Graduate's locked-room mystery thesis to Orion

Orion has acquired two novels by debut crime author Chris McGeorge, the first of which was originally written as a Masters thesis while the writer studied on the City University Creative Writing course. 

The first in the two-book deal, struck by Francesca Pathak, senior commissioning editor at Orion Fiction, for world rights through Hannah Sheppard at DHH Literary Agency, is Guess Who?. 

Guess Who? opens with Morgan Sheppard, a TV presenter who, aged 11, solved the murder of his maths teacher. But, 25 years later he wakes up in a locked hotel room with five strangers and a dead body in the bathroom. Someone in the room is the murderer and Sheppard has three hours to solve it – otherwise they all die.

McGeorge, whom Pathak dubbed "the new king of the locked-room mystery", said: "I am thrilled to be working with the team at Orion. Guess Who? was originally written as my Masters thesis and I had a lot of fun with the concept. I am very excited to be able to share this story with the world."

Pathak added: "This book is so much fun - I raced through it in one sitting. Imagine Agatha Christie had created an interactive Escape the Room game and you get Guess Who?"

Orion Fiction will publish as a paperback and e-book in May 2018.