Denise Mina’s Rizzio is a breathtaking account of the brutal murder of the private secretary of Mary Queen of Scots. A tale of sex, power and secrets, it is history under a modern lens. Ambrose Parry has delivered three powerful tales of medicine and murder in Victorian Edinburgh and the latest, A Corruption of Blood, is an enthralling and meticulously researched addition to this brilliantly gruesome canon. Craig Russell has bravely taken on the task of reimagining a classic tale in the deliciously dark Hyde. Russell however is a master of the Gothic and Stevenson’s creation is in skilled hands.