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Rachel McLean

Rachel McLean
Rachel McLean has new books coming out. Are they on your reading list?

Rachel McLean is a bestselling indie thriller author whose Dorset Crime series has sold over a million copies and whose debut in the franchise, The Corfe Castle Murders, won the 2021 Kindle Storyteller Award (with more than a quarter-million copies sold). She manages her own publishing company, regularly tops bestseller charts in digital and print, and writes across multiple interlinked crime series. She divides her time between Birmingham and Dorset with her wife, three children, and two cats, Cagney and Lacey.

The latest Rachel McLean book is The Chesil Beach Murders (Dorset Crime #11). It released on October 9, 2025.

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Book Coming Soon
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The next Rachel McLean book is The Missing Corpse (Jurassic Coast Mystery #1.5). It is scheduled to release on November 20, 2025.

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Rachel McLean’s Writing Style

McLean writes lean, gripping crime thrillers that blend procedural detail with character-driven suspense. Her tone is fast-paced and intelligent, with plot twists grounded in emotional stakes.

Interesting Facts

  • Her Dorset Crime series has sold over a million copies.
  • The Corfe Castle Murders earned her the Kindle Storyteller Award and over 250,000 sales.
  • She is a proud independent author, running her own publishing operations with Ackroyd Publishing.
  • Her fictional worlds include five spin-off crime series, with characters crossing over between them.
  • Before Dorset Crime she wrote the DI Zoe Finch series, which connects into her later works.
  • Her launches are consistently strong: her last several books hit No.1 on the BookStat eBook chart.

Author Themes & Influence

Rachel McLean’s work emphasizes the impact of place, the interplay of small communities and hidden danger, and the psychological effects of trauma and duty. As a self-published author who has scaled to bestseller status, she has become a model for indie success in crime fiction.

Recurring Themes & Motifs

  • Dual lives and hidden secrets
  • Community dynamics in rural and small-town settings
  • Justice, betrayal, and moral ambiguity
  • The legacy of past crimes
  • Psychological resilience under pressure

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