An invisible killer with a 100% success rate. No one is safe. Not even those closest to Washington Poe . . .
A shooting at Gretna Green. A bride is murdered on her wedding day, seconds after she slips on her new ring. It's brutal and bloody but she isn't the first victim and she won't be the last. With the body count now at 17, people are terrified, not knowing where the sniper will strike next.
With the nation in a state of panic, the police are at a loss and turn to Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw - the only team who just might be able to track down a serial killer following no discernible pattern and with the whole country as his personal hunting ground. Can Poe and Tilly stop an unstoppable assassin, who never misses his mark and never makes a mistake? Or will he find them before they find him...
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The Final Vow by M W Craven is published by Constable on 14 August 2025 and is book seven in the Washington Poe series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.
The problem any reviewer has when talking about books in a series is that we begin to run out of words to use to describe how much we enjoy them. It is no secret that the Washington Poe series from MW Craven is my favourite crime fiction series out there. Poe and his sidekick Tilly Bradshaw are the most incredible duo. Two characters who really shouldn't work well together, but are completely perfect. As the series progresses, so does their friendship. It's wonderful to watch and follow.
The last book in this series; The Mercy Chair was bleak and dark and really emotional. Whilst The Final Vow still features murder and danger and the author throws things at us that are so shocking, it's not as dark as its predecessor. The darkest wit and the blackest of humour are cleverly interwoven throughout, alongside the introduction of new characters who will bring a smile to the reader's face (Uncle Bertie will make you howl!).
The problem any reviewer has when talking about books in a series is that we begin to run out of words to use to describe how much we enjoy them. It is no secret that the Washington Poe series from MW Craven is my favourite crime fiction series out there. Poe and his sidekick Tilly Bradshaw are the most incredible duo. Two characters who really shouldn't work well together, but are completely perfect. As the series progresses, so does their friendship. It's wonderful to watch and follow.
The last book in this series; The Mercy Chair was bleak and dark and really emotional. Whilst The Final Vow still features murder and danger and the author throws things at us that are so shocking, it's not as dark as its predecessor. The darkest wit and the blackest of humour are cleverly interwoven throughout, alongside the introduction of new characters who will bring a smile to the reader's face (Uncle Bertie will make you howl!).
Washington Poe and his team are brought back together after a period of being forced to work apart. Some sort of punishment, that really didn't work out. When things are tough and there's a sniper serial killer out there who is currently on victim seventeen, with no misses, it's clear that Poe, Bradshaw and Flynn need to be called in.
This is an utter joy to read. We have Poe and his grumpiness, his love for a pie and his loyal dog Edgar. We see him as he prepares to marry Doyle, and is living on a grand estate so very different to his isolated shepherd's cottage. Tilly is pure Tilly. Using her magnificent brain to work out the mathematical clues to where the murderer may next strike, and also continuing to be innocent, straight talking and often hilariously funny.
Prepare to feel as though your heart has been ripped out at one point in the story though. Everything will slow down around you as you take in the words on the page. And breathe ......
How an author can make a novel frightening, gripping and laugh out loud funny at the same time is just genius. Compelling, inventive and sophisticated, this is crime writing at the highest level. Highly recommended.
Prepare to feel as though your heart has been ripped out at one point in the story though. Everything will slow down around you as you take in the words on the page. And breathe ......
How an author can make a novel frightening, gripping and laugh out loud funny at the same time is just genius. Compelling, inventive and sophisticated, this is crime writing at the highest level. Highly recommended.
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Newcastle.
He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a degree in social work. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author.
The Puppet Show, the first book in the critically acclaimed, best-selling Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series, was published by Little, Brown and went on to win the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger in 2019.
Black Summer, the second in the series, was longlisted for the Gold Dagger as was book three, The Curator.
Dead Ground won the CWA Steel Dagger in 2022 and book five, The Botanist, won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2023.
Dead Ground and 2022’s The Botanist were both Sunday Times bestsellers.
The series has now been translated into twenty-seven languages.
Fearless, the first thriller in the new US-set, Ben Koenig series, was published in June 2023 by Flatiron Books in the US and by Little, Brown in the UK.
Fearless will soon be a major TV series.
M. W. Craven lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne. When he isn't talking nonsense in the pub, he can usually be found at punk gigs and writing festivals up and down the country.
Instagram @m.w.craven
Blue Sky @mwcraven.bsky.social
Threads @m.w.craven
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