THE Bookery is delighted to welcome C. B. Everett for the launch of his gripping new thriller, The Final Chapter.

Everett will be in conversation with Lynne Carroll, Crediton-based writer and former criminal justice specialist at the bookshop at 7pm on Thursday, May 21.

Ten years ago, celebrated novelist Jonathan Durward vanished, along with his long‑awaited final novel. Now that missing manuscript has mysteriously resurfaced. But instead of the literary fiction the world expected, it appears to be an espionage thriller riddled with unsettlingly familiar clues.

When Everett is asked to annotate the text, he begins to suspect the novel is not fiction at all, but a coded account of Durward’s disappearance. As he digs deeper, the boundaries between reality and invention blur, pulling both Everett and the reader into a web of deception, friendship and dangerous truths.

The Final Chapter explores identity, loyalty and the stories we construct about ourselves and others. Layered with shifting perspectives, hidden meanings and a mystery within a mystery, it is a sophisticated and thrilling exploration of how well we really know the people closest to us.

C. B. Everett is the pen name of Martyn Waites, acclaimed author of The Old Religion, The White Room and the Joe Donovan series. His accolades include the Grand Prix Roman Étranger for Born Under Punches, and he has written the official sequel to Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black. A local author based in Exeter, Everett is delighted to be launching the novel in Crediton.

Lynne Carroll has had a career spanning frontline policing, detective work and specialist crime training. Now a writer, she has won multiple short story competitions and is currently working on a series of historical crime novels set in 1840s Australia.

Tickets cost £4, redeemable against purchase of the book. Available from The Bookery or via thebookery.org.uk.