Hawthorn - A Scottish Ghost Story

Caithness, October 1871. The Ordnance Survey are charting Scotland''s most remote north-easterly county. When a strange vision leads cartographer Robert Southerland to fall into the bog at the night, he succumbs to a raging fever. Inches from death, he is taken to the local manor, Leask House, to recuperate under the care of Mrs Sinclair and her beautiful daughter Isabel. But Robert''s stay is not to be a restful one . . . At first he thinks the dreadful visions that plague him at the house are the result of his medication, the laudanum the local doctor makes him take. But when Robert uncovers a link between the house and his own murky, mysterious past, he begins to wonder whether his presence at Leask House is a coincidence at all.

About the author

Elaine Thomson is a Scottish author, who has written several historical novels under the name E. S. Thomson. Her work has been longlisted for the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger, and shortlisted for the Saltire Prize, the Scottish Arts Council First Book Award and the William McIlvanney Crime Book of the Year Award. Hawthorn is the first in a planned quartet of ghost stories, all set in Scotland during the four 'turning points' of the year: Samhain, midwinter, midsummer and the spring equinox. The second book in the series, Saltwater, is coming in 2026.

Elaine has a PhD in the social history of medicine, and works as a university lecturer by day, and writes by night. She lives in Edinburgh with her two sons.

Product details

• Authors: Elaine Thomson, Thomson Elaine
• Publisher: Sphere
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 23.10.2025
• EAN: 9781408724637
• ISBN: 978-1-4087-2463-7
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 138 mm x 218 mm x 32 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Suspense > Horror; Guides > Spirituality > Ancient knowledge, ancient cultures; FICTION / Short Stories (single author), Scotland, FICTION / Horror, Horror & ghost stories, Ghosts & poltergeists, Ghosts and poltergeists, BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Supernatural (inc Ghosts), Horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction, FICTION / Places / Europe