Murder Ballad – A gripping mystery of desire, betrayal and secrets (Paperback)

Our summary description

As Independent Scottish booksellers, we write all of our descriptions personally, we hope you enjoy this one.

Edinburgh, 1791. Isobel Duguid makes her living singing of death. Her murder ballads draw crowded rooms, and alongside the celebrated castrato Clessidro she enjoys the privileges of success in Auld Reekie, even as her brash style unsettles polite taste. The stories she sings are dark, but safely confined to the stage.

In Murder Ballad, that separation begins to falter when Isobel receives a letter about her most infamous song, The Fiddler’s Wrath. Its tale of love, violence, and execution has always felt dangerously vivid. Mrs Abercorn’s interest in it is not casual curiosity, but something more deliberate, and more unsettling.

As Isobel is drawn into the orbit of her admirer, the line between performance and lived experience grows thin. Old stories begin to echo too closely, and the past presses forward with intent. Set in a city alive with music and menace, Murder Ballad explores fame, exploitation, and the power of narrative, asking what happens when the songs you sing refuse to remain only songs.