Historical fiction set in Scotland

[Gastropod]

Love me a good historical novel, especially historical crime/murder mysteries. CJ Sansom, SJ Parris, etc. I've read loads set in medieval/Tudor England but am looking for good historical fiction set in Scotland, especially Edinburgh or Glasgow. Not Outlander, and preferably not written by Americans who appear to have never actually set foot in Scotland...

I just read a couple by Kaite Welsh - Sarah Gilchrist mysteries, which were OK, set in Victorian Edinburgh, not amazing though. I'd prefer something set a bit further back in time. I like a bit of grit and grime!

Any suggestions?

Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson is very good. Set against the background of the Highland Clearances. She's also written The Ninth Child., set in the Highlands mid-19th century. I haven't read it yet but it's on the pile.

You could also look at Jane Harris's The Observations and Gillespie and I, both really good reads.

And Ambrose Parry's Victorian medical murder mysteries set in Edinburgh, written jointly by Christopher Brookmyre and his wife Marisa Haetzman, who's a doctor. The Way of All Flesh is the first one and there are four in the series so far.

@highlandcoo thank you, I'll check those out right now!

Lady Macbethad? Not really in the cities or crime, but in (very long ago) historical Scotland and I thought a really good read!

The Wax Fruit Trilogy by Guy McCrone is set in Glasgow.

booksfromscotland.com/book/the-wax-fruit-trilogy/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Specimens-Mairi-Kidd/dp/1785306472

Kate Foster, The Maiden and The King's Witches

Marking!

You might like the Darkland Tales series. They’re very short, but are retellings of some dark chapters in Scottish history by modern Scottish authors. I particularly enjoyed Rizzio and Hex.

Old but good, D K Broster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._K._Broster

Several of hers are set in Scotland, including:

‘The Jacobite Trilogy’

• The Flight of the Heron (1925)
• The Gleam in the North (1927)
• The Dark Mile (1929)

• Almond, Wild Almond (1933)

Nigel Tranter is probably one of the older authors of Scottish historical fiction. Definitely Guy Nccrone and Wax Fruit

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet is set in the 1860s.

These are great! Going to load up my Kindle and settle in... Can't wait.

All the Dorothy Dunnett books.

The Munro Series by Margaret Skea is brilliant. I was introduced to book 1 by a friend when it was first released and our book group read it - it was universally loved, and we all enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd instalments.

They really set the standard for historical fiction.

Sara Sheridan who lives in Scotland
The Fair Botanists. 19th century Edinburgh
The Secrets of Blythswood Square 19th century Glasgow
both currently 99p on Kindle

Completely agree with Dorothy Dunnett (from Caithness), King Hereafter is a retelling of Macbeth using the historical sources (although most historians don't agree Macbeth and Thorfinn the Mighty were the same person it's still a fabulous story).

Depends how historical accurate you want but Poor Things by Alasdair Gray is rooted in a very realistic 19th century Glasgow (unlike the film which moved it to a fantastical London) and for a mid 20th century Glasgow read his Lanark.

For Orkney read Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown
For the north east in the early 20th century read A Scots Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
For Caithness in the early 19th century read The Silver Darlings by Neil M Gunn

Child of the Phoenix is an early Barbara Erskine one, she does sort of time-travel books but this one did a good job of portraying mediaeval Scottish royalty.

S G MacLean :Alexander Seaton series - very gripping! Late sixteenth early seventeenth century Scotland

Yes to Music in the Dark. Loved this book. Borrowed from my local library a few years ago. Definitely a good read.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon - the Scots Quair novels. They deal with some gritty topics in the early 20th century. Also The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliffe. It's a children's book, but written in a more mature style than lots of current adult fiction. It's set in Dunadd Bronze Age fort in Argyllshire.

Don’t forget Walter Scott!

Mollie Hunters books. Some are written for teens, some for adults. All amazing.

set in Edinburgh or the highlands.

Following with interest!

I read a wee short story by Denise Mina, "Rizzio" which you might enjoy.

It's a retelling of the assasination of Mary Queen of Scots' secretary/friend.

It's part of the Darkland Tales series but I haven't read the others. Worth a look!

Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped, Catriona, The Master of Ballantrae

Jekyll and Hyde was actually set in London but feels as if it should have been Edinburgh, so I'll mention it here too.

John Buchan's novels were not written as historical fiction but they are so old now that perhaps they count.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was published in 1961 but set in Edinburgh in the 1930s. Would that count?