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Hodder withdraws 'plagiarised' novel

09.11.11 | Charlotte Williams

Hodder & Stoughton is withdrawing the novel Assassin of Secrets by Q R Markham from sale, alongside its US publisher Little, Brown, after the announcement that the book contains "numerous plagiarised passages".

Assassin of Secrets had a formal publication date of tomorrow (10th November) in the UK, appearing under the Mulholland Books imprint.

A spokesperson for Hodder said: "We take copyright issues very seriously, as we do all aspects of the publishing process. We deeply regret having acquired a book for our list that we can no longer accept as an original work, and in partnership with Little, Brown we have acted immediately to recall the book from distributors and retailers."

The plagiarism story was unveiled in the US press, with cultural website Reluctant Habits publishing an article yesterday, demonstrating relevant paragraphs from the book and their original sources, including James Bamford's Body of Secrets, Charles McCarry's The Tears of Autumn and Raymond Benson's High Time To Kill.

Hodder said wholesalers and retailers should return the book for full credit, and asked any consumers who had purchased the book to return to the retailer to seek a refund.

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By Karen

why would any writer bother to steal from other works? Surely they know it's no way to sustain a career?

Thu, 10/11/2011 - 03:39

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By Michael Jecks

Only a few fools would try this game. As a professional writer for some seventeen years, of all my friends I cannot think of a single one who would stoop so low as to steal from another's work. But in this digital age of easy copy and paste, it will doubtless happen more often.

Thu, 10/11/2011 - 11:55

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By Simon Gardner

I have to thank a James Bond/John Gardner fan at Commander Bond.net for alerting me to the plagiarism of my late Father's Bond continuation novels in Assassin of Secrets by Q R Markham. As soon as I saw the evidence with my own eyes I contacted Corinne Turner at IFP and The John Gardner Literary Estate executor Lisa Moylett, Coombs Moylett Literary Agency. I think it is wonderful that the fans of popular fiction find this sort of practice as abhorrent as the industry does. Today (10th Nov.) sees the release of the box set of my Father's first five Bond continuation novels (ORION/Swordfish) the same scheduled UK publication date as Assassin of Secrets, a fact that I find slightly ironic to say the least. I hope the readers of the Bookseller will join me in saluting the popular fiction fans who have helped to uncover this distasteful incident. Fan Power, you gotta love it!

Thu, 10/11/2011 - 12:57