49 pages • 1-hour read
His Bloody Project: A Historical Thriller
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Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Preface-Statements
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 15-37
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 37-59
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 59-83
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 83-96
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 96-112
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 112-126
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 126-133 and Medical Reports
Extract from Travels in the Border-Lands of Lunacy by J. Bruce Thomson
The Trial, First and Second Day
The Trial, Third Day-Epilogue
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
Preface-StatementsChapter Summaries & Analyses
Preface Summary
In this Preface the author, Graeme Macrae Burnet, explains the origins of the historical documents presented in the book and offers some context for the benefit of the reader. As he explains, he learned about the trial of Roderick Macrae, who was tried and convicted for a gruesome triple-homicide, while investigating his family history. Roderick’s trial and memoir became a cause of scandal and celebrity following Roderick’s crimes and arrest in 1869. Although literary critics and historians have questioned the authenticity of Roderick’s memoir, which many suspect was written by his legal advocate Andrew Sinclair, Burnet believes that the level of detail in the memoir’s descriptions of life in the Scottish Highland town of Culduie is too accurate for an outsider to have written it.
Burnet introduces the other historical materials he’s chosen to include: statements given to the police by Culduie residents, post-mortem reports describing the murder victims, and an excerpt from the memoir of criminal psychologist J. Bruce Thompson, who met and examined Roderick Macrae before his trial. Regarding the latter, Burnet explains that “while some of the views expressed might be unpalatable to the modern reader, it is worth bearing in mind […] that they represent a genuine effort to move beyond a theological view of criminality” (3). Additionally, he explains that he has written an account of Roderick’s trial based on a book-length report on the case as well as contemporary journalism.
Finally, he explains that he has tampered with Roderick’s memoir as little as possible, adding punctuation and spacing while refraining from offering footnotes or altering awkward sentence structure. Ending the preface, Burnet invites readers to consult the manuscript themselves if they believe his “judgements in this seem questionable” (5).
Statements Summary
This section is comprised of five accounts given to the police after Roderick’s crimes: Carmina Murchison (Carmina Smoke), Kenneth Murchison (Kenny Smoke), Reverend James Gailbraith, William Gillies (a schoolmaster), and Peter Mackenzie. The first two accounts describe the day of the crime. According to Carmina, Roderick passed her house and told her he was on his way to work on land belonging to Lachlan “Broad” Mackenzie. Shortly thereafter, he returned covered in blood and told her that he had killed Lachlan. Kenny Smoke investigated the crime scene, where he discovered the bodies of Lachlan Mackenzie, his daughter Flora, and his son Donny. Fearing outrage were any of Mackenzie’s family to discover the scene, Kenny ordered his neighbor, Duncan Gregor, to stand watch over Mackenzie’s house while he locked Roderick in his outbuilding until the authorities arrived. Kenny states that Roderick is a strange boy but says he doesn’t know if that strangeness is thanks to nature or nurture.
The latter three statements focus more specifically on Roderick’s character and the soundness of his mind. Reverend Gailbraith believes that he had always observed “a wickedness, easily discernable” (9) to Roderick’s character. He further observes that his mother Una was “frivolous and insincere,” and although his father John (nicknamed Black Macrae) can recite Bible verse from memory, Gailbraith “fear[s] his understanding of them is feeble” (9-10). Schoolmaster Gillies describes Roderick as a supremely talented student who was “courteous and respectful” (10) but unable to socialize with his peers. Peter Mackenzie, Lachlan Mackenzie’s cousin, describes Roderick as exceedingly evil, noting that “[e]ven as a small boy there was a mean spirit about him” (11). He concludes by calling John Macrae an idiot who hides behind religious zealotry.
Preface-Statements Analysis
Burnet begins his novel with a preface written under his own name. Although this is a seemingly innocuous inclusion, Burnet uses the Preface to build the story’s stakes and lay out some of its foundational thematic material. By presenting this section through a fictionalized version of himself, Burnet blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality, inviting readers to treat the story as if it were true and, in doing so, promising to deliver a historically accurate account of the period he’s describing.
Thematically, the Preface establishes several of the novel’s overarching concerns in explicit and subtle manners. Notably, Burnet introduces J. Bruce Thomson, a real 19th-century criminologist. In addition to using his presence to further intermix fact and fiction, Burnet offers a brief description of Thomson’s career and clinical framework:
He was well-versed in the new theory of evolution and the still-nascent discipline of Criminal Anthropology, and while some of the views expressed might be unpalatable to the modern reader, it is worth bearing in mind. that they represent a genuine effort to move beyond a theological view of criminality and reach a better understanding of why certain individuals come to commit violent crimes. (3)
This introduction sets up one of the book’s greatest concerns, which has to do with the origins of and explanations for evil behavior.
More subtly, Burnet ends the Preface by offering a challenge to readers, inviting them to “consult the manuscript” (5) of Roderick Macrae’s memoirs at Inverness if they have any doubts about his editorial decisions in the way he’s presented that document. As traveling to Inverness would be extremely difficult for most readers, this amounts to Burnet telling the readers they have no way of really knowing the truth of the matter. Burnet indicates the thematic importance of unknowability in the police statements that immediately follow the Preface. As those reports illustrate, even those who knew Roderick Macrae his entire life cannot reach a full consensus regarding his character. The Preface and Statements work together to establish the novel’s biggest question: How do we make sense of a situation even if we can never be entirely certain of the facts?
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