*An Apple Best Book of 2025*
On an Island full of secrets
The truth lies in the dark
A gripping and atmospheric debut crime thriller set on an isolated Scottish island…
A mysterious death
On a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse – an apparent suicide.
Two detectives trapped on an island
DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. But a raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for four days. And the locals don’t take kindly to mainlanders.
A village full of suspects
As George and Richie question the island’s inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets.
But someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost.
*Readers love THE WOLF TREE*
‘More twisted than you could imagine. Couldn't put it down.’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review
‘A page turner, intriguing and fascinating.’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review
‘Kept me guessing until the end.’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review
‘Right at the very end was a shocker I hadn't seen coming.’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Reader Review
About the Author :
Laura is a writer, editor and actor. As well as writing novels, she has penned several film and television projects for her production company Sibylline Films. Laura is also co-founder of Three Fates Theatre Company, and has performed across theatre, film, and television. The Wolf Tree is her debut novel. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne.
Review :
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
