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Straw in the Wind

The DI Callum MacLean mysteries, Book 2

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Straw in the Wind

By: Carol Cole
Narrated by: James Macnaughton
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A suspicious death, a missing girl, and very few leads... New Forest police are grasping at straws. Whilst Detective Inspector Callum MacLean is settling into his new role in rural Hampshire, a young woman is found dead in the neighbourhood, her identity unknown. For a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone else, this seems very odd, but when a local child goes missing shortly afterwards, panic sets in. It’s not the first such case for the Scottish inspector, yet the last one in Glasgow ended in tragedy. This is personal. And when Callum’s team don’t share his sense of urgency, he will have to put his foot down. It doesn’t help that Sergeant Daisy Donaldson, with whom Callum had developed a rapport, has doubts about his theories. Like the weather, relations are becoming stormy. As the search gets underway to find the little girl, last seen feeding her ponies, all potential suspects have rock solid alibis. The only lead is a white van seen near the area in both cases. Yet Callum begins to fear they might not be the only ones looking for the missing girl. Will they find her before tragedy strikes again?

©2025 Carol Cole (P)2026 Joffe Audio Crime Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives
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Killer in the New Forest By: Carol Cole
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This is a series of fun, unlikely stories, set in one of my favourite places. The narrator has a wonderful style and pace but PLEASE check phonetic stress and vowels. Outside the USA, enquiry is enqUIRy, not INquery, menage rhymes with barge, not stage. Other than this he's probably my favourite narrator ever, able to leap between characters without a stumble, whilst avoiding the common practice of making rural accented characters sound like village idiots
Overall - a good travel/housework/holiday companion.

Fun story, well read apart from mispronunciations.

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Deeply affecting writing for me as much of the back story involves grief, readjustment and generally coping with a new way of life. I appreciate this. The narration is nearly perfect and is spoken in a kind and warm way. The stories set in the New Forest are fascinating and atmospheric. Much about nature and seasons alongside an exciting puzzle to be solved. Feel good too!

Second in the series I’m enjoying

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