Bookstat chart: Rankin's House party continues

Ian Rankin’s In a House of Lies (Orion) has taken out a mortgage in the Bookstat e-book chart number one spot, reigning for a second week running.

For the week ending 18th July, the crime title held off a strong challenge from lockdown favourite Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare (Quercus), which ruled the Bookstat chart for much of April. Rankin’s compatriot and fellow crime writer Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution (HarperCollins) débuted in third place.

It’s rare for a non-fiction title to break through in e-book, with the exception of books the US President has bestowed with enraged free publicity, hence Mary L Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough (S&S) débuted in fourth place. Meera Sodha’s East (Penguin), however, bucked the trend (though the leader of the free world may yet denounce it): the vegetarian cookbook placed fifth, after a brief period priced at 99p.

Clarification: Hachette has stated that In a House of Lies sold 15,044 units; The Flatshare 8,795; Leaving Time 7,001; Jamaica Inn 5,523; and The Murder Game 6,490.