In the nineteenth century, Scotland was renowned as a land of misty glens, engineering innovation and inventive genius. But it was also the home of brutal murder, terrifying riots, cruelty to children, bank robbery and acid attacks. Women as well as men were capable of horrendous acts, and crime could strike anywhere: at home, on the road and even at sea.

From the Borders to the Northern Isles, crime was never far away. Edinburgh, with its reputation for polite decorum, was also the scene of poisoning and savagery; the dark streets of industrial Glasgow and Dundee harboured thieves and muggers; and the villages of coast and country hid wild men and vicious women.

Bloody Scotland exposes some of the crimes, both remembered and forgotten, that rocked Scotland in those lawless times and reveals not only the criminals who perpetrated them, but also the law enforcers who fought hard to maintain order against a rising tide of crime.