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The year is 1869. A brutal triple murder in a remote community in the Scottish Highlands leads to the arrest of a young man by the name of Roderick Macrae. a memoir written by the accused makes it clear that he is guilty, but it falls to the country's finest legal and psychiatric minds to uncover what drove him to commit such merciless acts of violence. Was he mad? Only the persuasive powers of his advocate stand between Macrae and the gallows.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this as much as I was told I would. However, I did find the sense of place very evocative. We tend to have a romanticised idea of the remote Highland communities and the author does a great job of creating a realistic sense of the hardships and the horrors that aristocratic landlords could, and did, bring down on their poor locals. The story is very thought provoking about Scotland, class system, crofting, families, mental illness, loneliness, bullying, sexual assault, incest, poverty, lawyers, the justice system etc. I did find myself repeatedly checking that it is in fact a work of fiction, for the most part. But, I found it a bit wordy towards the end especially when evidence was being given, so I felt I was reading same thing again and again.

Adding to the Scottish Book Buffet at the International Bookcrossing Convention held in Falkirk in 2023.