The Probable Fortune: Richard Osman paperback tops the charts
Richard Osman has flown straight to the top of the Official UK Top 50 at the first time of asking with the paperback edition of The Impossible Fortune (Viking), according to them most recent data from NielsenIQ BookScan’s Total Consumer Market (TCM).
The fifth Thursday Murder Club mystery sold 41,078 copies in its first few days on sale in what has turned out to be a strong week for the Top 50: total volume sales were up 45.4% and four new releases all sold more units than the previous week’s number one.
Joyce, Ibrahim and the gang came in 13,182 copies ahead of second placed The Daisy Chain Flower Shop by Laurie Gilmore (HarperCollins) – but a first-week sales number of 27,896 copies is hardly anything to be disappointed by. It is Gilmore’s second-biggest seven-day total ever, beaten only by the preceding title in the Dream Harbor series, The Gingerbread Bakery, which sold 31,515 units in its first week in September 2025.
It was something of an epic week for new releases in the Original Fiction (OF) Top 20, with 13, nine of which landed in the Top 10. Leading the pack is Fury Bound by Sable Sorensen, another collaboration for FairyLoot and Transworld under the Wayward TxF imprint. It shifted 23,202 copies in its first week – 146.7% more than Dire Bound, the first in the Wolves of Ruin series achieved in week one. Incidentally that previous title re-enters the OF Top 20 in 20th place on 1,155 copies, up 137.2% from the previous week.
But the OF Top 20 is not just about new releases. Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear (4th Estate) relinquished its number one position, but its sales grew 35% to 12,192 copies, earning it the only slot in the Top 10 not given to a new release.
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New releases are also the order of the day in the Hardback Non-Fiction (HBNF) Top 20 with fresh entries in the top three positions, led by Emily English’s So Good (Seven Dials) with 19,248 copies, but that is 24.9% fewer units than the nutritionist and influencer’s Live to Eat sold in the same week back in 2025.
English sits comfortably ahead of second placed The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris which sold 7,962 copies – but with a significantly higher ASP of £32.29 it has racked up sales of £257,169, a value figure beaten this week only by Sorensen’s Fury Bound.
The Children’s Top 20 also has a new release occupy the top slot: Sticker Dolly Dressing: K-POP by Lesley Sims and Sandrine Lamour (Usborne) sold 10,208 copies this week, enough to put it in the eighth place in the Official UK Top 50.
Previous children’s number one, The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby (Puffin) drops to second place with 8,184 copies down 14.2% from the previous week.
The Paperback Non-Fiction chart is the only one of The Bookseller’s main charts to not see a new release take the number one. Instead, despite its sales falling 36.2% to 2,183 copies, The BBC Proms 2026 guide keeps pace at the top. The biggest new release – Keir Radnedge’s official guide to the FIFA World Cup 2026 (Welbeck) – settles for second with 1,830 copies, though with four weeks to go before the first ball is kicked in the tournament, there is plenty of time left for it to climb to the top of the table.
Sales across the TCM this week have risen 8.7% to 3.1 million books, bringing in £30.4m, up 10.6% compared with the previous seven days. Volume sales are up 4.5% compared to the same week last year, with value rising by 6.9%.
