A Scottish detective in England’s New Forest. Detective Inspector Callum MacLean should be unpacking boxes in his new home. But when a man is run over and killed outside Godshill Village Hall, his week’s leave is cut short. The victim, Brendan Stafford, was a retired lecturer from Birmingham. No one knows why he was attending a local village meeting in the middle of the New Forest on a freezing January night. The post-mortem reveals Stafford was already dead before the car wheels struck him. Everyone in the village seems to be hiding something — from the butcher to the forest keeper. Callum and his team must dig into old quarrels and quiet vendettas — and uncover secrets as tangled as the forest brambles.

Perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, Joy Ellis and Faith Martin.

MEET THE DETECTIVE:

Detective Inspector Callum MacLean is a widower from the Highlands, a man who carries his grief quietly and observes the world with a sketchbook in hand, fixing fleeting details others overlook. Known for his patience and silence that can weigh heavier than questions, he has a gift for sensing the undercurrents of resentment and grief that shape people’s lives. The move to the New Forest was meant to bring stillness — misted heathland, ancient oaks, and quiet paths — yet Callum knows darkness has no fixed address. Whether in the backstreets of Glasgow or the lanes of a Hampshire village, secrets fester, and secrets kill.

THE SETTING:

The New Forest in January is a place of quiet menace — ancient heathland rimed with frost, gorse bushes like dark sentinels against the sky, and wild ponies ghosting through the mist. Beneath the surface beauty lies a landscape that can disorient and deceive. Moonlight sharpens every outline and the rustle of bracken or a fox’s bark feels like a terrible warning. Villages sit snug against the chill, their residents wrapped in routines and secrets. It’s a place where the natural world presses close — and where what’s buried doesn’t always stay that way.