Death of a Chief

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About the Book: 

‘It seems your father has been poisoned, sir.’
Hector’s lips trembled slightly. ‘Then it is murder, Mr Stirling?’
‘Murder... or suicide.’

The year is 1686. Sir Lachlan MacLean, chief of a proud but poverty-striken Highland clan, has met with a macabre death in his Edinburgh lodgings. With a history of bad debts, family quarrels, and some very shady associates, Sir Lachlan had many enemies. But while motives are not hard to find, evidence is another thing entirely. It falls to lawyer John MacKenzie and his scribe Davie Scougall to investigate the mystery surrounding the death of the chief, but among the endless possibilities, can Reason prevail in a time of witchcraft, superstition and religious turmoil?

This thrilling tale of suspense plays out against a wonderfully realised backdrop of pre-Enlightenment Scotland, a country on the brink of financial ruin, ruled from London, a country divided politically by religion and geography. The first in the series featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie, Death of a Chiefcomes from a time long before police detectives existed.

Reviews: 

Move over Rebus. There’s a new – or should that be old – detective in town. This excellent thriller introduces John Mackenzie and Davie Scougall, an Advocate and his notary in late 17th century Edinburgh. They set out to solve the murder of their client, the Chief of a down-at-heel clan. The result is a plot as twisted as Rowan on a mountain pass and wonderful characters who are perfectly set up for many novels to come. I certainly hope so. I thoroughly enjoyed this accomplished debut and I look forward to many more adventures with the capital’s newest sleuths. I-ON EDINBURGH

About the Author:

DOUGLAS WATT is an historian, poet and novelist. He is the author of The Price of Scotland: Darien, Union and the Wealth of Nations (2007), a well-received history of the Darien Disaster and Parliamentary Union between Scotland and England, which won the Hume Brown Senior Prize in Scottish History in 2008. Douglas Watt has also contributed opinion pieces to the Scotsman on financial, historical and political subjects. He lives in Linlithgow with his wife Julie and their three children.