Murder In The New Forest by Carol Cole
Publisher: The Book Folks
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by FernA 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.
DI Callum MacLean has newly arrived in rural Hampshire from the bustling city center of Glasgow and he immediately is drawn to the stark contrasts. Called onto his first murder investigation before he’d even official clocked on to his first day, Callum hits the ground running. Learning about his surroundings, his new team, the office politics as well as the locals, can Callum sort everything out in time?
I bought this new to me author and series on a whim and am very happy with the discovery. I feel this book stands very well on it’s own, and while it is absolutely a British Police Procedural with the slower mystery pace of the genre I still thought there were plenty of twists and red herrings to keep even more active readers engrossed.
I thought the author did a good job balancing between all the new information – a whole cast of new secondary characters, as well as the main protagonist and new scenery – but keeping the plot and mystery moving forward at a decent pace. There were no info-dump sections which I was grateful for and while there was a lot of explanations needed I didn’t find myself bored or skimming ahead.
I also enjoyed the fact that I managed to guess a few parts of the plot, but was delightfully surprised by a few twists and secrets that I hadn’t seen coming. This made me feel like there was a good amount of conflict and mystery but nothing so high level it’s impossible to figure it out until the main characters lead you there.
A lovely first book that I greatly enjoyed – I had already ordered the next in the series before finishing this one. I expect this to be a series I shall enjoy further in the future. Recommended.
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