The Wolf Tree is a captivating debut novel that takes readers to a remote and atmospheric Scottish island, where isolation and the harsh natural surroundings create a palpable sense of tension throughout the story. The author’s ability to craft such an immersive setting is one of the book’s greatest strengths; you can practically feel the chill of the sea breeze and hear the howling of the wind.

The characterisation is equally impressive, with well-rounded, complex characters whose emotional journeys feel authentic. The protagonist’s struggle with both the island’s mystique and their own internal conflicts provides the heart of the narrative, and the interactions between the characters are layered and believable.

While the novel’s pacing is deliberate, it enhances the slow-burn suspense that builds throughout the story. The setting is almost a character in itself, which adds to the book’s sense of foreboding and mystery. Fans of atmospheric thrillers and character-driven stories will find much to enjoy in The Wolf Tree, and I look forward to seeing what this talented author does next.

A strong debut with much to admire!

I so wanted to like this but it was so slow and I wanted to give it a big kick to get it moving.
I persevered but to be honest wish I hadn’t.
I hate to not like a book I’ve requested, but unfortunately this is one.

An isolated island, a lighthouse, and an unexplained death – what more could a crime fiction reader ask for? Perhaps some secrets or even pagan rituals? And surely, a threatening storm leaving everyone stranded would complete the picture. Of course. Check, check, and check. Scottish author Laura McCluskey utilises multiple crime fiction tropes in her debut novel to craft a dark, gothic tale. While the closed-circle trope has been used frequently, it remains compelling for a reason.

Link to full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/03/27/the-wolf-tree-laura-mccluskey/

A great debut novel from this author, set on a remote Scottish island, George and her partner Richie go to investigate the death of a young man. George has recently returned to work after having serious injuries in a previous case, the details of which are gradually revaled throughout the book. She can be hot-headed and her partner has worries about her and tries to be a stabilizing influence. The death appears to be suicide, but quite quickly, the pair realize that something is going on with the islanders and there is some malevolence towards them.
Although fairly slow paced, the book engaged me very quickly and I was able to sort out who was who from the inhabitants of the island. You quickly get the impression of the claustrophobic life where everyone knows everyone else's business and try to make life difficult for the investigators. Where the book fell down a little for me, was the concluding chapters where the action picks up very quickly and there are twists. Not because of the plot but leaving several open ends. All in all a real pageturner and I will definately look out for more by the author
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

I found this book to be a bit slow paced, repetitious in parts and it was a struggle to carry on reading. I don't think it was for me.

I have included this book on the podcast as my top Crime read as I thought it was absolutely stunning. The feeling of being trapped on the island and the division between islanders and police, each with their own issues, was both well plotted and written. First class.

This was a rather interesting read and I am still not sure how much I liked it as it was both strange and thrilling. We follow the story of DI George Lennox and DI Richie Stewart as they head to a small island off teh coast of Scotland to investigate the death of a young man.

With Georgie's past problems still somewhat haunting her and strange happenings on this isolated island this book will have you guessing (but I must say I did guess one part of the mystery). It is a bit of a slow read as it real concentrates on setting up the scene. there are quite a few characters to keep straight also and how they all fit into the picture.

A good debut for this author and she really got the atmosphere of the place right. It is somewhat cultish (you will understand this once you get to the end) and a little bit creepy at times but overall a good read. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Twenty-eight year old DI George (Georgina) Lennox is working her first case after a devastating work related accident. Her partner, DI Richie Stewart accompanies her from Glasgow to Eilean Eadar, a remote western Hebridean island to investigate the circumstances around the death of a teenage boy.

They arrive via a rough sea crossing. The locals set them up in a disused croft who once belonged to an elderly resident who has passed away. Some of the locals seem welcoming, while others view them with thinly veiled hostility. They have just a few days to investigate Alan Ferguson's death which, on the surface, seems a suicide. The boy's body was found at the base of the lighthouse and it is assumed that he threw himself from the heights.

As George and Richie interview the local residents, they sense that all is not as it might at first appear. The islanders seem to be harbouring a secret... All 206 residents attend the Catholic Church led by Father Ross, a man who seems to hold great sway over the islanders and their activities. The religion they practice is an odd blend of Catholicism and ancient Celtic paganism. There is no mobile reception on the island and the only telephone is a satellite phone located in the post office. Though their way of life seems antiquated, the residents do have a commendable habit of looking out for one another...

"It's only when you get up close that you see the cracks."

Though Richie Stewart is very fond of his young partner, he feels she is impetuous and prone to taking unnecessary risks. When he discovers that she has been abusing painkillers since her terrible accident eight months previously, the trust between the two police officers wears thin.

In addition to their present day investigation, George is given the journals of the lighthouse keepers from long ago. Back in 1919 three lighthouse keepers vanished off the island, a mystery that has never been forgotten.

At night, someone with a wolf mask is peering in the kitchen window of the croft where George and Richie are staying. George cannot sleep due to the incessant howling of the wind, which sounds, in a sinister way, very much like a wolf's howl.

By the time that George and Richie finally leave the island of Eilean Eadar both the present day and ancient mysteries will be solved and the very essence of the island will be in a state of upheaval that might never be righted...

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut mystery. The sense of place permeated the entire novel with its wind, damp, and bone-chilling cold. George was a courageous policewoman, who was reckless and damaged, yet oh so good at her job.

Recommended to readers who love a police procedural with a highly atmospheric and insular setting.

This is a slow burn that does pick up in the second half of the book, but I struggled to keep going.

The Wolf Tree
Laura McCluskey

“I’ll never tell you not to trust your gut. But a homicide needs evidence, and we’ve got nothing of the sort - because…?”

This felt rather descriptive and set a slower pace to start. With the two DI’s arrival on the isolated island, they are covering old ground, reinterviewing people to get a sense for the crime. The more time spent on the island and with the inhabitants, the sooner you learn there’s a rather ominous undertone towards outsiders.

“Because history has shown them that when people stop doing what they’re supposed to, bad things happen.”

The Wolf Tree is filled with atmosphere and suspense. You have the current crime; Alan Ferguson’s fall from the island’s lighthouse and the famous historical crime of three lighthouse keepers who disappeared in 1919. These mysteries both converge to create a wonderful isolating and hostile environment that makes you wonder if Detective Inspector Georgina Lennox and partner, Detective Inspector Richie Stewart will unravel the mystery of Eilean Eadar island and it’s devout inhabitants.

“Can you imagine trying to hold a grudge in a place this small? It’d be impossible to stay angry with someone when they’re your boss, your cousin and your hairdresser.”

“What else is there for kids to do? If they’re not working, they’re bored. And boredom breeds strife.”

The Wolf Tree is set on a tiny, remote island off the coast of Scotland where an 18 year old has just been found dead at the foot of the lighthouse - an apparent suicide. DIs George and Ritchie are sent to investigate, but a storm sees them trapped for longer than they expected and the locals are wary of 'mainlanders'. The detectives realise that there is more to the island than meets the eye and find themselves embroiled in a mystery going back over a hundred years.

This seems to be quite a common premise for thrillers - people get stuck on a remote island and a storm sets in, so I didn't find it overly 'exciting'. That said, it was well written and the descriptions of the island were good and I could definitely picture the scene.
I liked the two detectives and their relationship, but felt that I wanted to know more about their history.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

DI's George Lennox and Richie Stewart have been dispatched to Eadar, one of the most remote islands in the Outer Hebrides, to investigate the death of a young man. People believe it was suicide, but the medical examiner found marks on his arm that look like fingerprints. With a population of only 206, it's likely that everyone knows everyone else's business.

Alan Ferguson's body was found at the foot of the lighthouse. A seemingly happy young man who wanted to go to the mainland to study at a university.
Did he jump off the top of the lighthouse?
A note on the autopsy report is niggling at George—"Bruising inconsistent with impact trauma."

Is there something more sinister going on on this small, idyllic island, and is there a connection to the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1919? This island, steeped in superstition and folklore, may not be a place you want to visit...

While I found the pacing a bit slow, I really enjoyed the atmospheric tone and the way the story builds to a suspenseful climax. The island is vividly described and appears idyllic until the ominous howling of the wolf tree begins...

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest.

Inspectors Richie and George are sent to a remote, wild island off the Scottish coast to investigate the death of an 18year old who was found at the bottom of the lighthouse. Is it murder is it suicide. The locals are full of suspicion of the mainlanders and just want the inspectors gone. The island has priest but the inspectors also notice pagan signs.
I loved the descriptiveness of the island and its people, the ruggedness of the landscape, the rapid change of weather and their remote lifestyle that makes them suspicious of any newcomers.
A brilliant book that makes you feel you are there and worry for the inspectors tucked away in a little cottage away from the village..

Inspectors George and Richie are sent from the mainland to investigate a sudden death on remote island Eilean Eadar. As they get to know the locals and the landscape, they hear about the mysterious disappearance of three light house keepers over a hundred years ago. With no evidence of foul play in either case, impulsive George’s instincts tells her there is more than meets the eye.

I found this an atmospheric and compelling read. George and Richie work well together with their work styles balancing each other out whilst there is a wholesome pseudo-father-daughter vibe going on between them. I liked the cast of islanders, each one secretive and kind of creepy in their own way. I found it quite slow to start and quite late to finish but felt like it galloped during the last twenty percent of the book. A solid thriller. I would definitely be interested to see the characters develop if it was turned into a series.

A suicide on a remote island leads to George and Richie going out there to investigate. It all seems as expected thought the island and its residents are a little unusual. George is still recovering from her own problems and Richie isnt convinced she's up to it. They are both however about to learn things are far more complicated then either realised.

Wow this was so good. The atmosphere created by the author is brilliant. Its eerie and creepy as you need it to be. The plot was clever and well written they're are many twists along the way you just dont know which way it will end up. As for the ending , it was brilliant, dramatic and bittersweet. Just how i wanted it to end. The writing is descriptive and you can easily picture yourself there. I really liked George she has a lot going on and can be reckless yet you want her to succeed. A brilliant eerie thriller.

On the small island of Eilean Eadar, in Scotland’s Western Isles, the community are grieving the death of 18 year old Alan Ferguson. A young man with so much promise who was looking forward to leaving the island for University, he died by falling from the top of the old lighthouse. Although the local police believe he committed suicide, DI Georgia (George) Lennox and DI Richard (Richie) Stewart have been sent from the mainland to investigate. This is George’s first job back in the field since coming back from a major injury and she is glad to be out from behind a desk and determined to do a good job.

The locals they meet seem friendly enough on the surface, but most don’t like strangers and give them hostile looks or shy away from them. Just over two hundred people live on the island where the main income is from fishing and a few sheep. With no mobile reception or internet and only one satellite phone in the post office they are cut off from the mainland and used to being self-sufficient. Georgie soon discovers that the community is centred around the church, with the local priest heavily involved in all facets of island life, often turning up when George and Richie are conducting interviews.

There are lots of superstitions on the island and unexplained strange happenings, creating a dark and menacing atmosphere at times. Richie just wants to get the job done and get home, but George gets the feeling the islanders are keeping things from her and follows her instincts. She also becomes immersed in learning more about the unsolved mystery of three lighthouse keepers who vanished without a trace in 1919. Although George and Richie have worked together for four years, they gradually become irritable and tetchy with each other.

This is terrific debut mystery with a creepy, gothic feel. The rugged, windswept island is very atmospheric with a sense of claustrophobia and growing unease. As George becomes convinced that something is very wrong on the island, the tension builds as strange events occur, exploding in a suspenseful ending.

A remote island off the West Coast of Scotland provides the setting for this strong crime debut novel. D I George Lennox and DI Richie Stewart arrive on a police launch to investigate the case of an eighteen year old who fell from the lighthouse. Is it a case of suicide, as everyone suspects, and if so, why did he do it?

The people of Eadar are split between being overly friendly and hostile. With little to do with the mainland this staunchly Catholic fishing community have learnt to survive through everyone doing their bit with superstition and folklore having as big a part to play as the Sunday Masses led by Father Ross.

Laura McCluskey conveys the sense of isolation very well. Howling winds and storms add to the sense of the community cut off. DI George is having her own struggles, returning to work after a terrible incident, she is relying on strong painkillers she attempts to keep secret from her partner. George, although she has a good relationship with the older hanging-on-in-there-till-retirement Richie is not a team player. Her tendency to go it alone has got her in trouble in the past and will continue to do so here.

The tensions between the mainlanders and the islanders builds in intensity even though it looks like the investigation is going nowhere. A bit of historical sleuthing is added to the mix when centre-of-the-community post office worker Kathy lends George documents from the island’s past, which tells of three lighthouse keepers who disappeared without trace. This harks back to a real-life case in the Outer Hebrides in 1900 which in itself became the inspiration for Emma Stonex’s “The Lamplighters” (2021) and because of this familiarity was the least successful aspect of Laura McCluskey’s novel as it felt a little tacked on but it does have its part to play in the resolution of the plot.

I’m not sure if this is the first of a planned series but there’s plenty of potential here with both police characters at the end pretty much still a blank canvas as we have only so far seen them away from their usual environment. The confident handling of plot, setting and pace here suggests that we will certainly be hearing from Laura McCluskey again.

The Wolf Tree was published on February 20th 2025 by Hemlock Press, a crime-based imprint of Harper Collins. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Well written mystery novel. Had a bit of a ‘Wickerman’ feel to it.
This book builds the tension at a slow burn. Eilean Eadar is a place of dark secrets and with some unexpected things thrown into the mix.

When a suicide on a remote Scottish island is flagged up, Inspectors Lennox and Ritchie find themselves dispatched to investigate. Eadar is a beautiful island but the locals are not very friendly and, despite everything pointing to suicide, Lenox feels there are secrets to be uncovered. Haunted by howling and local legends Lennox struggles to solve the mysteries before she and her partner become victims themselves.
This is a strong police procedural with shades of the Wicker Man in its themes around primitive superstition and belief. The plot is fairly easy to unravel, the twists are signposted, but it's a thrilling ride to the conclusion.

DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to the remote island of Eilean Eadar, which lies off the coast of Scotland, in order to investigate the mysterious death of eighteen year old, Alan Ferguson. The arrival of the detectives is met with a mixture of excitement, distrust and downright malevolence from many of the islanders who resent any intrusion from the mainland. Whilst Alan Ferguson’s untimely death can be regarded as a tragic suicide, there are questions to be answered however, the islanders do not give up their secrets easily, and become more distrustful as the story progresses.

There is a genuine air of tension which builds gradually and even the detectives start to feel the pressure of being cut off from everything. I took a while to warm to the detectives, especially Georgina (George) who carries the burden of a past trauma which affects her judgement and makes her rather unpredictable. The story is definitely creepy, with a genuine air of mystery, from the stark sentinel of the lighthouse, which lures above the island, to the turbulent sea and the ever present danger of being surrounded by people with secrets to hide.

Well written, imaginatively described, The Wolf Tree is a locked-room type mystery which builds the tension deliberately slowly, which mirrors the slow pace of life on the island where nothing is ever rushed. Eilean Eadar is a place of dark secrets and with twists and turns I didn’t seen coming, this is definitely a thrilling story which kept my attention from start to finish.