Mosse backlist reissued by Orion under Phoenix imprint

Orion will reissue new editions of Kate Mosse’s bestselling backlist fiction, with the books moving to new imprint Phoenix.

The titles will feature new cover designs by Orion art director Steve Marking and designer Patrick Knowles, as well as fully revised additional material and new introductions by the author.  

There are six new editions in total, with Gothic novels The Taxidermist’s Daughter and The Winter Ghosts, short story collection The Mistletoe Bride and Mosse’s Languedoc trilogy, Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel. 

The new editions of The Taxidermist’s Daughter, The Winter Ghosts and The Mistletoe Bride will be released on 21st October 2021, with the reissued Languedoc trilogy to follow on 17th February 2022. Phoenix will be supporting the reissues with a range of activity including influencer mailings, digital promotions, seasonal PR and social media coverage. 

“Redesigning the look for Kate Mosse’s iconic series was a huge honour as she is such a well-known author,” Knowles said. “For the Gothic fiction, I wanted to give each cover a slight twist to make the reader look twice, so I hid women within each of the illustrations, which hopefully would not be obvious at first glance. For the lettering I chose an elegant serifed typeface that had an understated hint of the Gothic about it, and adapted the cross-bar of the 'A' to create a unique branding for the series.” 

Mosse said: "This is the best 60th birthday present – to have six beautiful new editions of my historical and Gothic fiction reissued by Phoenix. I have long been an admirer of Francesca Main, so to be part of her new imprint is an honour, and these designs are so vibrant, so clever, that I'm sure they will help attract a whole new generation of readers to Carcassonne, to Languedoc and the ghostly marshlands of Sussex." The author has sold 2.7 million books for £17.3m, according to Nielsen BookScan. 

Phoenix publisher Francesca Main said: “A champion of women’s writing and a superlative author in her own right, Kate Mosse is one of our most captivating storytellers. It is an honour to be publishing her highly acclaimed and multimillion-copy bestselling backlist on the Phoenix list. I hope these stunning new editions delight her existing fans and attract many more.” 

Main moved to Orion to set up Phoenix last year after seven years with Picador. Mosse’s books have been translated into 37 languages and published in 40 countries. Her most recent novels have been published by Pan Mac imprint Mantle.