Why am I passionate about this?

I love historical fiction which brings the past to life and allows us to experience other historical periods. For me, historical crime fiction combines this with dynamic plots and interesting characters. My love of history was first kindled by the books of John Prebble which introduced me to the fascinating world of 17th-century Scotland. I went on to study Scottish History at university and research a PhD in the subject. I have gone on to write a history of the Darien Disaster, The Price of Scotland, and a series of historical crime novels set in the late 17th century featuring investigative advocate John MacKenzie and his sidekick Davie Scougall. 


I wrote

The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite

By Douglas Watt,

Book cover of The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite

What is my book about?

Scotland,1689. A country gripped by Jacobite fever. Bonnie Dundee leads a Highland Army looking to crush the government forces and…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of March Violets

Douglas Watt Why did I love this book?

March Violets plunges us into the darkness of 1930s Germany. The book is thoroughly researched and brilliantly evokes the decade which saw the terrible rise of Hitler and the Nazis. The narrative is fast-paced and introduces the character of Bernie Gunther, ex-cop turned private investigator, through whose eyes we witness the collapse of German society into savagery. 

By Philip Kerr,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked March Violets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover the first crime novel in the late Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - Berlin Noir - set in Hitler's Germany during the 1930s . . .

Winter, 1936. A man and his wife shot dead in their bed, their home burned. The woman's father, a millionaire industrialist, wants justice - and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with his daughter's life. He turns to Bernhard Gunther, a private eye and former cop.

As Bernie follows the trail into the very heart of Nazi Germany, he's forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. A trail that ends in the hell that…


Book cover of Dissolution

Douglas Watt Why did I love this book?

Dissolution brings Tudor England of 1537 brilliantly to life. In vast detail, the book evokes all the sounds and smells of the period while dealing with the huge topic of Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in an engaging and interesting way. A cracking whodunnit in the classic sense which introduces Matthew Shardlake, lawyer turned detective. 

By C.J. Sansom,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Dissolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger - the highest honor in British crime writing

From the bestselling author of Winter in Madrid and Dominion comes the exciting and elegantly written first novel in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series

Dissolution is an utterly riveting portrayal of Tudor England. The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar general, summons…


Book cover of The Seeker

Douglas Watt Why did I love this book?

The Seeker takes us through the streets of Cromwellian London in the 1650s, a period rarely considered by historical crime novelists, but one of paranoia as Cromwell’s regime struggles to crush the enemies seeking to overthrow it. The novel introduces the character of Captain Damian Seeker, Cromwell’s mysterious agent who is a force to be reckoned with.

By S.G. MacLean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Seeker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2015 CWA Endeavour Dagger for Historical Fiction

London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies, at home and abroad.

London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins. One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell, and that…


Book cover of The Black Dahlia

Douglas Watt Why did I love this book?

The Black Dahlia is a piece of classic noir which takes us into the darkness of 1940s Los Angeles. Brilliantly paced and using pulsating vernacular, the novel is a disturbing journey through all the sleaze and horror of post-War America. Once hooked, you can delve into the other three novels in Ellroy’s LA Quartet.

By James Ellroy,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Black Dahlia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The highly acclaimed novel based on America's most infamous unsolved murder case. Dive into 1940s Los Angeles as two cops spiral out of control in their hunt for The Black Dahlia's killer in this powerful thriller that is "brutal and at the same time believable" (New York Times).
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia -- and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history. Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops,…


Book cover of A Rising Man

Douglas Watt Why did I love this book?

Set in India in 1919, A Rising Man plunges us into all the colours and chaos of India just as the British Empire is beginning to crumble. We see events through the eyes of English policeman Captain Sam Wyndham who has joined the Calcutta police. This is a riveting read and a fascinating exploration of the end of an empire.

By Abir Mukherjee,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Rising Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Calcutta, 1919. Captain Sam Wyndham, former Scotland Yard detective, is a new arrival to Calcutta. Desperately seeking a fresh start after his experiences during the Great War, Wyndham has been recruited to head up a new post in the police force. He is immediately overwhelmed by the heady vibrancy of the tropical city, but with barely a moment to acclimatize or to deal with the ghosts that still haunt him, Wyndham is caught up in a murder investigation that threatens to destabilize a city already teetering on the brink of political insurgency.

The body of a senior official has been…


Explore my book 😀

The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite

By Douglas Watt,

Book cover of The Unnatural Death of a Jacobite

What is my book about?

Scotland,1689. A country gripped by Jacobite fever. Bonnie Dundee leads a Highland Army looking to crush the government forces and restore the exiled James Stuart as King. Meanwhile, in the dark streets of Edinburgh there are even darker goings-on. A gruesome discovery near the city’s quarry takes investigative advocate John MacKenzie and sidekick Davie Scougall on a dangerous journey through the criminal underworld and clandestine clubs of the old capital.

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No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

Book cover of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

Rona Simmons Author Of No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I come by my interest in history and the years before, during, and after the Second World War honestly. For one thing, both my father and my father-in-law served as pilots in the war, my father a P-38 pilot in North Africa and my father-in-law a B-17 bomber pilot in England. Their histories connect me with a period I think we can still almost reach with our fingertips and one that has had a momentous impact on our lives today. I have taken that interest and passion to discover and write true life stories of the war—focusing on the untold and unheard stories often of the “Average Joe.”

Rona's book list on World War II featuring the average Joe

What is my book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on any other single day of the war.

The narrative of No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident while focusing its attention on ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews. All were men who chose to serve their country and soon found themselves in a terrifying and otherworldly place.

No Average Day reveals the vastness of the war as it reaches past the beaches in…

No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944

By Rona Simmons,

What is this book about?

October 24, 1944, is not a day of national remembrance. Yet, more Americans serving in World War II perished on that day than on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or on June 6, 1944, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, or on any other single day of the war. In its telling of the events of October 24, No Average Day proceeds hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First-Class Paul Miller's pre-dawn demise in the Sendai #6B Japanese prisoner of war camp. It concludes with the death…


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