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1869 – A brutal triple murder in a remote northern crofting community
1869 – A brutal triple murder in a remote northern crofting community
A brutal triple murder in a remote northern crofting community in 1869 leads to the arrest of Roderick Macrae, a seventeen-year-old from the village. There s no question that he is guilty, but why did he commit the crime? Was he insane? Whose account should we believe? And will he hang? A riveting drama.
Culduie, Applecross and the Scottish Highlands
Culduie in 1869 when the events of the novel took place was made up of little more than 9 crofting cottages. Even today, this is a very small hamlet with only a few houses – blink and you’ll miss it.
This is rural Scotland – where there are seemingly more sheep than people and where the isolation of the village is plain to see and you can imagine what this part of the world would have felt like at a time of no cars, phones and modern technology.
The people here live on the land and for the land and the communities are tight as everyone knows each other and if there are fights or squabbles, you had to go to the landowner – the Laird – deal out justice on your own or suffer the consequences.
The Macraes and the Mackenzies are two families at war. One man is dead and the killer could be in either of these families. The community is in chaos.
The isolation, the fear, the suspicion and the rural community add to highlight a crime which committed anywhere would be chiling but in a close and cut off community such as this one – in the raw, rugged hills in the highlands, is all the more so.
Author/ Guide: Graeme Macrae Burnet Destination: Scottish Highlands, Culduie, Applecross Departure Time: 1869
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