THE LAST THING TO BURN by Will Dean has been shortlisted for Thriller Book of the Year at the inaugural Fingerprint Awards. The awards will be announced as part of the Capital Crime Festival in Battersea Park (29th September – 1st October 2022), recognising the best in crime and thriller writing over the past year. Nominated in the Thriller category alongside Will are A SLOW FIRE BURNING by Paula Hawkins, DEAD GROUND by M W Craven, THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED by Lisa Jewell and KNIFE EDGE by Simon Mayo. Public voting for the awards is now open.
In THE LAST THING TO BURN, ‘Jane’ lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows how she got to the UK: no one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen. Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn't like what he sees, she is punished. For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting...
THE LAST THING TO BURN was published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK in 2021, and by Emily Bestler Books in the USA and Canada, with separate deals also agreed for France, Turkey and Croatia. THE LAST THING TO BURN was also shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, and longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Award 2022.
Will’s most recent standalone, FIRST BORN, was published by Hodder in April 2022. He is also the author of the Tuva Moodyson Mysteries, a crime series set in Sweden and published by Oneworld. The fifth instalment of the series, WOLF PACK, will be published in Autumn 2022.
Praise for THE LAST THING TO BURN
‘This is a brilliant, chilling depiction of life on the very edges of society. I read it in one sitting, and lived every second of the book with the characters. Compelling, horrifying and gripping, and written with such empathy and control, it's probably the best thing I will read this year’ — Jane Casey
‘MISERY meets ROOM ... a triumph’ — Marian Keyes
‘Ratchets up the tension to the point where I had to check my pulse’ — Liz Nugent
‘Brilliantly written... Terrifying’ — Ruth Ware
‘Outstanding. The best thriller in years’ — Martina Cole
‘THE LAST THING TO BURN is one of the best thrillers I have read in years: I consumed it in great gulps, desperate to find out how Thanh Dao’s story played out, and then read it again, more slowly, savouring her courage and her unvanquished sense of self, despite everything.’ — Alison Flood, Observer
Credit: Rosalind Hobley
About Will Dean
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.
Follow Will on Twitter and Instagram, and visit his YouTube channel.