Deacon Brodie: A Double Life

When respected Gentleman and City Councillor, Deacon William Brodie, chases his love of gambling, he is drawn into a double life and soon the respectability of day gives way to a life of crime at night.

Betrayed by an accomplice, and revealed as a “Gentleman by day, thief by night,” Brodie escapes to London where he is helped to leave for Holland. Eventually captured in Amsterdam and returned to Edinburgh, he is then faced with a trial before a city where once he was a leading citizen.

In Edinburgh’s High Court, Brodie is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, but his closest friend has a different idea and, in full view of everyone, he takes his riskiest gamble yet . . . his life for the turn of a card.

REVIEWS OF DEACON BRODIE: A DOUBLE LIFE

UNDISCOVERED SCOTLAND : ” . . . beautifully crafted. You’ll have to read this excellent book . . .” AMAZON []: “A gripping true story . . . totally absorbing” | “Beautifully and delightfully written . . . a must read!” | “A superb read, once you start to read this book you will find it hard to put down. Excellent!” | “An exciting novel that packs a punch right to the very end. An excellent read that I would, unequivocally, recommend.” | “The vivid descriptions and twisting of the historical facts make for a riveting story. Highly recommend!” | “Hutchison makes this story come alive. He allows us to soak up the flavours and savours of Edinburgh that make the novel akin to a screenplay.” | “I would strongly commend the skill of the author . . . a joy and a pleasure to read. I highly recommend this book.” | []: “David Hutchison is a terrific author, making his characters and story come to life. A hard book to put down.” GOODREADS : []: “. . . this is one for any reader, not just fans of Historical Fiction. Highly recommended.” BARNES & NOBLE : []: “A wonderful (true) tale . . . brings Edinburgh of the 18th century and Deacon Brodie to life. Great historical crime fiction.” AUTHONOMY : “The writing is very polished and elegant . . . the most entertaining historical fiction I [have] read on this site.” – Andreea Daia Duplicity. ONLINE BOOK CLUB: []: “Deacon Brodie is brought to life in this historical novel . . . Like many great criminals of literature, Brodie has a lot of style, panache and gumption . . . it’s hard not to be charmed by him. I give this novel three out of four stars.”

THE REAL DEACON BRODIE? Given he was born over 275 years ago, the facts of his life have been skewed throughout the years, although there are certainties. The Brodies were, and remain, a prestigious Scottish family with an ancient lineage which can be traced back to MacBeth (Brodie Castle in Forres, the family’s ancestral home, was built by Clan Brodie in 1567). William was born into a wealthy Edinburgh family on the 28th of September, 1741. His grandfather, Ludovick, had established the Brodie name in Edinburgh by becoming a respected Writer to the Signet in the town, and his father, Francis, rather than follow law, became a prosperous wright and cabinetmaker, and was elected a member of the Town Council as Deacon of the Incorporation of Wrights by his fellow craftsmen. This powerful and influential position in Edinburgh was one which William would later assume, becoming the ‘Deacon Brodie’ we know today. However, despite William’s wealth and status, he took to crime and, eventually, after bungling a robbery on the Excise Office, he was revealed as a, “Gentleman by day, thief by night.” Tried in Edinburgh’s High Court before Lord Braxfield, he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the 1st of October, 1788.

THE FICTION OF DEACON WILLIAM BRODIE is another matter entirely, and began during William’s own lifetime. With Deacon Brodie: A Double Life, every opportunity was taken to incorporate 18th century source material — words which William, and others, actually spoke, and events which actually happened in the Edinburgh of 1788. One intriguing question remains however: Why would a man who had wealth, position, and real power in his home town take to crime? It has been said gambling debts drove him to crime, yet, even after he was captured following months on the run, he was still wealthy. Robert Louis Stevenson drew on the Deacon (and poisoner, Eugene Chantrelle) to write the classic tale, Jekyll and Hyde, but the simplistic idea of William having a ‘dual nature’ misses the mark too. By all accounts he appears to have enjoyed the thrill of crime. One of the novel’s reviewers called him, “an adrenaline junkie”, and that — as far as looking at the man through 21st century eyes is concerned — is perhaps the ‘best’ that can be said of him . . . Deacon William Brodie simply lived for the gamble on the turn of a card, and for the excitement to be had from walking a razor’s edge.

A novel based on the true story of one of Edinburgh's most infamous sons, set in 1788