Thorns in the Hollow

by Laura Purcell

First published 2026

Amazon

2.5(5)

Tabitha is determined to remain at Reynard's Hollow, the ancestral estate that defines her place in the world. Marriage to her cousin Vincent appears to be the only practical way to secure that future, despite her feelings for Kit, the gamekeeper's son and her childhood companion. When Vincent dies in what is reported as a hunting accident, the violence of his injuries suggests that something more dangerous may be moving through the woods.

Kit is confronting secrets of his own as rumours about his parentage and his mother's strange behaviour unsettle the servants' hall. His discovery in the forest forces both him and Tabitha to reconsider what the household believes about monsters, inheritance and loyalty. Purcell's forthcoming gothic historical fantasy uses the isolated estate and its social hierarchy to turn family secrets and forbidden attachment into a mystery where appearances are deliberately unreliable.