Coming Soon: 'Fear in the New Forest' by Linda Mather

 Published by Joffe Books

12 August 2026

The second book in the New Forest Murder
Mystery series.

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 left 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? 

On a lonely stretch of shingle, where the Solent laps the forest’s edge, something terrible is about to wash ashore: the bloated body of a young man. Several days dead.

A ragged wound gapes in his chest. Because this was no accident. He’s been shot at close range, then dumped. 

City cop Elinor’s on the case — and utterly out of her depth.  And her CID team know it. The frosty coastguard tells Elinor the victim is a stranger. From out of town. But Elinor would swear she knows more than she’s saying. Before long, a second body is discovered deep in the forest. Same wound. Same cold-blooded MO. Same killer? It’s up to Elinor to unravel the truth from the lies, before more victims die. But she’d better watch her back. 

Because here in the New Forest, secrets run deeper — and darker — than the murky waters of the Solent itself. Despite her wish to escape, this case reminds Elinor that bad things still happen in beautiful places . . 

Linda Mather is the author of the Jo Hughes Murder Mystery series: Forecast Murder, A Sign for Murder, Murder as Predicted and The Hanged Man, with a fifth book out later this year, published by Joffe Books.  Jo Hughes is a PI and astrologer. Described as ‘gripping and twisty’, the stories are set in Birmingham, Coventry, London and the Cotswolds. Travel, work and people give Linda inspiration for her writing. Follow her on Twitter @ILindaMather.