Disaster Avoided

Jericho’s Dead is the book that I could have been reviewing if I’d not double checked the list. With titles so similar to each other, William Hussey’s Theakston’s 2024 nominated book, Killing Jericho, was mistakenly confused for his sequel by my assistant. Understandably, given that publishers often change covers from the original when the paperback is released, just look at Billingham’s nomination, The Last Dance, which has a different cover on Audible. If it was me looking for it as a dyslexic person, who can’t read titles and has to go by covers, this can be quite tricky.



In the first three chapters of Jericho’s Dead, from what I accidently read, before I realised, the killer for the first book may have been discussed, but I can’t remember. This is the result of lots of reading during longlist season, as I have to decide on my favourite, just as much as you will later. The quirky character of Jericho, as a former policeman, now PI, who is now living back on his dad’s travelling fairground, is not an obvious background for a PI. But when you discover why he’s living there, this book takes a dark twist, right from the beginning, involving a fire and when his heightened observational skills lead into a new case with a personal element, this books’ gory twists may divide the crowd.



The quirky backstory, the representation of a not very often observed people in fiction and a really intriguing second story that I was given a hint of thanks to my assistant’s mistake, I can see why this series has been nominated and I’m curious as to where it will appear in the list and whether it will be shortlisted, as Hussey is one of the very few new names on this years’ list.












https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Killing-Jericho-Audiobook/B0BNQRW8N8?ref_pageloadid=dtVn9qDmqWaxpO0L&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0BNQRW8N8_3&pf_rd_p=7e7340a8-8768-4798-a0ce-83f879c09110&pf_rd_r=S1F1VT1VXFT038PD66XA&pageLoadId=hU8rkEtcPvqj7W7g&creativeId=14d6a1c2-a3f8-499b-900a-1ae788c317b1