Published By: Hutchinson Heinemann
Pages: 400
Released On: 11/06/2026
Alex used to break into houses illegally. These days, it’s his job.
Alex is part of a small firm of consultants who break into offices and homes to test their security. It’s fun, it’s well paid, and he’s very good at it. It’s almost like he’s grown up at last.
But when he gets fired from his firm, evicted from his flat and dumped by his girlfriend, all in the same evening, he decides to steal one last job from his company without their knowing. A job they had already decided not to accept.
Big mistake.
Before long, Alex is in remote northern Scotland, following the trail of an ambitious young man who supposedly fell to his death with no witnesses in sight.
And if Alex doesn’t get to the truth soon, he may well be the next one over the edge…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Hutchinson Heinemann for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I read the first book in this series – A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering – the day before this so I will try not to get them mixed up. I found the first one good but too long, and at over 430 pages I was worried this one would be too.
I do love the way this is written as if Alex is talking directly to the reader.
Do you need to have read the first one first? It’s hard to be neutral here, because I have read the first one, so I don’t know what it would be like to read this without reading the first one, if you know what I mean. But either or, I think to get the most out of this you need to have read the first one. It just gives you more story and more characters if you’ve got that background in your head.
Whilst I did feel there was too much filler, it read much quicker than the first one, which was good. It was catchy and immediately engaging – which I think might come from having recently read the first one, so I am already invested in the characters and their situation.
I think I preferred this one. It’s more developed, he’s had more time to get to know everyone and really set the story, so it feels more settled.
The characters are much better and much more likeable in this. They’re more developed, more human, and just more enjoyable to read about They are all morally grey, and have their light parts and their dark parts. They are all familiar and recognisable, but they all have a sense of the enigma about them.
It’s a multi-layered plot, lots of plates to spin, and at first you think it will be overwhelming but he’s handled it very well and you can quite easily keep up with everything.
I would advise 1) reading the first book, but 2) not reading it on the same weekend because they’re both very detail heavy, not a huge amount of stuff going on. Which isn’t necessarily a negative. I think you need the quieter elements to a story, but it does become quite heavy.
There is scope for a third book but if I’m honest, I don’t think it’s necessary.
Books By Your Bedside 