A very atmospheric story set on a Scottish Island ,it is a bit of a slow burner but when it speeds up a very good story .DI's Georgie and Ritchie are sent to investigate a suspicious suicide on an Island that rules itself .They are met with hostility from the Islanders but slowly they earn the trust of some of them and discover a terrifying truth .The characters were interesting ,I didn't like Georgie much she was too headstrong and selfish but Ritchie was a calm father figure but it was a good read .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

DI’s George (Georgina) Lennox and Richie Stewart make their way to Eilean Eadar in the Western Isles in very stormy seas, her first glimpse of the isolated island being a sheer cliff against which huge waves resolutely smash. As their captain predicted, docking in the small harbour is a challenge against the relentless seas. The two detectives are unsure what reception they’ll get with these tough islanders but their first host, Cecily Campbell, seems friendly enough. Time will tell about the others. So, why have the detectives been sent to Eadar? Their task is to investigate the death of a young man, found at the base of the old lighthouse, the very same location where three lighthouse keepers mysteriously vanish in 1919. Richie doesn’t seem to notice that nothing is quite right, he just sees the quaint, but George does and her unease builds. Who can the detectives trust as “wolves” howl and dark figures watch at the windows of their Croft at night?

Although this is a bit slow to get going once it gets into its stride a spooky, creepy, gothic tale emerges with tension you can’t fail to sense alongside the fear the island and its inhabitants elicits in George. Many of the islanders are downright hostile, some are even venomous which is palpable. Their tiny patch of home in the Outer Hebrides is rich in ancient folklore and tradition which is blended well into the unfolding storyline and these characters want to maintain their heritage.

The atmosphere the author creates is really good and what a setting. It’s a remote, breathtaking, harsh environment and the authors descriptions bring it to life with some scenes that are suspenseful and exciting, with terrific island backdrops.

The characterisation is good. Although George is very headstrong and has plenty of issues, her intentions are good although she doesn’t always think things through, to her cost. Richie is a steadying influence and I like how much he cares about her. There are quite a lot of island characters to get to grips with but it’s not hard to picture them or keep track of them. One positively exudes power from every pore and his portrayal is very good.

The novel builds well to a really good ending as the many buried secrets are forced to come to the surface because of George’s perception and persistence. There are some convolutions in the reveals but it’s not hard to work out the truth.

Overall, this is a descriptive atmospheric novel that is well worth a read. If it’s the start of a series, I’m definitely in as I’d like to know what happens to George next.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, Hemlock Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A suicide, or was it. George (Georgina) and Ritchie are sent to a small Scottish Island to investigate the death of a young man. Why did he kill himself. The story starts with the detectives arriving on the island with mixed feelings from the people living there. It is a very small community and revolves around the church. There is only a few shops and they rely on deliveries from the mainland. There is no doctor or police and the villagers have to survive with a satellite phone in the post office. George and Ritchie make enquiries and some of the villagers are helpful and some quite hostile. They decide that the death was suicide and then things begin to happen which cause them concern. Little things happen which seem very strange and leads them to believe that the island has a huge secret which needs dealing with. One or two villagers are trying to steer them in the right direction without actually telling them the story of the strange things that have happened going back centuries. Eventually the secrets come to light and this makes the book flow although I did feel that it did wander unnecessarily in parts. However I understand that for the story to come to a conclusion this was probably necessary to set the scene. The dynamic between George and Ritchie was something I enjoyed through the book. I also like Kathy the postmistress who tried to steer George in the right direction from the start of the book but failed until near the end

Wow! What started as a small mystery very quickly snowballed! This book definitely had me on the edge of my seat a few times and the twists really kept throwing me. A truly engrossing read.

I found that this book really dragged in places. How many times are they going to walk up the hill? Remote Scottish Island with supposedly many murders, wolfs and a dodgy pastor.

It was in numerous places hard to relate to with the internal atmosphere between the 2 work colleagues. Also it was always George that got in to scrapes. How many times can she get a head injury and still perform normally? It seemed to have a very quick ending. What happened to the Islanders?

Pity it could have been and interesting story.

I found this book intriguing enough to be interested in reading it. The reality was that it was very slow and hard work with bizarre characters all on a remote island. Much of the story seemed contrived and quite unbelievable. It wasn’t until 80% into the book that the story really unfolded. The end was unusual but too hurried.

Tricky mystery set on an isolated Scottish island,full of superstition. Not entirely believable that there could be such going on.

There were times when I really enjoyed this and there were times when I found it very frustrating and annoying. The ending is a cracker. Very exciting.

Descriptively Laura McCluskey does a fantastic job of describing a bleak in-hospitable island with a motley crew of inhabitants. And, the author does this really well in a highly gothic style.

Georgie, the key detective, is an interesting character. Of course she has hidden demons. It seems de riguer these days

But, all of that excellence was thrown away as the central plotline/premise was pretty ridiculous. I aas surprised cannibalism was not brought into play.

I look forward to the next novel as I believe, with more credible plot lines Laura McLuskey will become a major crime novelist

Wow! What a story. I had no idea when I started reading this, how it would end. The story takes place on a Scottish island which has few ties with the mainland. It has existed for hundreds of years, with little assistance from the mainland. They make their own rules. There is no doctor, no police, no mobile phones, only one satellite phone in the Post Office for everyone on the island. Deliveries of food can be intermittent and dependant on the weather.
The death of an eighteen year old encourages the mainland police to visit the island, or the rock as the natives call it,
Was it a suicide? Was it an accident? Or was it murder? George and Richie, two detectives, are sent to investigate, but the locals are reluctant to communicate with them, they dislike “Mainlanders”. Why is that?
We are told the details of interviews with various islanders, how they are hampered by the weather and by the unfriendliness of the locals. Finally they stumble across the answer. Most definitely not what I expected! I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins, for an arc of this enjoyable book.

I found the book a bit drawn out with the endless walks up and down the freezing terrain of the Island that George and her partner had been sent to in order to investigate a suicide of an 18 year old lad or was it murder. I did find the references and flashbacks to George's attack on a previous case as the reason she needed to take pain killers and sleeping pills unnecessary, and the headaches she kept getting rather annoying.

The characters were well written and I did have to keep reading to the end to find out what happened to the young man. This is not explained until right at the end of the book and was not an expected ending..

I would like to thanks NetGallaey and the Publisher for my ARC.

This was a good story with lots going on keeping you hooked in. Makes you question if there are really islands still that live in this way.

Great storyline with interesting characters. It certainly gave a lot of insight into the close knit island community. The ending was totally unexpected. I like this author and will look for other books by her.

Started off slowly but intriguing enough to keep going as it was a well written tale and glad I did as it got better and more interesting as the tale developed. Quite atmospheric and good developed characters although a bit more of the back story of the lead detective would have been good.

Detective inspectors Georgina 'George' Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to a tiny Scottish island to investigate the death of a young islander – was it suicide or murder?
From the beginning most islanders are wary of the intruders from the mainland. The two DIs hit a wall of superficial pleasantries and grim silence, as a strange mix of Christianity, superstitions, vigilantism and pagan rituals permeates the small community. George especially is soon faced with thinly veiled threats and increasingly strange occurences that Richie seems oblivious of.
Though the ending seems a bit far-fetched in my opinion, it was satisfying and this was a good and partly very eerie police procedural mystery thriller.

Thank you, Netgalley and Hemlock Press, for the chance to read a copy in exchange for an honest review!

On a remote Scottish Island, 2 detectives George and Richie have been brought from the mainland to investigate the death of a young man who fell from a lighthouse. The islanders are not welcoming to mainlanders and there is distrust and subterfuge going on. As a reader, you end up not knowing who George and Richie should trust and it seems everyone is hiding a secret. The stormy, dangerous weather serves as a great backdrop to the tumultuous happenings on the island as the 2 detectives uncover a generations long tradition with deadly consequences.
George herself is struggling with health issues after a serious accident on a previous case has left her dependent on painkillers and sleeping tablets which she is trying to keep from her partner. I felt that in the flashbacks to this accident, we didn't have a clear idea what had happened and some of the flashbacks did not have enough detail for the reader. I actually checked I hadn't missed a first book in the series as it felt like I should have read something else first. In the end I did enjoy reading it, but the first hundred pages were not as enthralling as I prefer in a book that gets you hoked straight away,

George is a young DI sent to a remote Scottish island to investigate the apparent suicide of a young resident. The locals are not friendly and there are weird goings on. George and her partner find themselves in risky situations as they unearth the truth. The sense of place was very evocative and the characters convincingly real in this engaging police procedural.

The Wolf Tree is one of those books that steadily gets better as it goes on. It starts off slowly and there’s setting the scene, but by the middle you find yourself hooked.
George (Georgina) is recovering from an accident so is sent to a remote Scottish island to do police work there. There’s been a suicide and everything seems straightforward at first, but things are not as they seem…and what’s worse, because George and he colleague come from the mainland everyone is suspicious of them and it takes them a while to get anywhere. All in all this is a good book and the story progresses well.

Set on a remote Scottish island, this story follows a police investigation which takes many turns. I really enjoyed this book and the story was right up my street. I would like to read more by this author and would recommend to anyone who likes crime fiction.

This is book that is very different in the best way. It takes place in the island of Eadar off the coast of Scotland and in the Western Hebrides. It exists in a different time capsule, having never moved into the modern world an still being controlled by centuries old beliefs. Given its small population and distance from the mainland if there is anything that needs an official, they have to come from the mainland. Otherwise the island is controlled by the priest and local figures. That is why two detectives have arrived to investigate the death of an eighteen year old youth decided by the locals to have committed suicide. The detectives almost go along with that until close to going home agreeing with that verdict, they are given information that changes that conclusion and will lead to arrests in an island that can’t afford to lose any of its residents. The book is very well written and the story hangs together well. It is an unusual and satisfying read. I recommend it.

A haunting story of a routine police investigation on a remote Scottish island that gains momentum in the final chapters as it seems there is more to the local community than meets the eye.