A critique of “Once There Were Wolves,” by Charlotte McConaghy

I suggest proceeding with caution in reading this fast-paced, man versus nature mystery by Charlotte McConaghy. You could easily get engulfed by the sensory overload from which the book’s protagonist suffers.

The heroine of this tale, Inti Flynn, is — by her own admission — “fury dressed in flesh” once she is riled. And riled she often is when it comes to dealing with the countryfolk in the Scottish Highlands where she and a team of two others biologists, Niels and Evan, and a data analyst, Zoe, have come to reintroduce fourteen gray wolves in the Cairngorms Mountain Range, a wild and underpopulated area. Joined in their efforts by a local veterinarian, Amelia, they hope is to reduce the overabundance of deer that have decimated the forested region.

The project is all about rewilding Scotland. The mysteries the story uncovers and the contrasts between the human and natural world it reveals raise the question of whether the wilder world is more dangerous than the civilized. And it asks: Is rewilding how we combat climate change?

Bringing with her to Scotland, Inti has her damaged twin sister Aggie, who was abused and pimped out by her husband while the three of them lived in Alaska. Inti is not herself what we would consider “normal.” She has mirror touch synesthesia. She recreates the sensory experience of others with whom she comes into contact. It is an exhausting existence to be constantly transported into another’s feelings.

McConaghy has peopled the community with interesting folk, most of whose relationships date from high school days: Duncan MacTavish, the police chief, Lainey and Stuart Burns, local farmers, Mayor Andy Mackay, Fergus, a pilot who helps Inti scour the woods for misplaced wolves. When Stuart Burns, a known wife abuser, turns up dead and Inti finds and buries his body, concerned that the wolves her team released will be blamed, the mysteries multiply. P.S. There is also a stormy romantic love interest.

Once There Were Wolves is a fitting followup to McConaghy’s award-winning Migrations, which also features an obsessed female naturalist. It could lead you to a further consideration of the wolf question in the region where you live. The Atlantic magazine science writer, Ed Jong has written recently about that. It is a good place to start. Read his “An Unorthodox Strategy to Stop Cars From Hitting Deer. Try Wolves (The Atlantic, May 24, 2021.)