You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Pan Macmillan has won a six-figure auction for psychological thriller The Bones of You by Debbie Howells.
Trisha Jackson at Pan Mac signed UK and Commonwealth rights in the book and a follow up from Juliet Mushens at the Agency Group.
The book, which Mushens took from the agency's slush pile, is described as "Lovely Bones meets Sister". It opens with the murder of an 18-year-old girl in an idyllic village, and the impact it has on people in the community, especially one young mother who is sure there is more to her death than meets the eye.
Pan Mac will publish in hardback in summer 2015. It will be followed by another psychological thriller, The Beauty of the End.
The novel also sold in the Netherlands within 24 hours of submission, and has been pre-empted in Brazil and sold for six figures at a German auction.
Jackson said: "Books as special as The Bones of You are rare, and Debbie’s gift for storytelling is evident from the very first page. From the moment I started reading it, I knew it was a book I had to publish. It quite simply has all the ingredients for a bestseller: a strong hook, a compelling narrative and intriguing characters. And I was even more convinced of its potential when I met Debbie."
Howells has previously self-published novels, but The Bones of You is her first attempt at a thriller. She is a florist and writer, who lives with her family in Sussex.