Mackesy's The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse re-takes top spot

Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) has cantered back into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, boomeranging back up after Val McDermid’s How the Dead Speak (Sphere) knocked it from the top a week ago. The Waterstones Book of 2019 sold 18,443 copies last week to claim its second overall top spot and its fifth Hardback Non-Fiction number one pole.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse increased 18% in volume the week following TV presenter Caroline Flack’s death, indicating the title’s mental health theme may have struck a chord with UK bookbuyers. Similarly, Matt Haig’s 2015-published Reasons to Stay Alive (Canongate) jumped 334% in volume week on week, re-entering the Top 50 in 34th place.

Ann Cleeves’ The Long Call (Pan) vaulted into the Mass Market Fiction number one, with 13,713 copies sold in its first three days on sale. It is the author’s first ever pole in the category chart. Philippa Gregory’s Tidelands (Simon & Schuster) was the highest new entry in Mass Market Fiction, in fourth, while Tim Weaver’s No One Home (Penguin), Christy Lefteri's The Beekeeper of Aleppo (Manila) and Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare (Quercus) also debuted.

Ben Aaronovitch’s False Value (Gollancz), his eighth Rivers of London title, notched up the author’s first ever Original Fiction number one, with 7,166 copies sold. Lucy Foley’s The Guest List (HarperCollins) and Gregg Hurwitz’s Into the Fire (Michael Joseph) also hit the top five.

After two weeks as the Paperback Non-Fiction runner-up, Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five (Black Swan) finally claimed the top spot, with 7,543 copies, as Jack Fairweather’s Costa Book of the Year The Volunteer (W H Allen) stepped down one place after a four-week reign.

Of course, half-term saw kids’ books rocket into the Top 50. A few World Book Day titles got the jump on their fellow 2020 tranche members, with Bing’s Splashy Story (HarperCollins) claiming the Pre-School number one and Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man (Scholastic) fetching sixth place in the Children’s and YA Fiction top 20.

Natural History Museum guide Kids Only returned to the Children‚Äôs Non-Fiction top spot, as it is wont to do over school holidays, and Waterstones‚Äô Children‚Äôs Book of the Month, M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman‚Äôs The Highland Falcon Thief (Macmillan Children's), graduated into the Top 50 for the first time. However, there were also signs of knock-on effect sales in the adult book charts—Philippa Perry‚Äôs The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (Penguin) improved 38% in volume week on week, and Clover Stroud‚Äôs My Wild and Sleepless Nights (Doubleday) made its debut in the Hardback Non-Fiction chart in 18th.

The print market jumped 5.5% in volume week on week, though a shallower 2.1% rise in value brought the week's average selling price down to £8.39, the lowest for the year to date.