these times and events. It is a Jacobite mystery that begins with the last battle of the uprising on the field of Culloden (1746). Here we meet Iain MacGilliveay, a Jacobite wounded during the battle who manages to survive and ends up being the Bookseller of the title.
One night in his bookshop a man comes in looking for a book but refuses assistance. With the closing of the shop he leaves empty handed but the next morning when Iain returns this stranger is found dead. Later the bookseller figures out the title this stranger was looking for and may have found is a book rumored to have a list of the traitors to the Jacobite cause--known as The Book of Forbidden Names. Who has it? Was this man killed for revenge or to protect someone's name? Whose names are on the list and can the killer be stopped before more are murdered? Its a grand chase with lots of suspects.
Along the way there is great historical recaps of various battles and the consequences of these for the people and community involved.
4.5 stars. Loved it. Fast read with so much history woven in. If you loved Gabaldon's Outlander series or just want a good historical fiction mystery I would highly recommend this.
My knowledge of this time in Scottish history is sketchy at best. I had to go back into Wiki to get a better idea of these times and events. It is a Jacobite mystery that begins with the last battle of the uprising on the field of Culloden (1746). Here we meet Iain MacGilliveay, a Jacobite wounded during the battle who manages to survive and ends up being the Bookseller of the title.
One night in his bookshop a man comes in looking for a book but refuses assistance. With the closing of the shop he leaves empty handed but the next morning when Iain returns this stranger is found dead. Later the bookseller figures out the title this stranger was looking for and may have found is a book rumored to have a list of the traitors to the Jacobite cause--known as The Book of Forbidden Names. Who has it? Was this man killed for revenge or to protect someone's name? Whose names are on the list and can the killer be stopped before more are murdered? Its a grand chase with lots of suspects.
Along the way there is great historical recaps of various battles and the consequences of these for the people and community involved.
4.5 stars. Loved it. Fast read with so much history woven in. If you loved Gabaldon's Outlander series or just want a good historical fiction mystery I would highly recommend this.
August 28, 2024
“On his desk lay a dirk like the one he had once habitually carried, before the bearing of arms or the wearing of tartan had been forbidden to Highlanders. Tied to the hilt of his knife, though, was a white silk rosette. Iain’s heart began to quicken. It was the white cockade, as worn in his own blue bonnet and in that of practically every other soldier of the prince’s army in the ’45. The white cockade, the most recognisable of all the Jacobite symbols, on the hilt of the knife that had been used to cut the throat of the man sitting dead in his locked bookshop.”
This is a historical novel which is something which Maclean specialises in, although this is a stand alone. It is set in 1752 and deals with the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion and the Battle of Culloden. The protagonist is Iain MacGillivray who is now is his mid thirties and runs a bookshop in Inverness (hence the title).
At one level this is an adventure story about the Jacobite rebellions and the struggle against the Crown and establishment. In this case there is plot, twists and action with a heavy dose of suspense. If you like that sort of thing it works. Books also play a part, which is always a plus.
There is more though. It charts what happened to some of the rebels after Culloden. Many Jacobites who were captured were sent into indentured servitude in America or the Caribbean. Many died there and some returned. Another aspect of the glorious empire!
There is also the aspect of occupation. In the novel, as at the time, there are occupying forces in Scotland, the redcoats of the army are obvious and on the streets. Maclean portrays a society still feeling the effects of the rebellion, the seizure of land, the executions, both sides still searching for those who had helped the other side. Maclean also depicts a traumatised community rather well.
This works ok, Maclean tells a good story and it does work on two levels and is a bit of a narrative tutorial on Scotland in the early 1750s.
This is a historical novel which is something which Maclean specialises in, although this is a stand alone. It is set in 1752 and deals with the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion and the Battle of Culloden. The protagonist is Iain MacGillivray who is now is his mid thirties and runs a bookshop in Inverness (hence the title).
At one level this is an adventure story about the Jacobite rebellions and the struggle against the Crown and establishment. In this case there is plot, twists and action with a heavy dose of suspense. If you like that sort of thing it works. Books also play a part, which is always a plus.
There is more though. It charts what happened to some of the rebels after Culloden. Many Jacobites who were captured were sent into indentured servitude in America or the Caribbean. Many died there and some returned. Another aspect of the glorious empire!
There is also the aspect of occupation. In the novel, as at the time, there are occupying forces in Scotland, the redcoats of the army are obvious and on the streets. Maclean portrays a society still feeling the effects of the rebellion, the seizure of land, the executions, both sides still searching for those who had helped the other side. Maclean also depicts a traumatised community rather well.
This works ok, Maclean tells a good story and it does work on two levels and is a bit of a narrative tutorial on Scotland in the early 1750s.
May 24, 2023
I absolutely loved this. I think it is this talented author’s best yet. This is a difficult and complex period of British history and yet it evoked the post Culloden Inverness and its inhabitants so clearly that I became totally engrossed. I loved all the characters too.
October 19, 2022
Page Turner after the battle of culloden and shona doesn't disappoint with this latest book
November 5, 2023
A slice of suspenseful historical fiction set just after the Battle of Culloden and the end of the 1945 Jacobite uprising. Outlander without the time travelling nonsense. A great sense of atmosphere in a city divided between Jacobites and Hanovrians, rich in historical detail and with an intriguing plot. Good stuff.
July 29, 2022
It took me a while to get into The Bookseller of Inverness. There’s a huge cast of characters and a lot of backstory squeezed into the opening chapters. Even the prologue is in two parts, thirty years apart. I have to admit, if I wasn’t a massive fan of Maclean’s Seeker novels, I probably wouldn’t have persevered. Eventually, though, the story gets going, with strong characterisation, a twisty plot and some great set-piece scenes. The backdrop is a brilliantly portrayed insight into the aftermath of Culloden and the impact of defeat on the Highland Jacobites, full of stories of cruelty, courage and conflict.
*
I received a copy of The Bookseller of Inverness from the publisher.
*
I received a copy of The Bookseller of Inverness from the publisher.
July 6, 2023
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.
The author has clearly done a lot of research into this period. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have due to it feeling weighed-down with too much description. This came at the expense of building the plot and developing characters and relationships. It wasn't a bad book, but I struggled to get into reading it and was left feeling ambivalent. Perhaps one for readers who are more keen on the setting and history than the main story.
The author has clearly done a lot of research into this period. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have due to it feeling weighed-down with too much description. This came at the expense of building the plot and developing characters and relationships. It wasn't a bad book, but I struggled to get into reading it and was left feeling ambivalent. Perhaps one for readers who are more keen on the setting and history than the main story.
August 6, 2023
‘To the King over the Water.’
After an introductory note setting the scene for the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, the novel opens with two prologues. The first, set in London in May 1716 deals with an escape of Jacobite prisoners from Newgate. The second, takes us to Drummossie Moor on the 16th of April 1746. Iain MacGillivray lies injured on the moor after the battle of Culloden. He survives by pretending to be dead as Cumberland’s redcoated soldiers patrol the moor.
Six years later, in 1752, Iain MacGillivray is a bookseller in Inverness. He leads a quiet life. The Jacobite rebellions may have been crushed, but the King over the Water still has many supporters. One day, after serving several of his regular customers, Iain notices a man searching through the books in the upper gallery of his shop. The man will not say what he is looking for, and only leaves when Iain closes the shop for the night.
‘The white cockade, the most recognisable of all the Jacobite symbols, …’
The next morning, after opening the shop, Iain finds the stranger dead. His throat has been cut. A sword is laid in front of him: it has a white cockade tied to its hilt. Who killed him, and why?
Reluctantly, Iain is pulled into the past. His father, whom he has not seen for years, a close confidante of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Teàrlach Eideard in Scots Gaelic) appears in Inverness. What unfolds is a complicated web of intrigue as supporters of the prince seek his return as well as revenge on those they perceive to be traitors. There is a huge cast of characters, both real and fictional. I especially liked the bookbinder Donald Mór, Ishbel MacLeod and her boy Tormod.
I really enjoyed this novel. My ancestors fought on the Jacobite side at Culloden, and I find the history both tragic and fascinating. If you have any interest in this period of history, then I recommend this novel. It is the first of Ms MacLean’s novels I have read: I’ll be adding her others to my reading list.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
After an introductory note setting the scene for the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, the novel opens with two prologues. The first, set in London in May 1716 deals with an escape of Jacobite prisoners from Newgate. The second, takes us to Drummossie Moor on the 16th of April 1746. Iain MacGillivray lies injured on the moor after the battle of Culloden. He survives by pretending to be dead as Cumberland’s redcoated soldiers patrol the moor.
Six years later, in 1752, Iain MacGillivray is a bookseller in Inverness. He leads a quiet life. The Jacobite rebellions may have been crushed, but the King over the Water still has many supporters. One day, after serving several of his regular customers, Iain notices a man searching through the books in the upper gallery of his shop. The man will not say what he is looking for, and only leaves when Iain closes the shop for the night.
‘The white cockade, the most recognisable of all the Jacobite symbols, …’
The next morning, after opening the shop, Iain finds the stranger dead. His throat has been cut. A sword is laid in front of him: it has a white cockade tied to its hilt. Who killed him, and why?
Reluctantly, Iain is pulled into the past. His father, whom he has not seen for years, a close confidante of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Teàrlach Eideard in Scots Gaelic) appears in Inverness. What unfolds is a complicated web of intrigue as supporters of the prince seek his return as well as revenge on those they perceive to be traitors. There is a huge cast of characters, both real and fictional. I especially liked the bookbinder Donald Mór, Ishbel MacLeod and her boy Tormod.
I really enjoyed this novel. My ancestors fought on the Jacobite side at Culloden, and I find the history both tragic and fascinating. If you have any interest in this period of history, then I recommend this novel. It is the first of Ms MacLean’s novels I have read: I’ll be adding her others to my reading list.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 23, 2024
Oy Vey! I really wanted to love this. Great synopsis not a great delivery. I didn't connect with any characters.
July 19, 2022
Ex Jacobite soldier Iain MacGillivray is trying to live a peaceful life, that is until he discovers a customer, murdered in his bookshop, and lying next to the murder weapon is a white cockade. Iain is pulled into a web of deceit and a past he can't forget.
This is a fabulous historical fiction set in Inverness six years after the battle of Culloden.
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.
I was nearly in tears at the end.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.
This is a fabulous historical fiction set in Inverness six years after the battle of Culloden.
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.
I was nearly in tears at the end.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.
May 11, 2025
Vēsturisks detektīvstāsts par Culloden kaujas sekām un dzīvi pēc pēdējās jakobītu sacelšanās. Grāmattirgotājs, noslēpumaina grāmata, nodevēju saraksts un mazliet asiņu.
No stāsta gaidīju ko vairāk, bet tā kā vēsturiskos romānus tagad lasu reti, nevaru baigi spriest, laikam jau tik slikti nemaz nebija. Vēsturiskais fons atklāts perfekti - gaidīju, kad ap stūri iznāks Džeimijs un Klēra Freizeri, daudzas pieminētās vietas ir apmeklētas dzīvē, tāpēc lasīt bija aizraujoši. Pa kādam pārsteiguma momentam arī bija, un autores valoda ir mēreni poētiska. Man pietrūka precīzāka galveno varoņu izstrāde. Grāmatas lielāko daļu aizņem Invernesas grāmattirgotāja TĒVA piedzīvojumi, pašu Ījanu atstājot kā novērotāju.
No stāsta gaidīju ko vairāk, bet tā kā vēsturiskos romānus tagad lasu reti, nevaru baigi spriest, laikam jau tik slikti nemaz nebija. Vēsturiskais fons atklāts perfekti - gaidīju, kad ap stūri iznāks Džeimijs un Klēra Freizeri, daudzas pieminētās vietas ir apmeklētas dzīvē, tāpēc lasīt bija aizraujoši. Pa kādam pārsteiguma momentam arī bija, un autores valoda ir mēreni poētiska. Man pietrūka precīzāka galveno varoņu izstrāde. Grāmatas lielāko daļu aizņem Invernesas grāmattirgotāja TĒVA piedzīvojumi, pašu Ījanu atstājot kā novērotāju.
May 1, 2023
I was wandering around Waterstones in Inverness when I stumbled across The Bookseller of Inverness. While I was standing there browsing the book, thinking what a great buy it would be from Inverness, a bookseller materialised next to me and praised it to high heavens. They mentioned that they loved it and the historical detail provided by the author is immersive and engaging. Even though this isn't my usual genre at all - a mystery in a historical setting - I decided to pick it up and give it a go!
The first half of the book was an engaging read. The 18th century Inverness is well described and I was eager to note many places that I have visited. But once the mystery takes hold of the plot, the book starts to drag. The characters rush around the Highlands with little motivation behind their actions (or at least I didn't understand those motivations). Historical detail is dropped here and there, but most of it seems directed towards a reader who is well versed in Jacobite events. To a historically-ignorant reader like myself, the information is inaccessible. The main character seemed interesting as a bookseller with a dark past, but in the second half he seems as clueless as I was.
There is also a lot telling without showing here. Instead of flashbacks on characters' past, we get someone telling the main character what happened. The reader doesn't get to listen in on risky plans, but instead we get vague handwaving that there may be a plan maybe followed by the main character's limited perception of the events as they happen (and he usually focuses on the wrong things). Only much later, one of the characters bothers to tell what is going on. I strongly feel that this isn't one of those mysteries where the reader can figure out what is going on because there are so many characters and unknown constraints on twists.
Overall, I think the motivations behind many of the actions seemed abstract to me. The main plot occurs in search of an artefact, and it wasn't clear to me why it exists. This left me detached from the main story.
All that said, I need to point out that this isn't my usual genre, and I think the book would work much better for readers who are familiar with 18th century Scottish history. It was definitely fun to read it in Inverness, spotting the places referenced in the book.
The first half of the book was an engaging read. The 18th century Inverness is well described and I was eager to note many places that I have visited. But once the mystery takes hold of the plot, the book starts to drag. The characters rush around the Highlands with little motivation behind their actions (or at least I didn't understand those motivations). Historical detail is dropped here and there, but most of it seems directed towards a reader who is well versed in Jacobite events. To a historically-ignorant reader like myself, the information is inaccessible. The main character seemed interesting as a bookseller with a dark past, but in the second half he seems as clueless as I was.
There is also a lot telling without showing here. Instead of flashbacks on characters' past, we get someone telling the main character what happened. The reader doesn't get to listen in on risky plans, but instead we get vague handwaving that there may be a plan maybe followed by the main character's limited perception of the events as they happen (and he usually focuses on the wrong things). Only much later, one of the characters bothers to tell what is going on. I strongly feel that this isn't one of those mysteries where the reader can figure out what is going on because there are so many characters and unknown constraints on twists.
Overall, I think the motivations behind many of the actions seemed abstract to me. The main plot occurs in search of an artefact, and it wasn't clear to me why it exists. This left me detached from the main story.
All that said, I need to point out that this isn't my usual genre, and I think the book would work much better for readers who are familiar with 18th century Scottish history. It was definitely fun to read it in Inverness, spotting the places referenced in the book.
September 11, 2022
Hope this is the beginning of a series
I am a big fan of SJ MacLeans Seeker series and her books set in Scotland and I was not disappointed by the Bookseller of Inverness. It is set in the years following Culloden as the surviving Jacobites try to go on with lives shattered by war, betrayal, and the occupation of their country. Its a great story populated by unforgettable characters in whose company I would be happy to take to the heather. I would love to read more about Iain Ban MacGillivray, Ishbal, Hector and the other fascinating characters who come alive in these pages.
I am a big fan of SJ MacLeans Seeker series and her books set in Scotland and I was not disappointed by the Bookseller of Inverness. It is set in the years following Culloden as the surviving Jacobites try to go on with lives shattered by war, betrayal, and the occupation of their country. Its a great story populated by unforgettable characters in whose company I would be happy to take to the heather. I would love to read more about Iain Ban MacGillivray, Ishbal, Hector and the other fascinating characters who come alive in these pages.
July 31, 2024
Seemed to take ages to get into the story proper - enjoyed the period and setting though, very much.
March 8, 2023
Will Ye No Come Back Again?
Six years after Culloden, Iain MacGillivray is running a bookshop and bindery in Inverness. ‘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. An uneasy peace reigns in the Highlands now, enforced by the red-coated soldiers of the ruling Hanoverian King. But Jacobite hopes are still simmering, and those loyal to the cause constantly await word from France where Prince Charlie and his father live in exile, ready to raise the clans and fight again. When Iain opens his bookshop one morning and finds a man there, murdered, the Jacobite symbol of the white cockade tied to the hilt of the dagger that killed him makes it clear that the death is in some way related to the cause. And then Hector, Iain’s father, turns up, fresh from France where he is an agent of the exiled King…
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.
The initial plot itself is probably the weakest part of the book, although it’s just about strong enough to carry it. It soon becomes clear that someone is seeking revenge against people who betrayed the Jacobite cause in the earlier rising, in 1715. Although we follow Hector’s and Iain’s investigations into this aspect, much is withheld from the reader, and indeed Hector withholds important information from Iain till late in the story. Oddly, despite this, I had a good idea of who both the avenger and the last victim were going to be, and I put this down to the fact that there weren’t enough credible possibilities. However, there’s a secondary plot which grows in importance as the book wears on, and this is much more successful, involving a possible new uprising and the fear that a traitor is still at work.
The strength of the book is in the characterisation, especially of Iain but of all the other main characters too, and in the portrayal of the town and the historical setting. Iain’s grandmother is one of the “Grandes Dames”, a small group of old ladies who have lost husbands, brothers and sons in the earlier rebellions, but who still have absolute loyalty to the King Over the Water, and who provide the backbone that keeps the spirit of the cause strong even during these years of oppression. There are younger women too – Julia, a young lady of twenty-seven, whose mother is frantic to marry her off before she is irrevocably classed as a spinster; and Ishbel, one of the many Highlanders who were forcibly transported to America and the West Indies following the failed rebellion to serve as indentured servants – slaves, essentially, but with the possibility of freedom after serving for a period of years. Ishbel has now returned, accompanied by a mixed race child whom she is bringing up as her son, and who is an enjoyable and mischievous character in his own right. 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.
Hector is the most enjoyable character – a kind of adventurer, good-looking and charming and with an eye for the ladies, who have an eye for him too! Although he’s been an absent father for most of Iain’s life, they still have a strong bond of love, and Hector’s arrival stirs Iain back to life from the kind of dull stagnation he has felt since the defeat at Culloden. The latter stages of the book take on aspects of the thriller, and again MacLean handles this very well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found it a quick read which kept me turning those pages enthusiastically. I’m not sure whether there will be a follow up – it ends quite neatly – but if there is, I’ll certainly be reading it!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus, via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Six years after Culloden, Iain MacGillivray is running a bookshop and bindery in Inverness. ‘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. An uneasy peace reigns in the Highlands now, enforced by the red-coated soldiers of the ruling Hanoverian King. But Jacobite hopes are still simmering, and those loyal to the cause constantly await word from France where Prince Charlie and his father live in exile, ready to raise the clans and fight again. When Iain opens his bookshop one morning and finds a man there, murdered, the Jacobite symbol of the white cockade tied to the hilt of the dagger that killed him makes it clear that the death is in some way related to the cause. And then Hector, Iain’s father, turns up, fresh from France where he is an agent of the exiled King…
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.
The initial plot itself is probably the weakest part of the book, although it’s just about strong enough to carry it. It soon becomes clear that someone is seeking revenge against people who betrayed the Jacobite cause in the earlier rising, in 1715. Although we follow Hector’s and Iain’s investigations into this aspect, much is withheld from the reader, and indeed Hector withholds important information from Iain till late in the story. Oddly, despite this, I had a good idea of who both the avenger and the last victim were going to be, and I put this down to the fact that there weren’t enough credible possibilities. However, there’s a secondary plot which grows in importance as the book wears on, and this is much more successful, involving a possible new uprising and the fear that a traitor is still at work.
The strength of the book is in the characterisation, especially of Iain but of all the other main characters too, and in the portrayal of the town and the historical setting. Iain’s grandmother is one of the “Grandes Dames”, a small group of old ladies who have lost husbands, brothers and sons in the earlier rebellions, but who still have absolute loyalty to the King Over the Water, and who provide the backbone that keeps the spirit of the cause strong even during these years of oppression. There are younger women too – Julia, a young lady of twenty-seven, whose mother is frantic to marry her off before she is irrevocably classed as a spinster; and Ishbel, one of the many Highlanders who were forcibly transported to America and the West Indies following the failed rebellion to serve as indentured servants – slaves, essentially, but with the possibility of freedom after serving for a period of years. Ishbel has now returned, accompanied by a mixed race child whom she is bringing up as her son, and who is an enjoyable and mischievous character in his own right. 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.
Hector is the most enjoyable character – a kind of adventurer, good-looking and charming and with an eye for the ladies, who have an eye for him too! Although he’s been an absent father for most of Iain’s life, they still have a strong bond of love, and Hector’s arrival stirs Iain back to life from the kind of dull stagnation he has felt since the defeat at Culloden. The latter stages of the book take on aspects of the thriller, and again MacLean handles this very well.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found it a quick read which kept me turning those pages enthusiastically. I’m not sure whether there will be a follow up – it ends quite neatly – but if there is, I’ll certainly be reading it!
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Quercus, via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
September 23, 2024
I am a Scot, Clan Mc Lean. I’ve been to Culloden & Clava Cairns. Loved this deeply researched & well written story of the years following Bonnie Prince Charlie’s futile effort to claim the Stuart throne!
March 23, 2025
3.5 🏴🏴🏴
August 3, 2022
![The Bookseller of Invernes](https://www.thebooktrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1-bookseller.jpg")
Discover the locations in the Bookseller of Inverness
If you have ever wanted to go back in time to a dangerous yet captivating period of history, this is the book for you. It’s not just a book, it’s a literary time machine.
I opened the book and then BAM, straight back to just after the Battle of Culloden. Iain MacGillivray has been left for dead on Drumossie Moor. He feigns death but then we meet him again several years later, now working as a bookseller of Inverness. He has adopted a quite life. Well, at least that’s what he thinks.
There’s something afoot you see. Talk about atmosphere and compelling foreshadowing. I knew something was up – someone is lurking in his bookshop and he confronts Iain, saying he will not leave until he’s found it. It’;s only when the shop shuts that he eventually leaves. Howver, the next morning, when Iain comes to open the door, he finds the stranger dead, his throat cut and a sword lying beside the body. The sword wuth the emblem of the Jacobites on it…..
Now, the book has barely got started at this point, so you can imagine the thrills and spills to come! Even if you arent’ familiar with the Scottish history in the book, never fear as Maclean is here. Just enough detail to take you there but you wou’t feel as if you’re in a classroom. This is real and gritty historical drama that you, the reader, are part of! If you’re having a bad day, think of what poor Iain is going through. He’s a humble bookseller but at at time when the Jacobie rebelliion is still alive and well, certain alleagiances can have a man killed.
The mystery is centreed around a missing book of names, which is part of a greater collection. This book seems to hold the key as to why so many people are being killed. Now THAT is what you call a powerful read.
The setting here is glorious – the smells, noises, language of the time are all here to soak into your conscious. It’s the characters that make it, the historical overtones, the Scottish background and the idea of a bookseller with a mysterious book.
Highly recommended for many reasons.
September 2, 2023
4.5 stars
Excellent historical fiction dealing with Bonnie Prince Charlie's attempts to retake the throne in 1745 and its years-long aftermath.
An exciting story full of intrigue, betrayal, and murderous revenge. I had a hard time putting down the book whenever Real Life interfered with my reading time. The author does a great job in bringing the time, place, and characters to life.
I loved our hero, Iain MacGillivray, Jacobite survivor of Culloden, now trying to live a quiet life as a bookseller. I also loved Ishbel MacLeod, mother of young Tormod, who is frightened of something, and Julia Rose, who has an overbearing mother. Another favorite of mine was Major Philip Thornlie, an engineer with the British Military Survey.
This one is a keeper.
Excellent historical fiction dealing with Bonnie Prince Charlie's attempts to retake the throne in 1745 and its years-long aftermath.
An exciting story full of intrigue, betrayal, and murderous revenge. I had a hard time putting down the book whenever Real Life interfered with my reading time. The author does a great job in bringing the time, place, and characters to life.
I loved our hero, Iain MacGillivray, Jacobite survivor of Culloden, now trying to live a quiet life as a bookseller. I also loved Ishbel MacLeod, mother of young Tormod, who is frightened of something, and Julia Rose, who has an overbearing mother. Another favorite of mine was Major Philip Thornlie, an engineer with the British Military Survey.
This one is a keeper.
August 16, 2023
I just found the overall story and characters boring. Nothing wrong with the book, but didn’t capture me at all.
December 4, 2024
A curious book that could be read as pure historical fiction, or as a murder mystery, and there’s even a smattering of romance thrown in, too, but frankly there’s just too many threads running through this to make it fully enjoyable.
Here’s the premise: Iain MacGillivray almost died on Drumossie Moor after the Battle of Culloden, but by playing dead he escaped notice and survived. Now, six years later, he’s running a bookshop in Inverness, as he and his Jacobite survivors try to live alongside the occupying English forces. And all the while, Bonnie Prince Charlie plots overseas and there’s a constant rumble of the next uprising.
Iain lives with his grandmother, one of a small group of Jacobite ‘grandes dames’, and a couple of servants. There’s a whole array of other characters, the Jacobites all with fairly tragic histories, and a few on the Hanoverian side, too, both good and bad. The huge cast makes it difficult at first to get into the story, and even when you get all of them straight, the multiple different stories tend to veer off at tangents and distract from the main plot.
What is the main plot? A man is murdered in Iain’s bookshop one night, and Iain’s ne’er-do-well father, who arrives unexpectedly just at the time of the murder, suggests it’s all to do with a book which lists (in code) the names of Jacobite traitors. The race is on, then, to find the book, decode the names and maybe prevent any more murders. But meanwhile, the story meanders here and there following other trails. I’ll be honest - I lost interest in the book and its names quite early on, and by the time the story reached the point of revealing the final name and the murderer, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
In fact, none of the subplots really interested me. What I enjoyed very much was the evocation of eighteenth century Inverness, and the Highland landscape of the time. The roads and bridges so familiar to modern residents were just being built (by the English!), while the Highlanders were quite used to tramping mile after mile through bog and heather, and over mountains, finding small ferries to cross the lochs and firths, or just ‘borrowing’ a boat. All of that was fascinating.
The history was less so. The difficulty the author had was that there was just so much of the stuff, so every once in a while, just in the middle of something, everything would stop for a paragraph or three of history. It made the book seem heavy and, frankly, boring, like a delicately flavoured stew with a whole heap of stodgy dumplings tossed in. I get that it was necessary for context, especially for those of us who have never studied this era, but to my mind, it lacked the one piece of information that might have made sense, namely how it was that these two sides were fighting over the throne anyway. We were told endlessly about the various uprisings, but (apart from a throwaway line in the introduction about the flight of James II in 1688) nothing about how it all started. I kept waiting for something, anything, to explain it but it never came, and in the end I had to look it up in Wikipedia.
I spotted very few errors. Early on a date is given as 1789 which should clearly be 1689. One of the females carries a reticule, a small bag (precursor of the handbag), but at this era, ladies wore detachable pockets suspended on tapes attached to a waistband beneath their voluminous skirts, accessed by slits in the skirt. Only when skirts became too narrow to make this arrangement feasible (around 1800) did the pocket morph into a separate bag (a reticule) carried on the wrist. And the minuet was not an ensemble dance. It needed too much space for that, the movements being laid down very precisely, so it was danced as a demonstration, only one couple at a time, before the ensemble dancing got under way. That’s a very common mistake.
This is one of those books that could work on any one of a number of levels. It’s well written and clearly very well researched, but for me that was overshadowed by the vast number of subplots and characters, the sheer weight of history, and the uneven pacing (the few action scenes were excellent, and the confrontation at Castle Leod was genuinely tense, but there just wasn’t enough of that). The book would have worked much better, to my mind, at half the length, focusing on just one major plotline. The author could even have made a trilogy out of it! I’m glad I read it, but for me it was only a three star read.
Here’s the premise: Iain MacGillivray almost died on Drumossie Moor after the Battle of Culloden, but by playing dead he escaped notice and survived. Now, six years later, he’s running a bookshop in Inverness, as he and his Jacobite survivors try to live alongside the occupying English forces. And all the while, Bonnie Prince Charlie plots overseas and there’s a constant rumble of the next uprising.
Iain lives with his grandmother, one of a small group of Jacobite ‘grandes dames’, and a couple of servants. There’s a whole array of other characters, the Jacobites all with fairly tragic histories, and a few on the Hanoverian side, too, both good and bad. The huge cast makes it difficult at first to get into the story, and even when you get all of them straight, the multiple different stories tend to veer off at tangents and distract from the main plot.
What is the main plot? A man is murdered in Iain’s bookshop one night, and Iain’s ne’er-do-well father, who arrives unexpectedly just at the time of the murder, suggests it’s all to do with a book which lists (in code) the names of Jacobite traitors. The race is on, then, to find the book, decode the names and maybe prevent any more murders. But meanwhile, the story meanders here and there following other trails. I’ll be honest - I lost interest in the book and its names quite early on, and by the time the story reached the point of revealing the final name and the murderer, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
In fact, none of the subplots really interested me. What I enjoyed very much was the evocation of eighteenth century Inverness, and the Highland landscape of the time. The roads and bridges so familiar to modern residents were just being built (by the English!), while the Highlanders were quite used to tramping mile after mile through bog and heather, and over mountains, finding small ferries to cross the lochs and firths, or just ‘borrowing’ a boat. All of that was fascinating.
The history was less so. The difficulty the author had was that there was just so much of the stuff, so every once in a while, just in the middle of something, everything would stop for a paragraph or three of history. It made the book seem heavy and, frankly, boring, like a delicately flavoured stew with a whole heap of stodgy dumplings tossed in. I get that it was necessary for context, especially for those of us who have never studied this era, but to my mind, it lacked the one piece of information that might have made sense, namely how it was that these two sides were fighting over the throne anyway. We were told endlessly about the various uprisings, but (apart from a throwaway line in the introduction about the flight of James II in 1688) nothing about how it all started. I kept waiting for something, anything, to explain it but it never came, and in the end I had to look it up in Wikipedia.
I spotted very few errors. Early on a date is given as 1789 which should clearly be 1689. One of the females carries a reticule, a small bag (precursor of the handbag), but at this era, ladies wore detachable pockets suspended on tapes attached to a waistband beneath their voluminous skirts, accessed by slits in the skirt. Only when skirts became too narrow to make this arrangement feasible (around 1800) did the pocket morph into a separate bag (a reticule) carried on the wrist. And the minuet was not an ensemble dance. It needed too much space for that, the movements being laid down very precisely, so it was danced as a demonstration, only one couple at a time, before the ensemble dancing got under way. That’s a very common mistake.
This is one of those books that could work on any one of a number of levels. It’s well written and clearly very well researched, but for me that was overshadowed by the vast number of subplots and characters, the sheer weight of history, and the uneven pacing (the few action scenes were excellent, and the confrontation at Castle Leod was genuinely tense, but there just wasn’t enough of that). The book would have worked much better, to my mind, at half the length, focusing on just one major plotline. The author could even have made a trilogy out of it! I’m glad I read it, but for me it was only a three star read.
February 18, 2025
Iain McGillivray fought as a young man at Culloden, surviving only by playing dead on Drumossie Moor as his friends and family were cut down around him. Six years later, while working as a bookseller in Inverness, he discovers a man murdered in his shop. More shocking than the crime itself is the Jacobite emblem on the weapon and what it implies. As bodies begin to pile up, Iain finds himself at the center of a deadly mystery but in the aftermath of Culloden, with so many lingering grudges, the killer could be anyone.
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I wasn’t especially blown away by the plot, though it was well executed, and the culprit’s identity kept me guessing until the end. I’m simply not a huge fan of murder mysteries and often struggle to get invested in them. That said, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book despite its whodunnit premise not being my usual cup of tea.
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Set in the aftermath of Culloden, S.G. Maclean's The Bookseller of Inverness has a vivid sense of time and place. Anyone remotely familiar with Inverness will easily be able to picture the unfolding events, thanks to Maclean’s detailed and evocative writing. She masterfully conjures the city’s grimy wonders while immersing the reader in its tension, political intrigue, hidden loyalties, and festering grudges. Her depiction of life under the redcoats is both compelling and unsettling.
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For me, this book felt special not just because I love Leaky’s, the Inverness bookshop where Maclean first conceived the story, but also because of my personal connection to the setting. My ancestors (Frasers, Camerons, and Shaws) lived in and around Inverness after Culloden and must have been deeply affected by both the battle’s horrors and the brutal government reprisals that followed.
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I wasn’t especially blown away by the plot, though it was well executed, and the culprit’s identity kept me guessing until the end. I’m simply not a huge fan of murder mysteries and often struggle to get invested in them. That said, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book despite its whodunnit premise not being my usual cup of tea.
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Set in the aftermath of Culloden, S.G. Maclean's The Bookseller of Inverness has a vivid sense of time and place. Anyone remotely familiar with Inverness will easily be able to picture the unfolding events, thanks to Maclean’s detailed and evocative writing. She masterfully conjures the city’s grimy wonders while immersing the reader in its tension, political intrigue, hidden loyalties, and festering grudges. Her depiction of life under the redcoats is both compelling and unsettling.
📚
For me, this book felt special not just because I love Leaky’s, the Inverness bookshop where Maclean first conceived the story, but also because of my personal connection to the setting. My ancestors (Frasers, Camerons, and Shaws) lived in and around Inverness after Culloden and must have been deeply affected by both the battle’s horrors and the brutal government reprisals that followed.
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August 17, 2022
This vibrant tale of the residents of Inverness six years after the tragedy of the nearby Battle of Culloden, centres on former Jacobite, Iain MacGillivray, now running a popular bookshop. Hiding his scars behind his hair he endeavours to conduct a quiet life, after returning from exile in Virginia. Iain still lives with his grandmother Mairi Farqharson, one of the three Grande Dames who have been active in the cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Stewart family for over 30 years, since his mother ran away, and his father escaped to France.
His peace is disturbed by a scruffy stranger searching through the books he had obtained from the house of “the Old Fox,” an executed Jacobite Lord. When this stranger is discovered murdered in the bookshop during the night, Iain is troubled to find the dirk bears a white cockade of the ’45 Rebellion. 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.
There are several other engaging characters including Ishbel MacLeod, who had recently returned from indenture as a servant in America, accompanied by a charming rascal, young Tormod, a half-caste boy she cares for. Others in the town are a mixture of Hanoverian supporters of King George and former Jacobites. The presence of many English soldiers is unnerving, some like Major Thornlie, polite and correct in his manner and others like Captain Dunne violent and uncouth.
I enjoyed reading descriptions of the surrounding countryside, where I have family connections, and there is an increasing air of tension as old resentments surface and revenge is enacted. There are two questions to be answered. Who is the murderer, and can Iain find the other traitors first? Certainly, he realises he can no longer leave the past behind and he finally gains real understanding of his charismatic father, Hector.
There are several dour Scots among the townsfolk, but Iain’s true nature is revealed in his rebellious singing at the Assembly dance. Unsure whom he can trust with the help of true friends he is finally able to start living again. A superb novel, based on the uneasy situation in 1750s Scotland which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
His peace is disturbed by a scruffy stranger searching through the books he had obtained from the house of “the Old Fox,” an executed Jacobite Lord. When this stranger is discovered murdered in the bookshop during the night, Iain is troubled to find the dirk bears a white cockade of the ’45 Rebellion. 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.
There are several other engaging characters including Ishbel MacLeod, who had recently returned from indenture as a servant in America, accompanied by a charming rascal, young Tormod, a half-caste boy she cares for. Others in the town are a mixture of Hanoverian supporters of King George and former Jacobites. The presence of many English soldiers is unnerving, some like Major Thornlie, polite and correct in his manner and others like Captain Dunne violent and uncouth.
I enjoyed reading descriptions of the surrounding countryside, where I have family connections, and there is an increasing air of tension as old resentments surface and revenge is enacted. There are two questions to be answered. Who is the murderer, and can Iain find the other traitors first? Certainly, he realises he can no longer leave the past behind and he finally gains real understanding of his charismatic father, Hector.
There are several dour Scots among the townsfolk, but Iain’s true nature is revealed in his rebellious singing at the Assembly dance. Unsure whom he can trust with the help of true friends he is finally able to start living again. A superb novel, based on the uneasy situation in 1750s Scotland which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
April 4, 2023
I zipped through this excellent mystery set around 6 years after Culloden. Jacobite v Hanoverian loyalties, family and clan loyalties, friendship, books, treachery, and a wonderful, wounded hero - whose father needs his own book!
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