The Murder Tree is book 5 in the DCI Christine Caplan thriller series and launches on 3rd November 2026. Perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Denise Mina and Ian Rankin.
Individually, the deaths of three elderly people aren't suspicious. But when DCI Christine Caplan discovers the victims are linked and the truth of their identities twists the investigation ever‑darker, one question haunts Caplan's every step: who needs these people dead . . . and how many names are on their list?
Four siblings. Three dead bodies. One twisted bloodline.
DCI Christine Caplan should be celebrating her daughter's wedding. Instead, a journalist gives her a lead on a potential murder case with four whispered words: Witness protection. Suspicious death.
The dead woman is Juniper Greene - a recluse found alone in her cottage, the doors locked from the inside. Officially, nobody cares. And since Caplan's team is days from being shut down, she has nothing to lose by following the faintest trace of evidence.
What surfaces is a family that shouldn't still exist. Four estranged siblings - two buried, two vanished or living under names that aren't their own. One by one, these relatives are being picked off.
It isn't a family tree.
It's a murder tree.
And someone is chopping it back to the roots.
Caplan has to save the survivors. But can she find them before the killer?