Death in the New Forest (New Forest Murder Mysteries #1)

Welcome to England’s New Forest, where wild ponies roam the empty heathlands. And clinging mists and towering pines hide many a secret . . .

Detective Elinor Saxby leaves the city for a crooked little cottage near sleepy Lyndhurst village. It’s not exactly her dream home, cut off from everything and everyone she’s ever known. But Elinor will do anything to leave her troubled past behind.

She can run from her demons. But she can’t hide.

The very next morning, Elinor gets a call from her new sergeant.

A woman’s been found dead. Drowned in the pool of her luxury woodland spa. Her silk gown is ruined. Her perfect skin marred by livid red hand prints.

But it’s not these details that send Elinor spiralling in panic. It’s the victim’s name. Because the dead woman is no stranger to Elinor. She texted just last night to ask Elinor one last favour.

Now the only favour Elinor can do her is to find her killer.

The Sleuth
Forty-something Elinor Saxby is a Birmingham CID legend: disciplined, intelligent and independent to a fault. A gifted detective chief inspector who should have climbed even higher — were it not for the deeply traumatic case that ruined everything. Leaving her battling insomnia, PTSD and a lingering sense that she’ll never fully outrun her past. Will moving to New Forest CID — and a secluded new home in the country — bring Elinor the peace she craves? Or is she about to get more than she bargained for . . . ?

The Setting
New Forest National Park is a place of bleak beauty: an ancient landscape of dense pine woods, open heathland and winding lanes where wild ponies roam freely. The air is thick with the scent of resin and salt from the nearby coast, and the shifting light through the trees creates pockets of shadow and secrecy. Idyllic on the surface, with its secluded villages and luxury retreats, it is also a place where isolation runs deep — where something can happen unseen, and the forest itself seems to hold its breath.