A remote Scottish estate. A missing teenager.

When a young archaeologist discovers bones at the site of her Bronze Age broch on Gallows Hill, the community of Kilbroch hold their breath. Ex-detective Callum MacGarvey came to work on the estate in order to escape from his past, but when a friend asks for his help, he cannot refuse. Missing teenager Robbie MacBride’s grandmother wants answers. She doesn’t believe what the family tell her, and Callum finds himself reluctantly drawn into a historic missing person case. He suspects that everyone is hiding a secret, including George Strabane, the landowner whom Callum works for.

#GallowFalls Twitter @Alexnyewriter @FledglingPress @KellyALacey @lovebookstours  #Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter Instagram @alex.nye1 @fledglingpressbooks

While the police believe Robbie ran away from home more than a decade ago, not everyone is convinced. The archaeologist, Laura, ex-detective, Callum MacGarvey and Robbie’s grandmother continue to investigate, while Robbie’s sister, the silent Ruthie, remains haunted by her childhood flashbacks. Sometimes the truth is so dark, it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.

My Review

The first thing I had to do was establish who is who. This took a bit of time, but I got there in the end. And it was worth it.

Callum MacGarvey lives alone in a remote Scottish ‘village’ – and I use the term loosely. He used to be a police detective in Glasgow, but he was hounded out of the force. He now lives a simple life in his tied cottage, selling chopped firewood and generally doing whatever you do in the countryside when you’ve lost your job, your wife and your child.

His friend Joan is the 70-year-old grandmother of teenager Robbie, who disappeared 12 years ago. Because he took some supplies and his passport, the police surmised that he just ran away from home. Joan is not convinced. She is sure he’s still here. And she wants Callum to help her find out the truth. But she may not like what she finds.

Robbie’s younger sister Ruthie now lives with her dad Owen – neither of them ever see or speak to Joan since Robbie vanished and Ruthie’s mother died. In fact Ruthie never speaks at all. She chooses not to do so. What is she afraid she will say if she does?

Then 20-something archaeologist Laura Pettigrew arrives to excavate the site on Gallows Hill, where it is believed stands the remains of a Bronze Age broch. But the bones she discovers are not from the Bronze Age, and she finds herself embroiled in an historic missing persons case. Add the vile landowner George Strabane into the mix and you have all the makings of a creepy thriller, full of mystery, secrets, and superstition.

Such a brilliant book with a ‘guess what’s next’ shocking and intricate story, a massive twist and the writing is perfect. We see it from different points of view – Callum, Laura, Joan and Ruthie. Each has their own story to tell, but there are some who don’t want the truth to come out.

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #GallowFallsTour

About the Author

Alex Nye is the award-winning author of seven novels. She is also a Teaching Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at the University of Glasgow. She has several times been a Writer in Residence and Creative Writing Mentor through the Scottish Book Trust. She has written books about Mary Queen of Scots, Mary Shelley, Glencoe, the Jacobites, refugees and the care system in Scotland. Her previous novel was a collection of stories which touched on challenging subjects as diverse as Tianenman Square and the school shootings at Dunblane. As a teenager she won the WH Smith Young Writers Award with a piece of reflective prose about a Biology lesson, where the pupils examined a foetus in a glass jar.

Twitter
@Alexnyewriter
@Fledglingpress
@KellyALacey 
@lovebookstours 

#Ad #LBTCrew #BookTwitter 

Instagram 
@alex.nye1 
@fledglingpressbooks
@lovebookstours 
#Ad #LBTCrew #Bookstagram  

Facebook
@lovebookstours 

TikTok
@lovebookstours