I almost never read a book series, but the one exception is always, always, the Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw books by M. W. Craven because, quite simply, I think they are fantastic. Consequently, I was thrilled to receive a copy of the latest book, The Final Vow. My enormous thanks to Kirsteen Astor for sending it to me.
The Final Vow is published by Constable on 14th August 2025 and is available for purchase through the links here.
You’ll find my reviews of the other books in the series here.
The Final Vow
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…
My Review of The Final Vow
The country is terrorised by a crack shot sniper.
Oh for goodness sake! How am I supposed to review The Final Vow without spoilers? I just want to say, ‘Look. The Final Vow is brilliant so buy it’, but that hardly constitutes a review…
The story opens with such impact that, even if I had wanted to stop reading, it would not have been possible – partly because of the dramatic and emotional scene, and partly because I refused to accept what that scene told me. My free will had been removed by the author and I had to know the full story as M.W. Craven leads us back through the events arriving at that opening point. I genuinely couldn’t settle to anything else in life because of the siren call of this narrative.
And what a story it is. As ever with a Washington Poe narrative, the plotting is sheer brilliance. There are thrilling twists and turns in The Final Vow as might be expected from the genre, but it’s the attention to detail, the meticulous research and the uncovering of worlds the reader cannot otherwise comprehend that is so impactful. Here, in one example, we also receive a glimpse into the murky underbelly of political Machiavellian tactics whilst being thoroughly entertained. There’s so much relating to humanity in general; themes of loyalty and friendship, integrity and trust, as just as few examples, that The Final Vow can be read time and again and the reader will find something new to uncover.
I loved the dark humour that ameliorates the tension and intensity of emotion because it also adds more understanding of Poe’s character and I thoroughly appreciated how we learn more about him as a man in The Final Vow. Similarly, the intellectually invincible Tilly has a more vulnerable side explored. The effect is to draw the reader further into the story and hold them captivated. There’s a deep and troubling insight into character psychology (but again I can’t say more for fear of spoilers) that is breath-taking. The psychological aspects of the story are multi-layered. Each character, regardless of their position on the spectrum from good to evil, is complex, realistic and terrifyingly relatable. Even the sniper’s rationale for multiple murders, whilst abhorrent, is entirely understandable. And the most innocuous individuals are shown to be capable of underhand, duplicitous or dubious behaviour – as are we all in real life.
But it’s even more than that too. There’s such a surprising quality of emotion in the writing that elevates The Final Vow above being merely a fantastic thriller into a true work of genius. Here we find the complete range of human experience from love to despair, hatred to loyalty and everything in between. There is also rather a love letter to Cumbria through the descriptions of landscape that feels just right and totally convincing.
Despite the vagueness of my review (for fear of revealing too much and spoiling the read for others) I cannot stress enough what a triumph The Final Vow is. It’s a stunning thriller and whilst it can be read as a stand alone book, I’d urge any reader to start at the beginning of this series as it is the gradual getting to know Poe and Bradshaw that means The Final Vow has such impact. I absolutely loved it – even if I was put through the wringer reading it!
About M.W. Craven
Multi-award-winning author M.W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author. He is an instant Sunday Times bestseller and, for his Cumbria-set Washington Poe series, a recipient of the 2019 Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger, the 2022 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023. The series has now been translated into twenty-nine languages.
For further information, visit Mike’s website or find Mike on Instagram, Twitter/X @mwcravenuk and Facebook.