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‘We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn’

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Witches, ghosts and feminism: how female authors are rewriting horror fiction

The spine-chilling Sunday Times bestseller

Pine

One of the biggest literary debuts of 2020, dark secrets lie at the heart of this haunting and powerful bestselling novel set in the Scottish Highlands

WINNER of the McIlvanney Prize 2020 
Shortlisted for Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2020 
Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2020 
 
'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Hunting Party 
'It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, author of Blue Ticket and The Water Cure 
______________ 
 
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. 
 
Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone. 
 
In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. 
 
Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust. 
 
In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times. 
______________ 
 
READERS LOVE PINE . . . 
 
'Stunning ... I was completely spellbound' ***** 
'Mesmerising and addictive' ***** 
'I raced through this one, absolutely adored it!' ***** 
'Can't recommend it enough' ***** 
'I could not pull myself away from the pages' *****

A literary gothic thriller to chill the marrow

(A) pacey horror-tinged novel ... Even with the strange and supernatural goings-on in the woods, it’s the rage and grief and darkness of grown-ups that’s the biggest mystery of all

The novel's strength is its evocation of bleak landscapes and complex characters

Splicing small-town domestic drama with grisly mystery and occult thrills, it’s a cleverly crafted debut

This haunting debut is a must-read for fans of eerie gothic fiction

An evocative read which will keep you guessing

I loved this book! Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping

This is true modern gothic ... Toon’s plain, poetic language has a hypnotic quality

A memorable debut from a promising new writer

Marries the claustrophobia of rural life with fascinating hints of Scottish myths, to create an emotional read with the pace of a thriller

Has all the ingredients of a modern gothic.

A debut novel that's carefully calibrated to make every single hair on the back of your neck stand up on end

A modern gothic thriller that draws on the author's own Highland childhood

With Pine, (Toon) … has passed the debut hurdle in striking style.

A haunting and heartbreakingly bewitching tale … Packed with folklore, magic and an eerie sense of foreboding every time you turn the page, Pine will captivate readers from the very first page

From the first page PINE casts a sense of slowly-rising unease that is completely compelling. It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end

Sophie Mackintosh, author of THE WATER CURE

Eerie and dark, you'll be mesmerised by this dramatic tale with its tightly-woven plot

If there's any doubt that the Gothic thriller is enjoying a boom, Francine Toon's debut should settle the matter. PINE, a moving study of memory and loss, is both spooky and tender; drenched in a sense of place and yet eerily timeless

Combines the Gothic sensibilities of Shirley Jackson with the psychologically astute suspense of Gillian Flynn ... will leave you gripped and transfixed

Francine Toon's touching account of a flawed, yet tender, father-daughter relationship in PINE is all the more compelling against the starkly beautiful backdrop of the Scottish highlands

A beautifully crafted gothic tale of isolation and not belonging. Thoroughly gripping and stunningly atmospheric

Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them

An atmospheric tale of memory and loss, movingly told through a child's eyes

WINNER of the McIlvanney Prize 2020 
Shortlisted for Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2020 
 
 
'It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure 
 
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. 
 
Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone. 
 
In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. 
 
Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust. 
 
In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times. 
 
'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party

Francine Toon

A bravura sequence of adolescent thrill and romantic fireworks that shows Toon at the peak of her powers... What Toon’s really fabulous at… are those compelling teenage relationships that she opens the novel with and whose upshot she unfolds moreishly a decade later.

Like so much good horror, this is about guilt and unreliable memory

Skilfully handled themes of guilt, regret and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an insidious tingle of doom

Toon’s gift for creating an otherworldly atmosphere in small towns with big secrets is present once again in a novel that explores the desire to escape the ordinary

Atmospheric... Toon layers unease and memory, crafting a chilling, slow-burn novel

[Bluff] explores youthful naivety, adult choices, and how past actions can haunt us for years

[An] atmospheric tale of buried secrets . . . This absolute masterclass in suspense is genuinely unputdownable. I devoured it in a day.

Explores youthful naivety, adult choices, and how past actions can haunt us for years

An utterly gripping novel which keeps you guessing until the end.

A taut, eerie exploration of memory, belief, and the treacherous edges of girlhood. Francine Toon has a knack for getting deep under the skin.

Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark

Dark, beguiling, and steeped in menace, Francine Toon spins a brooding mystery which shimmers with unease. It perfectly captures that dread of teenage girlhood.

Lucy Rose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamb

Bluff is a menacing, wind-swept thriller that creeps up on you as stealthily as a figure in the dark.

Anna Bailey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Tall Bones

Atmospheric, taut and powerfully plotted, Bluff shows how memory can act as both shield and distortion in the pursuit of truth.

Bluff weaves a chilling tale of coercion, deception, and dangerous liaisons, where the dark presence of one's past and hometown coalesce into something truly terrifying. A brilliantly gothic tale.

A literary gothic thriller to chill the marrow

Splicing small-town domestic drama with grisly mystery and occult thrills… cleverly crafted

This haunting debut is a must-read for fans of eerie gothic fiction

Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping

Lucy Foley, author of THE HUNTING PARTY on PINE

Marries the claustrophobia of rural life with fascinating hints of Scottish myths, to create an emotional read with the pace of a thriller

Carefully calibrated to make every single hair on the back of your neck stand up on end

Sophie Mackintosh, author of THE WATER CURE on PINE

Both spooky and tender; drenched in a sense of place and yet eerily timeless

Combines the Gothic sensibilities of Shirley Jackson with the psychologically astute suspense of Gillian Flynn

From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Pine, comes a haunting and atmospheric new gothic thriller, set in the brooding Scottish landscape. 
 
In this corner of Fife, summer nights meant parties on wind-blown beaches, wrapped in hoodies and denim jackets, pretending you weren’t cold in the stubborn evening light. 
 
JOANIE, 2013. Desperate to flee the claustrophobia of St Rule, Joanie has been looking forward to her big escape. But at the eleventh hour this dream slips through her hands. Devastated, Joanie falls into the orbit of an enigmatic couple – a pair of charismatic academics at the town’s university – who offer her a new kind of freedom. 
 
CAMERON, 2023. When Cameron arrives back in St Rule for Christmas, a question burns in his mind: whatever happened to Joanie? It’s been a decade since he saw his former friend. But as he starts to look for answers, it becomes clear that someone wants to keep this secret buried at all costs. How far should he go in pursuit of the truth? 
 
Praise for Francine Toon: 
 
'Dark, beguiling, and steeped in menace, Francine Toon spins a brooding mystery which shimmers with unease' Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb 
 
'A chilling, slow-burn novel' i Newspaper 
 
'A taut, eerie exploration of memory, belief, and the treacherous edges of girlhood. Francine Toon has a knack for getting deep under the skin' Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark 
 
‘Toon’s gift for creating an otherworldly atmosphere in small towns with big secrets is present once again in a novel that explores the desire to escape the ordinary’ Scotsman 
 
'A menacing, wind-swept thriller that creeps up on you as stealthily as a figure in the dark' Anna Bailey, author of Tall Bones

Francine Toon

Praise for Bluff

A bravura sequence of adolescent thrill and romantic fireworks that shows Toon at the peak of her powers... What Toon’s really fabulous at… are those compelling teenage relationships that she opens the novel ...

Like so much good horror, this is about guilt and unreliable memory

Skilfully handled themes of guilt, regret and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an insidious tingle of doom

A bravura sequence of adolescent thrill and romantic fireworks that shows Toon at the peak of her powers... What Toon’s really fabulous at… are those compelling teenage relationships that she opens the novel ...

Like so much good horror, this is about guilt and unreliable memory

Skilfully handled themes of guilt, regret and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an insidious tingle of doom

A bravura sequence of adolescent thrill and romantic fireworks that shows Toon at the peak of her powers... What Toon’s really fabulous at… are those compelling teenage relationships that she opens the novel ...

Like so much good horror, this is about guilt and unreliable memory

Skilfully handled themes of guilt, regret and adolescent confusion coupled with dark academia make for an insidious tingle of doom

Books by Francine Toon

Articles featuring Francine Toon

‘We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn’

Witches, ghosts and feminism: how female authors are rewriting horror fiction

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