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Baskerville has pre-empted The Stranger’s Companion, plus a second Channel Islands-set mystery novel, by Mary Horlock.
Publishing director Jade Chandler pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to the two titles from Elizabeth Sheinkman at PFD. The Stranger’s Companion, inspired by a 1930s cold case, where a couple’s disappearance led to an accusation of murder, will be published in hardback in summer 2024.
Set on the tiny island of Sark, it opens in October 1933, when the clothes of an unknown man and woman are found at a local beauty spot. Islanders speculate that some kind of bathing tragedy has occurred, but as the Sark Cave Mystery catches the attention of the national newspapers, the island where nothing ever happens finds itself as front page news.
As the mystery unfolds, young islander Phyllis Carey returns to Sark, where she grew up, and begins to report on the crime under the moniker P Carey. As Phyllis gets pulled deeper into the case, she crosses paths with Everard Hyde, a surprise visitor from her past. As the case builds to fever pitch, long suppressed secrets from Phyllis and Everard’s shared, shadowy history begin to surface.
Chandler said: “The Stranger’s Companion is a beautiful and memorably distinctive read. With the plot framed by the utterly charming collective voice of the islanders, Mary Horlock conjures Sark to vivid life in all its fierce beauty and isolation. I loved reading about the intergenerational community of strong-willed women, and the way the past keeps coming back to haunt the present in wonderfully spooky moments. It couldn’t be more perfect for Baskerville, with our aim of publishing books that haunt the imagination.”
Horlock, author of The Book of Lies (Canongate, 2011), said: “As a child I visited Sark each summer, and like a favourite book, it never changed. I thought I’d met all of its ghosts, but when I heard about the cliff-top disappearance, the story of The Stranger’s Companion came so naturally into my head that I’m now convinced it’s all true! I am thrilled to be working with Jade and Baskerville and joining their fantastic and original list.” Sheinkman added: “These two books could not have ended up at a better home – we are thrilled.”