Published By: Harvill Secker
Pages: 336
Released On: 16/04/2026
Every place has its ghosts.
Edenscar, a town in the Peak District, has more than most. 17 years ago, its inhabitants were hit by tragedy when a school bus veered off the road and everyone on board drowned. Everyone, that is, except Joseph Ashe. His miraculous survival has haunted him and the town ever since.
Now a Detective Sergeant in the local police, Joe is called to the scene of a brutal and apparently inexplicable crime. The whole town is spooked, but Joe’s new boss, DI Laurie Bower, more used to inner-city police work, has no time for superstition. She just wants to find the very real killer who has left no trace and apparently had no motive.
Joining forces, Joe and Laurie work to uncover the secrets of Edenscar, both past and present.
But when you dig up the dead, expect to get your hands dirty…
*****
Thanks to Harvill Secker for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review. I was lucky enough to receive a proof of this at the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Festival 2025.
I initially thought this was Sarah’s debut but I’ve now found out she’s got plenty of other books for me to get my teeth into, and I will.
It’s multi-layered and everything has such depth. So much is spot on, the plot, characters, setting, themes, twists.
I love a short chapter, and to begin with, this had quite long chapters, but I think this story suited long chapters as there was a lot of relevant information to get in. And overall, the book uses both long and short snappy chapters so it’s a nice balance.
There is a lot going on, I tell you that. Too much? I don’t think so. I think she’s found the right side of overwhelming. You have to keep up, but it adds to the tension and makes the book just zoom by because there is so much to get your teeth into. There’s no time for being bored with this book.
Joseph and Laurie are fantastic protagonists, a perfect, dysfunctional professional relationship. They were funny, whether intentionally or not, and their completely…mismatched-ness made for interesting reading. There are many other characters in it, some with more airtime than others, but they all have their own stories and also work well off the back of Joseph’s story.
I read sooooo may thrillers, so it was nice to find one that still felt familiar, but had enough twists in it to make it feel new and fresh. It has a supernatural element to it, which isn’t something I thought would fit into a thrillery crime police drama. I thought maybe it would feel shoved in. But it fits in seamlessly and it became one of my favourite aspects.
I mean, I am notoriously awful at predicting whodunnits (although I did figure one out recently which I was very proud of), and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I didn’t see this one coming, but it’s very well done. I wonder if I reread it, whether I’d see any clues.
I do wish the big thing happened a smidge earlier. I loved it from page one, don’t get me wrong, but I was itching to get really stuck into it. That’s not necessarily a negative, I still loved it, but yeah, just a smidge earlier would have been the icing on the cake.
I read it in a day, I just couldn’t put it down.
I think this is the start of a series which will be interesting to see, because whilst it does conclude, there is definitely scope for further stories.
Books By Your Bedside 