Published By: Zaffre
Pages: 400
Released On: 10/04/2025
While Scott Jericho is tasked with investigating the most baffling case of his career, his partner Harry is set upon his own fateful path.
In a rundown seaside town, a young man has vanished without a trace. Jericho’s investigation of this disappearance will unravel a diabolical plot and expose a secret long buried.
A secret hinted at by the paper men hanging from the trees in a nearby wood, by the ravings of the local ‘wise woman’, and by the eerie waxworks of a defunct fairground attraction.
As fates collide and an impossible murder is executed, a twisted killer from the past is closing in on Harry and Jericho. But is it already too late for Jericho to save himself and the man he loves?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have not made a secret how much I love this series, and I really hope it goes on and on. The Jericho series is one of my all-time favourite thriller series. It’s got no shortage of twists and turns and shocks and surprises, but it is also packed full of love and heart and beauty. I have also recently read William’s latest non-Jericho book – The Boy I Love – which was a stunning piece of writing.
What I’ve loved about this series is seeing Scott Jericho’s journey. Seeing him age, fall in and out of love, brush with death, and just progress personally and professionally. It also shows off William’s writing and character creation skills.
I think what I love most about this series is that it’s broken down barriers I usually link to crime protagonists. Jericho is a gay traveller. And I’m aware I haven’t read every book in existence, but that was completely new to me in the first book, and I think it’s really important to have such a character in a mainstream book. I don’t want it to come across as patronising, but I think it’s really important and powerful.
This one took a little while to get into the action but I quite liked that. It didn’t feel too slow but gave me time to familiarise myself again with what happened in the previous book and with the characters.
This book gave Harry his own sort of side quest. I’ve always liked him as a character, always there supporting Jericho. But in this one, he gets to go on his own sort of adventure which opens him up a bit more as a character in himself, rather than just as Jericho’s partner.
I can’t say for certain, seeing as I have read them all, but I think you could read it as a standalone, but I do think you would lose some of its magic. Where it excels is in its progression, and so I highly recommend starting with book one.
This book is really…I was going to say clever, but that makes it sound like the other two aren’t clever, which isn’t what I mean. But it’s less shoot-first-ask-questions-later. There’s more investigation, deeper storytelling, more emotion, before it hits a crescendo towards the end. This shows William’s ability to write great story and action, but also great characters.
It ends well and satisfyingly but I do wonder if there will be any more in the series (when you read the ending, you’ll know what I mean). I do hope so as it’s a really good series, but the way it ends…I won’t spoil it, but it does give food for thought. But I, for one, would read this series forever.
Books By Your Bedside 