A Cult in The Woods: A DCI Cieran Black Scottish Crime Thriller

by Ramsay Sinclair

DCI Black is still recovering from the last case in the Highlands when he gets called in on a simple case. With strict orders not to look too deeply into things and not to classify the area as a crime scene, he figures he can wrap things up quickly.

But bones aren't the only things Black uncovers, and when he starts to hear the whispers in the woods and the stories of mysterious animal masks, he realizes things aren't quite what they appear to be.

Now, with all the evidence piling up, will DCI Black listen to his gut, or will he follow his father's strict orders to leave things uncovered? And if he goes deeper into the woods, will he be able to emerge on the other side?

Genres: Fiction

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2024

Reviews

[Graham C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange book. How a load of bodies can’t be classed as a crime scene from the outset.
Got 20% in and gave up.
Wasn’t for me.

[Mrs Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor Read

I struggled with the writing structure of this and the 1st book in the series. It's very stilted, not much of a flow.

I'm a self-contained book addict and always see a series through, so will continue with the rest in the hope that they improve

[Patricia Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously.....

I started reading what seemed a really good book for a winters evening.
However, I was stopped short when the author decided to call the lead detective by all of his possible names. Ceiran, then DCI Black, then lead detective?
Then there was the referral to his last case, that he'd obviously found 'quite' difficult, not withstanding his injuries.
When the story proceeded to the 3/4 mark, it goes from an alleged forest in Galloway in the Scottish Borders to sounding like an American cop show.
Is the author American?
And he actually sounded like a bit of a disaster, he couldn't keep up with the rest of his team due to the past injury and he didn't quite let the reader know what lay before this case and the last, except him and Hunter had history.
We don't do interrogations in the Police force here, we start of with questioning a suspect. I'm pretty sure the PF, doesn't look on as this is happening either. Then there was the camera in the interview room, watching his every move. proper procedure would be for an officer to turn on a recording device, ask everyone to state their name and rank and the time. And so it went on, which really spoiled what was , up until then, not a bad storyline.
How much does it take for a writer to fact check these details, so that they sound true, and not distract a reader, like myself, from actually reading the book to the end.
Generally I would now purchase the first book to get the story of what came before, but on this occasion, I'll give it a miss.
Also, the author, Cieran Black, why is there so little information on his bio, apart from a noisy child and a wife that needs car maintenance tips?
I couldn't find anything about him, and wondered how he managed to turn out SO many books .

[C. Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing to do with this book, but why am I no longer able to access all of my comments? Especially with a book like this - when I made a record number of comments! - it is difficult to write a full review!
My first criticism was the constant references to "Detective Black" etc. From the little I could glean about the author, he spent some time in the police. With which Force, I have to ask - indeed, in which country? That is the sort of thing I hear in stories based on Forces (or Departments) in the USA - certainly not in Scotland or, as far as I know, in any other part of the UK! I spent some years serving in the former Strathclyde Police Force, and never heard anything like that! Officers are, formally, given their rank. The main character should have been "DCI Black", and junior officers "DC Hunter" etc. Actually, I would have expected a DCI to have a DS on his team!
Then there was the Americanism "off of" - one of the stupidest misuses of words to have come across the Atlantic. People in Scotland do not use that language. There were also far too many infantile errors. Did anyone actually proofread the book? As an author myself (non-fiction), I would never submit a MS for publication that had not been proofread by me, at least one other, and then by myu wife.
I know that there is more, but I cannot recall it. Once again, what is marketed as a "series" turns out to be a "serial". I shall not be rushing to obtain the next volume/episode!
The one positive was that I was not assaulted with a load of blasphemy. This allowed me to award one star. How others gave any more than two is beyond my comprehension!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finding book one somewhat unbelievable I was hoping for better in book 2. Again a strange and not very believable plot. The writing doesn’t flow well and the ‘Americanisms’ annoyed me. Do Scottish people say elevator instead of lift? Having said this I went on to read book 3 because of the sub plot of DC Black and DC Adam’s childhood abductions.

[S A W Steel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit far fetched.

I suppose I will continue the series to hopefully find out the end story but the irritating use of 'gotten' on practically every page puts me off so much I may not bother.

[Chic Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natures reserve

It took me a wee while getting into this book but I was there I couldn’t put the book down. Many twists and turns.

[Michelle Eames · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great

Quite poorly written. Confusing characters. No answers to anything. May have made more sense if I'd read the first one.

[richard ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd book in the series I have read must say quite enjoying them.. The main characters have a back story which is slowly unravelling each book.