A great way to learn more about a place you want to visit is to read books that are set there. In fact, reading is one of our favorite ways to travel without leaving our house! Kayla has read her fair share of books set in Scotland, and in this post, we’re sharing all of them.
Scottish literature is typically known for having a strong sense of place. The settings in Scottish books tend to be rich and vibrant, really making you feel like you’ve been plucked out of your everyday life and set in the thick of Scotland. A lot of the books on this list also tap into the country’s fascinating and complex history.
If you’re a fellow book lover, be sure to check out our other posts on books and literary sites around the world. And if you’ll be visiting Scotland soon, use our guides to Scotland to help plan your trip!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits!
Our Favorite Books Set in Scotland
Synopsis: Miss Jean Brodie is a schoolmistress in Edinburgh during the 1930s. Instead of teaching her students by a traditional curriculum, she tells the young girls personal and overly exaggerated stories of art, philosophy, love, and travel.
Brodie maintains that she is in her prime, and that it is her duty to instill in her girls wisdom, passion, and independence. She believes she is giving them an education that is far superior to that of their peers. However, as the girls grow older, they slowly drift away, and one eventually betrays the schoolmistress.
Synopsis: When Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100 year old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, she thinks this is just the fresh start she and her 3 daughters need. But when 2 of her daughters go missing, her worst nightmare is realized.
Liv becomes frantic as whispers in the town begin circulating about the dark past of witches being burned in a cave beneath the lighthouse and supernatural beings who mimic children lurking about.
Twenty years later, the remaining daughter is still searching for her missing sisters. But she is shocked when one of them turns back up and has not aged a day in 20 years. Will the lighthouse reveal its secrets after all these years?
Synopsis: Sarah Gilchrist is attending the University of Edinburgh’s Medical School in 1892, the first year it has admitted women. As if that alone wasn’t an uphill battle, Sarah is drawn into a murder investigation when she recognizes one of the corpses in her anatomy lectures as one of her patients from her time spent volunteering at St. Giles Infirmary for Women.
Sarah finds herself drawn into a murky underworld of bribery, brothels, and body snatchers. She is determined to solve the murder mystery and not become a corpse herself.
The Wages of Sin is book 1 and The Unquiet Heart is book 2.
If you’re interested in medical history and planning a trip to Edinburgh, be sure to visit the Surgeon’s Hall Museum which made our list of The Top 20 Things to do in Edinburgh.
Synopsis: Having become classics of our time, the Harry Potter stories never fail to bring comfort and escapism. With their message of hope, belonging, and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new readers.
While Harry Potter takes place in a magical world, many of the people and places described throughout are inspired by real people and places. Check out our post on Visiting Harry Potter Sites in Edinburgh to see the places that inspired JK Rowling as she was writing the books.
We love this special edition box set that has all 7 books in hardback (with the original cover art), and they’re encased in a trunk that is reminiscent of a traveling trunk bound for Hogwarts.
Synopsis: The lives of a 9th century Norse woman, a 19th century woman, and a 21st century archeologist weave together after a body is discovered in the dunes on Scotland’s western coast.
After hearing stories from her great-great grandmother about a Viking maiden and her husband who washed ashore, it feels surreal to Libby that she finally has permission to excavate the site shrouded in myth that she’s heard so much about. But Libby is shocked to find a body from the Victorian era at the site that has clearly been murdered and that may have connections to her great-great grandmother.
Synopsis: Zoe, a single mom, moves with her four year old son to the Scottish Highlands in search of a fresh start. She lands a job as a bookseller and then as an au pair at a castle on the banks of Loch Ness soon after to cover housing.
While everything sounds perfectly dreamy, the castle is crumbling and the family she au pairs for is a mess between the single dad who’s a wreck and the children who have been kicked out of school. Zoe finds herself on a mission to not only heal her own little family but the family she works for as well.
This is book 2 of 3 in the Kirrinfeif series. We recommend reading them all!
If you love visiting towns with lots of bookshops, check out our post on Hay-on-Wye, Wales AKA the world’s first book town! Every year, they put on a massive book festival that draws renowned authors from all over the world!
Synopsis: In 1945, Clair Randall has just returned from being a combat nurse in the war and has reunited with her husband after being apart for some time. They are enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland when Claire enters a stone circle and is hurled back in time to the year 1743.
Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, she learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
Kayla credits the Outlander series for giving her the idea to have her fairytale destination wedding in a castle in Scotland, because was reading the books when she first started wedding planning!
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Synopsis: This is a story of self discovery centered around a quirky character who is incredibly intelligent but also incredibly socially awkward. Eleanor carefully plans out every aspect of her life to avoid social interactions, but everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office.
When she and Raymond save an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. The isolation and memory suppression that Eleanor experiences is shattering. Yet, there is a prevalent feeling of hopefulness even when Eleanor is at her lowest.
Synopsis: In 1692, Corrag – accused witch, orphaned herbalist, and unforgettable heroine―is imprisoned for her supposed involvement in a massacre in the Scottish highlands. Suspected of witchcraft and murder and awaiting her death, she tells her story to Charles Leslie, an Irish propagandist who seeks information to condemn the Protestant King William, rumored to be involved in the massacre. Hers is a story of passion, courage, love, and the magic of the natural world. By telling it, she transforms both their lives.
Synopsis: Alex Gilby and his three best friends are stumbling home from a party late one night when they come across the body of a young barmaid who has been assaulted, stabbed, and left to die. The boys rush to tell authorities of their discovery, but they quickly become the main suspects in the investigation.
With no concrete evidence to link the boys to Rosie’s death, twenty-five years pass and no one is held accountable for the heinous crime. When the cold case is reopened, an unknown person begins targeting the group as an act of revenge on Rosie’s behalf. Alex takes the investigation into his own hands, but not before two of his best friends die under mysterious circumstances.
This book features many of the locations mentioned in our Guide to St. Andrews, Scotland.
Synopsis: Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. Her goal is to heal not only the dying landscape, but her sister too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska. But when a farmer is found dead, Inti knows the town will blame the wolves. Inti is convinced the wolves did not commit the crime. But if they didn’t, who from the town did?
This book was featured in our post 10 Books That Prominently Feature Nature:
Synopsis: 44 Scotland Street is home to some of Edinburgh’s most colorful characters. There’s Pat, a twenty-year-old who has recently moved into a flat with Bruce, an athletic young man with a keen awareness of his own appearance. Their neighbor, Domenica, is an eccentric and insightful widow. In the flat below are Irene and her 5 year old son, Bertie, who is the victim of his mother’s desire for him to learn the saxophone and Italian.
Love triangles, a lost painting, intriguing new friends, and an encounter with a famous Scottish crime writer are just a few of the ingredients that add to this delightful and witty portrait of Edinburgh society.
44 Scotland Street is a real place in Edinburgh! If you take our Self-Guided Walk of Dean Village and Circus Lane, you can easily tack on 44 Scotland Street to the itinerary.
Synopsis: Edinburgh is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders, and Detective John Rebus is tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain’s elite Special Air Services.
Now he’s an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn’t just one cop trying to catch a killer, he’s the man who’s got all the pieces to the puzzle…
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles
Synopsis: This book brings to life the fascinating story of Mary, who became the Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Raised in the glittering French court, returning to Scotland to rule as a Catholic monarch over a newly Protestant country, and executed like a criminal in Queen Elizabeth’s England, Queen Mary lived a life like no other.
Margaret George weaves the facts into a stunning work of historical fiction. This book is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about Mary Queen of Scots or Scotland’s history in general.
Have you read any of these books set in Scotland? Do you have recommendations for books set in Scotland? Tell us in the comments below!
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