The Wolf Tree is a stunning debut: a wild, vivid landscape and a propulsive mystery you simply have to know the answer to. It will have you on the edge of your seat, desperate to know what the small Scottish community is hiding

Laura McCluskey offers a powerful debut in this atmospheric thriller infused with unsettling folk horror tropes…McCluskey skillfully blends procedural details and looming alienation in this well-constructed mystery; highly recommended

Atmospheric and immersive, The Wolf Tree's isolated and storm-battered Hebridean setting is vividly evoked, and McCluskey has a sharp ear for rhythm and cadence, which lends a persuasive authenticity to her dialogue. Her descriptions of the sodden landscape and its outwardly welcoming but secretly watchful inhabitants creates a mounting chill that seeps into the bones

An exciting new voice in crime fiction

Absorbing, unsettling, and deeply accomplished

The Wolf Tree is an exquisitely executed tale. Laura McCluskey’s debut is a great gothic slow-burn that will keep you thinking and guessing even after you’ve reached the end

Laura McCluskey’s thrilling debut blends detective novel and folk horror to terrific effect. Eilean Eadar’s ancient secrets and vibrant present-day characters—including our beautifully complex mainlander heroes—had me riveted to the page

Mare of Easttown meets The Wickerman in Laura McCluskey’s deft, intricate, perfectly executed debut thriller. The Wolf Tree is a darkly brilliant synthesis of hard-nosed procedural and folk eerie

Laura McCluskey has created two wonderful new detectives in George Lennox and Richie Stewart. I would follow them anywhere – even to the forboding, windswept island of Eileen Eadar, where they must grapple with the dark secrets of the small and insular local population. THE WOLF TREE is a marvelous mystery, rich in atmosphere and quick in pace. And with such well-drawn characters, one can hope it marks the beginning of a terrific new series

Congratulations to Laura on such an atmospheric story. I loved her writing style and the setting and the character of George in particular

An impressive crime debut dripping with atmosphere and threat, Laura McCluskey’s The Wolf Tree will take you to a chilling cliff-edge of suspense, then hold you there until the very last page

Set on an isolated island in the Outer Hebrides, The Wolf Tree weaves a complex web of tradition, suspicion and murder … Tense and increasingly claustrophobic, The Wolf Tree is seething with atmosphere, intriguing relationships and a community determined to protect itself at all costs. Gripping

McCluskey is masterful at building suspense around a sense of place and a feeling of otherness

[An] eerie, gothic-tinged debut mystery… Thanks to McCluskey’s expert melding of modern crime procedural and ancient folklore, suspenseful slow burns and intense high-stakes action, fans of stories set in closed communities with something to hide will revel in this assured and absorbing debut

Filled with atmosphere and suspense …The plot is full of twists and turns with several surprises along the way … this was a compelling, creative, disturbing, and suspenseful story with good characterization, and a great plot

McCluskey’s gripping debut features an isolated island with a brooding, storm-tossed atmosphere, reminiscent of Ann Cleeves’s “Shetland Island” mysteries. The violence and collusion lead to a shocking conclusion

[A] haunting debut gothic mystery…McCluskey skillfully crafts a gloomy, brooding atmosphere of tension and isolation through her descriptions of the little isle caught between sea and sky and its inhabitants living at the mercy of both. The mystery underpins a plot that weighs the strength of community and tradition against the dangers of never questioning what has always been…Readers desiring a generous helping of spine tingles with their justice need look no further

A gripping, thrilling and assured debut, not to be missed

Atmospheric

Georgina and Ritchie are a great pair of characters and McCluskey’s descriptions of human and meteorological violence are convincing

Gripping

McCluskey’s blend of intrigue, paranoia, folklore and hints of the supernatural keep us guessing until close to the end […] The Wolf Tree is a strong debut in many respects, McCluskey building the suspense slowly but with the assurance that it’s all going to pay off, and for a writer born, raised and still living in Melbourne her evocative depiction of Eilean Eadar is impressively convincing