“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…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Final Vow by M.W. Craven. The Final Vow is published by Constable today (that’s 14th August 2025) and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of The Final Vow but that has in no way influenced my review.

The day has finally arrived. After the book teaser trailers (IYKYK), after the long wait for book seven in the Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series (fifteen months, which feels a little on the cruel side, or is that just me?), today, finally, The Final Vow hits bookshelves! Rejoice, fellow crime fiction fans. It is a day to celebrate. And what a glorious, intense and nerve wracking addition to the series it is!

Regular visitors to the blog may already be aware that this is my favourite crime series. If you’re new to the blog then brace yourself, what follows will be a barrage of over excited fangirling! I love this series. And, although it seems impossible, it gets better and better with each new book. You think, ‘the author can’t top this, it’s so good’, but that’s exactly what M.W. Craven does each and every time. How? That’s what I want to know! How can each new book be better than the last when the last was so blinking good?!

The Final Vow is the seventh book in the series and before I continue singing it’s praises (spoiler alert, I have nothing negative to say – this review will be solid praise from start to finish!) I should say that this particular book does refer back to something that happened in The Mercy Chair. M.W. Craven does in fact warn you of this at the start of the book (which I thought was very good of him and the publisher) so if you haven’t read The Mercy Chair then it’s probably best to do that before making a start on The Final Vow. Personally, I think you should be starting at book one (The Puppet Show) and working your way through in order but that’s just me! I’ve LOVED watching how the relationships have grown and the characters have developed over the course of the series.

The Final Vow is a blisteringly good, thrilling addition to a series that *somehow* keeps surpassing itself. The concept is so clever, so imaginative that I decided against ‘adulting’ for a bit and threw myself into Craven’s superb storytelling. A sniper kills a bride on her wedding day at Gretna Green. She’s not the first and she certainly won’t be the last. With fear keeping Brits locked away inside their houses, with the economy failing due to the lack of footfall on the streets, those in power decide enough is enough. There is only one person (or rather one team) who can put a stop to the skyrocketing death toll. Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw. The murders are random, the sniper never misses, the police are at a complete loss. Can Poe and Tilly work out how the killer is selecting their victims? Or will their involvement only put Poe and those closest to him in the sniper’s crosshairs…?

Would I recommend this book? Of course I would! I’m worried you’ve got this far through my review and you’re STILL wondering 😂 I love this series and I love The Final Vow. You will be seeing this book on my ‘top ten books of the year’ list, without a doubt. The characters are just divine. I love how the friendship between Tilly and Poe has grown over the series, and I love how this affects and influences the storyline. I really enjoyed how gripping and on edge the entire book is. There’s a lot of emotion in this one too which I think really added to the tension and suspense. I was able to guess one small aspect which I can’t elaborate on for fear of spoilers. Let’s just say, it didn’t take anything away from the story for me. I was still 100% hooked and in the moment with the characters. Really, this series is such a thrilling, tension-laden and gripping investment that if you consider yourself a fan of the genre, you have to read it. Gosh, The Final Vow is so, so good! Everything I had hoped it would be plus so much more. I look forward to seeing what happens next with this series and where the author takes future instalments. Pure perfection. Tense, shocking and totally engrossing. I truly loved every single second of this book. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Final Vow. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Final Vow by M.W. Craven was published in the UK by Constable on 14th August 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

M.W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle, running away to join the army at the tender age of sixteen. He spent the next ten years travelling the world having fun, leaving in 1995 to complete a degree in social work with specialisms in criminology and substance misuse. Thirty-one years after leaving Cumbria, he returned to take up a probation officer position in Whitehaven, eventually working his way up to chief officer grade. Sixteen years later he took the plunge, accepted redundancy and became a full-time author. He now has entirely different motivations for trying to get inside the minds of criminals . . .

M.W. Craven is married and lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne. When he isn’t out with his springer spaniel, or talking nonsense in the pub, he can usually be found at punk gigs and writing festivals up and down the country.