Maclean guides her characters through the twists of an intriguing plot with great aplomb - The Sunday Times on The House of Lamentations 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.

Her title came through James VI, so I thought it was wonderful she was taken to Holyrood and then up to St Giles.” Forthcoming book But by the time I’d finished the last Seeker book I really felt I wanted to write about my own history, my own place and I started working on another book, a book set in Cromarty in the 19th Century.” Thirty-six years later, six years after the Jacobites’ final, failed rebellion of 1745, Iain MacGillivray is a lost soul. He gets up each morning, dresses and goes to his bookshop where he endures another day of a life he no longer finds meaningful. 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….. The fifth and final book in a gripping series of crime novels . . . the last outing does a credit to our 17th-century hero. I will miss Damian Seeker - The Times on The House of LamentationsAs the story unfolds , the book explains the various intrigues and connections surrounding the Jacobite cause across the years. This is never ‘heavy’ though and gives the reader enough to understand without burdening them with the weight of history. Her father, who was born in Daviot Manse not far from the battlefield, could make it sound as though the uprising had taken place yesterday when he spoke of the events.

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.The atmosphere in the Highlands for many years after the Jacobite defeat at the battle of Culloden must have been terrifying. She’ll be appearing alongside Christopher Brookmyre, Douglas Skelton, G.R. Halliday, Michael Malone and Neil Lancaster. 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.