About the Book:
The past comes back to kill —when a haunted theme park reopens and true crime turns deadly in the final, blood-soaked mystery of the Let’s Split Up trilogy.
The gang thought they were done with murder.
After surviving one too many mysteries, they’re finally ready for a normal summer —until Chillshore reopens. Once a beloved island theme park, it shut down after a tragedy no one ever fully explained. Now it’s back and rebranded as a spooky attraction that leans hard into its dark past, complete with a creepy mascot known as the Groundskeeper and a guest list that includes horror influencers, true crime celebrities, and supernatural thrill-seekers.
Then a storm hits. No boats. No phones. No escape.
When guests start dying one by one, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the murders aren’t random. Each death exposes a piece of Chillshore’s buried history.
As paranoia spreads and the Groundskeeper stalks the island, the gang must untangle a web of lies, cover-ups, and long-suppressed guilt before the killer strikes again. Because this time, the mystery isn’t just about who is doing the killing — it’s about why the truth was buried in the first place.
Dark, twisty, and relentless, Bill Wood’s final installment in the Let’s Split Up trilogy delivers a blood-soaked locked-room mystery that confronts the cost of turning real tragedy into entertainment and proves some stories will always come back to haunt you.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Bill Wood is a British author of young adult mysteries. After earning a degree in Film & Screenwriting at Birmingham City University, he worked as a bookseller while writing his novels and building a presence on TikTok.
When he’s not writing, Bill can usually be found watching old Scooby-Doo reruns or spending time with his dog, Macey.
Interview:
Pitch your book in 10 words!
Four friends solve deadly mysteries while trying to stay alive.
You now have a completed trilogy under your belt. How are you feeling?
A bit of every emotion, I think! I’m so excited for readers to dive into the final book, especially given its new set pieces and extensive mystery. But it’s also super bittersweet. I love these characters so much and I miss writing them already.
ONE LAST SCARE is full of beloved horror tropes; isolated island, creepy theme park, and so much more. How do you choose which tropes to include?
It all starts from the original plotting session. It began with the basis of Chillshore being an isolated island and then everything grew from there. The idea of an abandoned theme park being revived came not too long after; I knew instantly I could have a lot of fun with the people being invited to the island. People with different jobs, circumstances, personalities… it was such a blast to write.
If you were dropped into a horror movie, which horror archetype do you think you’d fulfill?
Well, I don’t think I’d do great in any horror situation. But if I had to be dropped into one, I think I’d definitely be the cautious type telling everyone to run as soon as things go array.
Writing three horror novels means an awful lot of grisly deaths. How do you come up with the different ways they die in order to keep them feeling more awful than the last? (The rollercoaster death was the one Sifa found the most eeek).
For One Last Scare, I actually wrote down a list of ways people could perish given the wintry climate. Though, many of them didn’t make it into the final draft. But when it comes to writing scary deaths, it always helps when I am also scared of that certain situation. I’m not a huge scary ride fan, so it was pretty easy making those scenes frightening.
We have been in Sanera for two books now, but this time, the Sanera Four are heading abroad. Why did you want to take them away from their familiar stomping ground for the finale?
I think there’s only so much you can do in one small town, to be honest. I certainly could’ve had another book set in Sanera but I wanted something a lot bigger in scope for their final outing. It also made sense for where the characters were in their lives. They won’t always be trudging back to their hometowns, so I had to get creative with it. And in the first chapter of One Last Scare, we see them solving a mystery outside of Sanera so it’s obvious the Sanera Four are expanding their horizons.
This series is set in the early 2000s. What drew you to the noughties for the setting?
I’m instantly drawn to that time period because it’s the era of horror films I first started watching when I was younger. It’s also such an interesting intersection of time for technology. Not everyone had mobile phones back then, people still used landlines frequently, and it challenged me to be more creative with that.
It takes several (un)lucky coincidences (and a hefty bribe) to get the Sanera Four to visit the island. What would it take for you to agree to go to an obvious horror location?
Honestly, nothing. Noooo thank you.
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
To the Death by Melissa Welliver – It’s one of my favourite books of the year because it’s not only a brilliant dystopia, but a great commentary on media and reality TV.
Thank you, Bill!
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