What do you think?
Rate this book
The Planter's Daughter
An eco-crime murder mystery and a century-old feud...John Banville meets Tana French in this new novel by Susan Lanigan, author of acclaimed novels White Feathers and Lucia's War.
Sadhbh Drummond was landed gentry, a passionate eco-warrior, and left a trail of broken hearts and wrecked marriages behind her. So when her burned body is found in a forestry plantation in West Cork, it soon becomes clear that her death was not an accident. Her Anglo-Irish heritage and great beauty marked her as an outsider, and her campaigns to save the land and climate activism put her into conflict with many, including local farmer Tom Keating and resentful stepdaughter Sinead Furlong.
When Detective Inspector Rosa Keane is called on to investigate, she soon learns about age-old resentments dating back to the War of Independence. But with a town closing ranks and Rosa secretly grappling with her own gender identity, can she and Kevin discover what happened to Sadhbh before it's too late?
Sadhbh Drummond was landed gentry, a passionate eco-warrior, and left a trail of broken hearts and wrecked marriages behind her. So when her burned body is found in a forestry plantation in West Cork, it soon becomes clear that her death was not an accident. Her Anglo-Irish heritage and great beauty marked her as an outsider, and her campaigns to save the land and climate activism put her into conflict with many, including local farmer Tom Keating and resentful stepdaughter Sinead Furlong.
When Detective Inspector Rosa Keane is called on to investigate, she soon learns about age-old resentments dating back to the War of Independence. But with a town closing ranks and Rosa secretly grappling with her own gender identity, can she and Kevin discover what happened to Sadhbh before it's too late?
370 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 19, 2025
5 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 28, 2025
I loved reading ‘The Planter’s Daughter’ ARC. I don't usually read crime novels, but I appreciated how the historical elements intertwined with the fast-paced modern narrative. The character descriptions were magnificently convincing, and Susan Lanigan has truly captured the complexities of Irish life in rural communities. In particular, I thought the portrayal of the inner conflicts of the transgender character was highly empathetic - and I do have some insight here from my own family.
November 15, 2025
An exciting murder mystery with an interesting environmental angle. The story follows police officers Rosa Keane and Kevin Xiao as they try to solve the case of Sadhbh Drummond, an eco-activist from an Anglo-Irish family whose burnt body is discovered on a hillside in West Cork following a devastating forest fire. As they pursue the case, Sadhbh's unique, strident personality becomes apparent and there are many possible suspects in the small, insular rural community. A parallel narrative about Sadhbh's ancestors and those of one of the suspects, set in the Irish Civil War of the early 1920s, provides essential context. The story combine suspense, history, environmentalism, culture and gender identity in a fresh and exciting way.
The wide cast of characters brings the eccentric yet closed community of this beautiful area to life, and reveals the life-or-death disputes about land and belonging that revervabate into the present, colouring every aspect of the investigation.
The book is described as a "Keane and Xiao Mystery" and I'm excited to read more of their adventures in the future.
The wide cast of characters brings the eccentric yet closed community of this beautiful area to life, and reveals the life-or-death disputes about land and belonging that revervabate into the present, colouring every aspect of the investigation.
The book is described as a "Keane and Xiao Mystery" and I'm excited to read more of their adventures in the future.
October 16, 2025
'In the cool early dawn, as the truck jiggled and jarred along the boreen and the silence thickened between them, Harry felt deep in his bloodstream that this was not the start of something, but the end.’
The Planter’s Daughter by Susan Lanigan publishes October 19th and is described as ‘an eco-crime murder mystery with a century-old feud’. It is the first book in a new mystery series featuring two Cork based detectives, Keane and Xiao.
Sadhbh Drummond was a very passionate environmentalist with a beauty that stopped everyone in their tracks. Never one to shy away from life, her presence was felt wherever she went. Of Anglo-Irish extraction, her family were well known and were once renowned estate landowners pre the Irish Civil war years. To this day there are many who still carry a bitterness from those times when neighbour literally fought neighbour. The scars from that period in Irish history run deep, in particular in parts of west Cork where there would have been a stronghold of resistance to the political decisions of the day.
Sadhbh was an eco-activist and angered many in her local rural community with her firm views on farming methods and education. As a teacher she had strong opinions and didn’t shy away from the information she taught to her students. When her body is discovered in a forest fire it soon becomes very clear that she was murdered but with so many voicing their dislike for her, and too many personal connections, the case gets quite complex. Detectives Keane and Xiao are brought in from the city to assist with the investigations and they soon find themselves caught up in a community filled with hostility and acrimony.
With a dual timeline, historic elements are revealed as they happen, providing insights into an age-old feud with its roots stemming back to Ireland’s War of Independence. As the historic snippets weave in and out of the modern day, Susan Lanigan takes her readers right into the centre of those brutal days when the devastation and decimation of communities was unfortunately commonplace.
Susan Lanigan would describe herself as ‘a politically engaged, character-centred author‘ and an environmentalist. She writes about the flaws of modern society and the extreme levels of hatred and abuse that can be targeted at certain people. Using her fiction allows Susan to expose readers to different perspectives, highlighting the pain and distress caused by malicious comments and actions
The Planter’s Daughter is a complex story, but Susan Lanigan confidently manages the many threads and sub-plots. Keane and Xiao are an interesting duo introducing additional relevant societal themes of racism, transphobia and more. An engaging read with several scenes that are extremely affecting, The Planter’s Daughter is an intriguing and emotionally potent tale.
*Note from Susan Lanigan ~ contains scenes featuring institutional transphobia which some readers may find distressing
The Planter’s Daughter by Susan Lanigan publishes October 19th and is described as ‘an eco-crime murder mystery with a century-old feud’. It is the first book in a new mystery series featuring two Cork based detectives, Keane and Xiao.
Sadhbh Drummond was a very passionate environmentalist with a beauty that stopped everyone in their tracks. Never one to shy away from life, her presence was felt wherever she went. Of Anglo-Irish extraction, her family were well known and were once renowned estate landowners pre the Irish Civil war years. To this day there are many who still carry a bitterness from those times when neighbour literally fought neighbour. The scars from that period in Irish history run deep, in particular in parts of west Cork where there would have been a stronghold of resistance to the political decisions of the day.
Sadhbh was an eco-activist and angered many in her local rural community with her firm views on farming methods and education. As a teacher she had strong opinions and didn’t shy away from the information she taught to her students. When her body is discovered in a forest fire it soon becomes very clear that she was murdered but with so many voicing their dislike for her, and too many personal connections, the case gets quite complex. Detectives Keane and Xiao are brought in from the city to assist with the investigations and they soon find themselves caught up in a community filled with hostility and acrimony.
With a dual timeline, historic elements are revealed as they happen, providing insights into an age-old feud with its roots stemming back to Ireland’s War of Independence. As the historic snippets weave in and out of the modern day, Susan Lanigan takes her readers right into the centre of those brutal days when the devastation and decimation of communities was unfortunately commonplace.
Susan Lanigan would describe herself as ‘a politically engaged, character-centred author‘ and an environmentalist. She writes about the flaws of modern society and the extreme levels of hatred and abuse that can be targeted at certain people. Using her fiction allows Susan to expose readers to different perspectives, highlighting the pain and distress caused by malicious comments and actions
The Planter’s Daughter is a complex story, but Susan Lanigan confidently manages the many threads and sub-plots. Keane and Xiao are an interesting duo introducing additional relevant societal themes of racism, transphobia and more. An engaging read with several scenes that are extremely affecting, The Planter’s Daughter is an intriguing and emotionally potent tale.
*Note from Susan Lanigan ~ contains scenes featuring institutional transphobia which some readers may find distressing
February 4, 2026
Climate-related novels are already an established niche genre within publishing, but they are usually in the literary/speculative fiction realm. A climate thriller was a new one for me, and it promised to combine aspects of some of my favourite genres - the reality and nuanced discussion that comes with climate-related stories, plus the tension and action of a typical thriller. Add in the little nod to poetry in the title, and I was sold.
The novel follows the investigation into the death of Climate activist Sadhbh Drummond and takes the detectives through many rural roads and conversations trying to pull the many threads of the case together. The reader is also taken back into the past of the area and how historical grievances can affect lives many years later. I enjoyed the forays into the past, though it took a while for why chapters were relevant to make sense. Besides the main case, there is a lot more going on in the novel; the two detectives are on the fringes of their work groups for different reasons, but bond despite seeming like polar opposites; Sadhbh, despite us never meeting her in the 'now' had such a hugely divisive personality and relating actions that the story took many tangents and wrong turns before getting to the heart of the 'why' - sometimes I wanted the pace to go much quicker than it was, but ultimately the want for the victim to be vindicated and the threads of hope from our main detective characters' stories kept me going.
The novel follows the investigation into the death of Climate activist Sadhbh Drummond and takes the detectives through many rural roads and conversations trying to pull the many threads of the case together. The reader is also taken back into the past of the area and how historical grievances can affect lives many years later. I enjoyed the forays into the past, though it took a while for why chapters were relevant to make sense. Besides the main case, there is a lot more going on in the novel; the two detectives are on the fringes of their work groups for different reasons, but bond despite seeming like polar opposites; Sadhbh, despite us never meeting her in the 'now' had such a hugely divisive personality and relating actions that the story took many tangents and wrong turns before getting to the heart of the 'why' - sometimes I wanted the pace to go much quicker than it was, but ultimately the want for the victim to be vindicated and the threads of hope from our main detective characters' stories kept me going.
November 18, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed The Planters Daughter by Susan Lanigan. A very clever, modern Irish, murder mystery set in rural Cork. The story features two very engaging detectives and has excellent pacing. Both detectives reflect a very modern Ireland – one that is still evolving!
Lanigan uses a brilliant but subtle device to get us walking in the shoes of one of her protagonists. This was amazing, I’ve never seen it done before. You’ll understand more when you read it!
As with some of the best dramas – there’s history! The clue to solving the mystery of Sadhbh Drummond’s death is in the past. There are two timelines, which are very easy to follow and overlap perfectly: 1921 – the Irish War of Independence and modern day 2021 Cork, when Ireland is still going through lockdown.
The Planter’s Daughter very skilfully blends both history and mystery. You’ll find yourself googling things every now and again and that’s another feature of Lanigan’s work that I love – it’s engaging and makes you want to know more!
I found I couldn’t wait to get back to it every time. Love a book that does that!
Lanigan uses a brilliant but subtle device to get us walking in the shoes of one of her protagonists. This was amazing, I’ve never seen it done before. You’ll understand more when you read it!
As with some of the best dramas – there’s history! The clue to solving the mystery of Sadhbh Drummond’s death is in the past. There are two timelines, which are very easy to follow and overlap perfectly: 1921 – the Irish War of Independence and modern day 2021 Cork, when Ireland is still going through lockdown.
The Planter’s Daughter very skilfully blends both history and mystery. You’ll find yourself googling things every now and again and that’s another feature of Lanigan’s work that I love – it’s engaging and makes you want to know more!
I found I couldn’t wait to get back to it every time. Love a book that does that!
November 8, 2025
I am not usually a fan of police procedurals but because the characters are well-drawn here, it sucked me in. Flipping between the pandemic years and a hundred years previously in West Cork (both tumultuous periods) the byline captures it's theme: 'the future is under threat but the past won't lie down'.
Susan Lanigan casts a cold eye on all political parties in Ireland - she is not afraid to poke a little fun at the Green Party even though she is a member. No harm in that. Lots of insights into Irish society past and present as well as being a page-turner. Finished it over a 24 hour period. Well worth a read.
Susan Lanigan casts a cold eye on all political parties in Ireland - she is not afraid to poke a little fun at the Green Party even though she is a member. No harm in that. Lots of insights into Irish society past and present as well as being a page-turner. Finished it over a 24 hour period. Well worth a read.
January 4, 2026
This isn't my usual read, I generally prefer cosy crimes and this was anything but cosy. There were some really explicit criminal acts mentioned which were quite upsetting to me to read.
I was intrigued by the Irish history aspect to this read, and I definitely learned a lot. It was also set during the tale-end of the pandemic and so it was interesting to see thoughts around that such as the mask wearing, social distancing and reopening of bars etc.
I could see this being a series, as there is definitely a long story available for Rosa, but I actually found myself more interested in Kevin's story and would love to have more on his backstory.
I was intrigued by the Irish history aspect to this read, and I definitely learned a lot. It was also set during the tale-end of the pandemic and so it was interesting to see thoughts around that such as the mask wearing, social distancing and reopening of bars etc.
I could see this being a series, as there is definitely a long story available for Rosa, but I actually found myself more interested in Kevin's story and would love to have more on his backstory.
September 23, 2025
Susan Lanigan’s cracking crime thriller, “The Planters Daughter’ stitches together, with brilliant storytelling, superbly crafted characters, a vibrant plot, the woes of modern life and a past that keeps delivering a legacy poisoned by secrets and betrayal. Gripping yet tender, it mirrors the devastation of the natural world with a moving exploration of prejudice, belonging, and otherness. At its heart lies a powerful truth: both land and people flourish when nourished by diversity in every sense.
January 22, 2026
west cork setting was very enjoyable to read and visualise. engaging and thought provoking over all
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews