The Forest

The Forest is book 6 in Mark Dawson’s Atticus Priest series. Twenty years ago, several young men were abducted and murdered in the New Forest. A man was caught and convicted, and the killings stopped. Now another body has been found in the woods, and the crime scene looks far too similar to the old cases. DCI Mackenzie Jones is put in charge, but the prisoner refuses to speak to her. He will only talk to Atticus Priest, the brilliant and abrasive former detective whom everybody knows, since he has made a name for himself by solving difficult cases.

Atticus starts looking into the earlier murders and soon wonders how much of the original investigation is actually right. Is the new murder the work of a copycat, or did the police miss something the first time?

Twenty years ago, a series of gruesome murders terrified the nation.

The victims were young men, abducted and then found dead in the New Forest.

Ezra Crowley was caught and convicted. The killings stopped.

But now, another body has been found in the woods. And the scene is disturbingly familiar.

DCI Mackenzie Jones is brought in to lead the investigation, but the first breakthrough comes from an unexpected source. Crowley has asked to speak. But not to her… he wants Atticus Priest, the brilliant, abrasive former detective who has become notorious after a series of spectacular successes.

As Atticus returns to the shadows of the past, he begins to suspect the truth was buried deeper than anyone realised.

Part of the Atticus Priest series – see the full reading order on the Mark Dawson Books in Order page.