HISTORICAL CRIME FICTION
DOUGLAS WATT
THE BOOKS
Death of a Chief, Testament of a Witch, Pilgrim of Slaughter and The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite are a series of historical crime novels set in late 17th century Scotland, featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie and his assistant Davie Scougall.
​
The Price of Scotland is a prize-winning history of Scotland's disastrous attempt to establish a colony at Darien in Central America in the late 17th century.
Pilgrim of Slaughter
​
​Scotland, 1688. A nation bitterly divided by religion and politics where the King's pro-Catholic policies have unleashed the sectarian hatred of extreme Protestants. Edinburgh is a powder-keg, packed with plotters planning revolution.
​
When a nobleman is assassinated by a Catholic fanatic, Protestant anger reaches fever pitch. Advocate John MacKenzie and his assistant Davie Scougall must investigate the killing. To make matters worse, a killer is stalking the stinking streets. A disciple of revolution. A butcher in the name of God. A pilgrim of slaughter.
Testament of a Witch
​​
Scotland, 1687. A young woman is accused of witchcraft. Tortured with pins and sleep deprivation, she is using all her strength to resist confessing.
​
MacKenzie and Scougall investigate the suspicious death of a woman denounced as a witch. They find themselves in a village overwhelmed by superstition, resentment and puritanical religion. In a time of spiritual, political and social upheaval, will reason allow MacKenzie to reveal the true evil lurking in the town, before the witch-hunt claims another victim?
Death of a Chief
​
Scotland, 1686. Sir Lachlan MacLean, chief of a proud but poverty-stricken 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.
​
MacKenzie and Scougall investigate Sir Lachlan's death in Edinburgh and the Highlands. Can reason prevail in a time of witchcraft, superstition and religious turmoil?
​
​
The Price of Scotland
​
Why did so many Scots invest such a vast part of the nation's wealth in one company in 1696? Why did a relatively poor nation think it could take on the major powers of the day in world trade?​
​
Why did the Company of Scotland build some of the most expensive ships in Europe and attempt to establish a colony at Darien in the heart of the Spanish Empire?
​
The Price of Scotland is an exploration of the fascinating history of the Scottish effort to colonise the isthmus of Central America and a new perspective on the events that led to the creation of the United Kingdom in 1707.
​