Author: Laura McClusky
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Reviewer: Kristin Murdock
Laura McClusky’s second novel, The Cursed Road, is one that lingers because it leans unapologetically into its characters’ flaws and the uneasy spaces between them. These characters, DI Georgina ‘George’ Lennox and DI Richard “Richie” Stewart, are familiar from McClusky’s first book – The Wolf Tree.
What struck me most was the way the story embraces imperfect protagonists. There’s no polished hero here, just people shaped by circumstance, secrecy, and survival. Their interactions feel raw and authentic, and often uncomfortable with an unspoken loyalty underpinning everything. The tension isn’t just external; it lives in the gaps between what’s said and what’s withheld. That quiet withholding drives the narrative as much as any overt conflict.
George and Richie are sent to investigate the discovery of a young woman’s body found on a lonely stretch of road. What initially appears to be an isolated murder quickly unravels into something far more complex, when the victim is linked to a girl who vanished years earlier. As the detectives dig deeper, they encounter a tightly guarded community divided by wealth, history, and long-held grudges, where locals are reluctant to speak and secrets are carefully buried. The investigation begins to expose unsettling connections between the privileged hunting estate and the surrounding families, with the symbolism of the hunted deer echoing through the case. As past and present collide, George and Richie must navigate both the truth of the crime and the fractures in their own partnership before the road claims another victim.
The divide between rich and poor is handled well. Rather than becoming heavy-handed social commentary, it simmers beneath the surface, influencing decisions, loyalties, and betrayals. The secrecy between these groups feels deeply ingrained, and inherited, and that adds a layer of inevitability to the unfolding events.
I found the allegory of the deer and the missing girls particularly compelling. It works as both a symbolic thread and an emotional anchor – suggesting vulnerability, watchfulness, and something almost sacred being hunted or lost. The deer becomes a quiet mirror to the characters themselves: cautious, exposed, and caught in forces larger than they can control. It’s a motif that elevates the story from a straightforward narrative into something more reflective and haunting.
Overall, The Cursed Road is a layered, character-driven novel that rewards readers willing to sit with ambiguity. It’s not about neat resolutions, it’s about the messy, complicated intersections of people, place, and power.
Publisher blurb
The hauntingly atmospheric and gripping new novel from the author of The Wolf Tree
In a mountainous region of the Scottish Highlands, a young woman’s body has been found on a remote stretch of road. Though the manner of her death suggests a terrible accident, a name carved into her arm hints at something more sinister.
And when a personal connection to the name is revealed, DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate.
As George and Richie question locals, they discover that the road has a bloody history. Fearing that more women will be harmed, they track the killer through a rugged wilderness where ancient feuds, generational curses and the unforgiving elements fight for supremacy.
But there are more secrets to the road than just its history – and the people living along it will do whatever it takes to stop those secrets from coming out.