The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite

About the Book: 

 MacKenzie and Scougall are back.

1689. Scotland is in the grip of Jacobite fever. Bonnie Dundee leads a Highland Army looking to crush the government and restore James Stewart as King. Meanwhile, in the dark streets of Edinburgh, there are even darker goings on. A gruesome discovery near the city’s quarry takes investigative advocate John MacKenzie and side-kick Davie Scougall on a dangerous journey through the criminal underworld and clandestine clubs of the old capital.

Reviews: 

The novels are first and foremost crime stories but they are also a journey through a relatively unknown period of Scottish history. The late 17th century was a fascinating, but paradoxical, time of witch hunts, blasphemy trials and religious fanaticism, which also saw the green shoots of the Scottish Enlightenment. The Scotsman

Watt keeps the action moving along and conjures up a convincingly dark atmosphere at this cusp of the age of reason. The Herald

Exceptionally well written… If you’re not Scottish and live here – read it. If you’re Scottish read it anyway. I-On Edinburgh on The Price of Scotland

Read a Q&A with Douglas Watt about The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite with BooksfromScotland.

Take a look at a 17th century map of Edinburgh in the National Library of Scotland archives.

Want to follow in the footsteps of MacKenzie? You can explore the history and geography of Edinburgh’s Craigleith Quarry, where MacKenzie discovers the body, via a walking trail plotted by the Edinburgh Geological Society.

Compare photographs of famous sites in 17th century Scotland to how they look now.

Learn more about Life and Death in Old Edinburgh with Edinburgh Dungeons, or get a more general overview of Scotland’s place in historic Europe from the BBC.

Find out more about the Jacobites and their modern-day counterparts from this article about The Royal Oak Society.

About the Author:

DOUGLAS WATT was born in Edinburgh and brought up there and in Aberdeen. He was educated at Edinburgh University where he gained an MA and PhD in Scottish History. Douglas is the author of a series of historical crime novels set in late 17th century Scotland featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie and his side-kick Davie Scougall. He is also the author of The Price of Scotland, a prize-winning history of Scotland’s Darien Disaster. He lives in Midlothian with his wife Julie.