I fear there have been so many books about the Jacobites that they all begin to sound the same after a bit! MacLean also incorporates some subplots that touch on wider topics such as the slave trade and indentured servitude.

There are several dour Scots among the townsfolk, but Iain’s true nature is revealed in his rebellious singing at the Assembly dance. 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. Even with my relative boredom with the Jacobite era, I felt much more at home there than amongst Cromwell’s cronies! Set in Inverness and the surrounding countryside in 1752, it tells the story of the remnants of the Jacobite cause. In addition, I find the Jacobites a bit tedious now – they take Romantic But Wrong to a whole new level!

Anyone with an eye to the news will know that planning around it or the naming of places related to the ’45 rising remain live issues. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The Chicago World Fair has been on my time machine list ever since I read The Devil and the White City a few years ago.

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. The first book, The Killing Season, was published by Orion in 2014, followed by The Samaritan, The Time to Kill (titled Winterlong in the USA), and Don’t Look For Me. 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. Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.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. Delivers everything you could possibly want from a historical crime novel, and then gives you a bit more on top.