Tortured antihero's been abandoned by Richard in scrubland (5)
I believe the answer is:
heath
'scrubland' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'tortured antihero's been abandoned by richard' is the wordplay.
'tortured antihero' becomes 'Heathcliff' (from Wuthering Heights).
'been abandoned by' is a deletion indicator.
'richard' becomes 'Cliff' (singer Cliff Richard).
'heathcliff' with 'cliff' removed is 'HEATH'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for heath that I've seen before include "Ted - - (former PM)" , "Barren open land" , "Common land; ex-PM" , "Scrub" , "Tract of open land" .)