The Cursed Road

The second atmospheric crime mystery featuring DI Georgina Lennox and DI Richard Stewart, set in the Scottish highlands

Deep in the Scottish Highlands, the body of a young woman is found on the cursed road, a narrow track with a bloody history.

It initially looks like an accident, but a name scratched on the dead woman’s arm links to an unsolved case from years ago.

Glaswegian detectives Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent north to investigate, and they discover a community riven by a centuries’ old blood feud and modern rivalries.

As George and Richie attempt to get to the truth behind the dark rumours, a killer is waiting, determined that some secrets are never uncovered.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR LAURA McCLUSKEY

‘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’ – Leah Pitt

‘Laura McCluskey offers a powerful debut in this atmospheric thriller infused with unsettling folk horror tropes’ – Booklist

‘Atmospheric and immersive … creates a mounting chill that seeps into the bones’ – M. K. Murphy

‘An exciting new voice in crime fiction’ – Pip Drysdale

‘Absorbing, unsettling, and deeply accomplished’ – Dervla McTiernan

‘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’ – Louisa Luna

‘Laura McCluskey’s thrilling debut blends detective novel and folk horror to terrific effect’ – Jennifer Thorne

‘Mare of Easttown meets The Wickerman in Laura McCluskey’s deft, intricate, perfectly executed debut thriller’ – Nick Newman

‘THE WOLF TREE is a marvelous mystery, rich in atmosphere and quick in pace’ – Christina Alger

‘Congratulations to Laura on such an atmospheric story. I loved her writing style’ – Helen Cooper

‘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’ – Hannah Richell

‘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’ – Heather Critchlow

‘McCluskey is masterful at building suspense around a sense of place and a feeling of otherness’ – Kirkus Reviews

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. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne.