One Came Back: The BBC Book at Bedtime pick you won't be able to put down!

'One Came Back is the real thing, a concise account of Scottish-set obsession' THE CRITIC

' Dark and devastating . . . a story that haunts you' HEATHER CRITCHLOW

'Intriguing . . . creepy . . . downright unsettling' SHARON BOLTON


On impact, the boy seemed to fold down and disappear, as if maybe he hadn't been there in the first place...

It's New Year's Eve in Edinburgh when Emily sees Nicky. Or at least she thinks she does. He looks, laughs, and moves just like Nicky. But how can that be? Nicky died when they were teenagers, in an accident on a remote road up in the Highlands... didn't he?

A week later, Emily sees the man again. He says his name Nicholas. This man not only looks like an adult version of her friend, but he also knows things that only Nicky should know.

As her encounters with Nicholas become more frequent and her fixation intensifies, the truth becomes murkier, and more unsettling.

Is Emily being haunted, is she going mad - or is something altogether darker going on . . .

One Came Back is a powerfully tense debut novel combining the chill of the modern gothic with the hook of a thriller, exploring the depths of grief, memory, and obsession.


More praise for One Came Back:

'Dark and twisty: like scaling a mountain, and peering over the sheer drop at the edge' JENNA CLARKE

'Compelling and genuinely eerie' RUTH THOMAS

'A gripping mystery . . . poetic and moving' LUCY RIBCHESTER

'A hugely impressive debut. It left me reeling' DEVIKA PONNAMBALAM

'Almost impossible to put it down' CATHERINE LLYOD

Rose McDonagh was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She studied English Literature and History, has worked in community health for many years, including working as a trauma counsellor, and lives in Midlothian with her husband, their baby, and two cats.


Her writing has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Competition, the Dinesh Allirajah Prize and the Bristol Prize. Her first short story collection, The Dog Husband, was published in 2022 by Reflex Press.


One Came Back - which was longlisted for the Caledonia First Novel Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize - is Rose's debut novel.