The Redemption of Alexander Seaton by S.G. Maclean, Book Review

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The problem with being a historian is that there is always more that you don’t know than that you might actually be familiar with. Take the north east coast of Scotland in 1620, the setting of this excellent murder mystery. You wouldn’t even need the back of a postage stamp for me to demonstrate my knowledge of this period in Banff and thereabouts. The coastline itself is gorgeous (have you seen the film Local Hero?), I’ve been there on holiday, but it doesn’t come across as gorgeous in this novel about the trials of young Alexander Seaton. It’s windswept, cold and sinister. And with the total stranglehold of a miserable mean form of Calvinism, it’s despondent as well.

A perfect setting for murder. But also, an apt landscape to reflect the emotional journey Seaton has to take for survival and ultimately growth and acceptance of himself. This historical crime book is more than just a whodunnit. The psychological study of its main protagonist and the society he can’t thrive in is thought-provoking and intriguing. One of the themes I was interested in is his inability to follow the career, the vocation of his choice, what he worked for so hard. If you want to compare it to someone today, and all good stories reflect eternal struggles, problems that each generation has to face, then think of a footballer who almost makes it to the top and then has a career-ending injury. He has not only lost a job, but a way of life, a social group, his destiny. S.G. Maclean portraits brilliantly the emptiness, loss and total dejection Seaton feels when he fails.

Come into this setting a murder, a political conspiracy and a witch hunt (in the literal sense) and you have a plot that will grab you and hold your interest. The Redemption of Alexander Seaton is a well-written and challenging read, satisfying in its depth of characterisation and historical research. Don’t worry about the book leaving you feeling heavy, it doesn’t – without giving anything away I can say that the ending is satisfying and I challenge you to guess whodunnit.

S.G. Maclean is the author of the popular Seeker series in Oliver Cromwell’s London (you will find reviews on this website). She has a PhD in history from Aberdeen University.

Originally published in 2008 (when it was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger) The Redemption of Alexander Seaton was recently made Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month, hence this review. Published by Quercus in paperback reissue (£8.99 and worth every penny!).