The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey

 

Two detective inspectors, Georgina ‘George’ Lennox and Richie Stewart, are sent to Eadar, a remote island off the Scottish coast, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the apparent suicide of a young man. Eadar is a cold, dark, windy place with raging storms whipping up the surrounding ocean. George is recovering from traumatic injuries suffered in her last case and Richie, her older, more experienced colleague, is a little bit protective of her, which she doesn’t really appreciate.

A lot of the first half or so of the book is given to the introduction of the characters who will be most relevant to the story. I found my concentration wavering for a while and think now it would have been helpful to take notes to differentiate between them, especially as I was reading an e book. It is always helpful to be able to flip back through paper pages! I became involved in the story once the characters became familiar to me and I was able to get lost in the splendidly creepy, scary atmosphere. The freezing winds, the darkness, the rocky, uneven streets are the perfect backdrop for the secretive, superstitious inhabitants. George and Richie meet people who had left the island, seen the world, and have chosen to return to their closed, restrictive home, as well as one newcomer who had arrived and stayed.

For all the island’s folklore, superstitions and sounds of howling wolves, the detectives have not been able to find any evidence that would contradict the official cause of Alan’s death, after four days of investigation; however, this slow burning tale eventually reaches boiling point, and George and Richie’s questions are finally answered in a highly dramatic conclusion.

 The relationship between George and Richie is an interesting one: George is clever and ambitious but she is also impulsive and gets herself into situations that could harm her personal safety; meanwhile, Richie has a good, steady career behind him and an almost fatherly concern for George. He would rather see her alive and well than sitting at the top of the police force’s promotional ladder. I hope Laura McCluskey is thinking of bringing them back in another book.

Thank you NetGalley for my arc.

Published by Harper Collins