If you like your mysteries and thrillers filled with gothic intrigue and just a touch of village paganism, then Laura McCluskey’s THE WOLF TREE should be right up your alley.

Eilean Eadar is a barren, windswept rock off the coast of Scotland with a small population of very secretive, suspicious inhabitants. Their claim to fame up until a recent tragedy was the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1919. Now, at the base of that very same lighthouse, the body of a young man named Alan Ferguson is found and initially is written off as a suicide.

"THE WOLF TREE is a stunner of a debut novel that will keep you reading long into the night. Laura McCluskey knows how to get under the skin of readers and toes the line between mystery and horror in all the best ways."

The actual investigation will be overseen by two detective inspectors from Glasgow: Georgina “George” Lennox and her more senior partner, Richie Stewart. With most of the locals being less than hospitable and forthcoming, this will be an arduous task. For George, it is also her first time out in the field after a devastating accident that found her on leave from the force.

Their main contact and guide also works as the town postmaster. Most of the residents of Eilean Eadar wear multiple hats. George and Richie are regaled with folklore about the lost lighthouse keepers and then shown the residence that they will inhabit for a week. They quickly realize that it is not a good idea to go outside after dark, so they limit their investigation to the daytime hours.

When George and Richie speak with Alan’s feisty mother, they are promptly joined by Father James Ross, who is more than a bit protective as he takes over the questioning. Eventually, a reason is given for Alan’s alleged suicide (which I will not spoil here), though it’s one that would be better suited for a gothic horror novel.

It is George who first notices the wolf howls in the area, and her suspicions will get the best of her before their short stay is over. Having a nose for sniffing out the truth will take her to an area of the forest around the fabled Wolf Tree, where the deepest, darkest secrets of this haunting town lie. These are secrets that its residents may kill to keep from being revealed.

THE WOLF TREE is a stunner of a debut novel that will have you reading long into the night. Laura McCluskey knows how to get under the skin of readers and toes the line between mystery and horror in all the best ways.