Baskerville snares Wilding's 'literary whodunit' debut for six figures in 24-hour pre-empt

Baskerville has secured “a literary whodunit" from tutor Rose Wilding for six figures as part of a 24-hour pre-empt.  

Jade Chandler, publishing director at the newly launched John Murray imprint, pre-empted world rights in two books including debut Speak of the Devil from Kate Evans at PFD in a major six-figure deal. One of the first debuts acquired for Baskerville, it will be a lead title in 2023. 

The blurb reads: “In a seedy Newcastle room on New Year’s Eve, 1999, seven women are gathered around a man’s severed head. Each has a very good reason to have done it, each swears she did not.  As we follow the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him and the detective trying to solve the case – we discover how they came to know, love and ultimately despise the man who has wound up dead. But who killed Jamie Spellman?”  

Baskerville tipped it “a literary whodunit” and “a tightly plotted, unforgettable debut that deals with domestic abuse and gaslighting, it’s about the lengths we will go to believe what we want to believe and the consequences when we can no longer pretend”.  

Wilding is from Newcastle upon Tyne, works as a tutor, and has an MA in creative writing from The University of Manchester, where her tutors included Jeanette Winterson, who recommended her writing to Evans at PFD.  

Wilding revealed she was “absolutely buzzing”, adding: “This twisted story has lived in my head for so long and I am so happy it’s found the perfect home at Baskerville.”  

Evans commented: “This book haunted me from the very first page, it’s impossible to put down and impossible to forget. I could not be happier to have Jade and the team at Baskerville introducing this incomparable new voice to readers everywhere.” 

Chandler said: “It’s rare to find a book where the plot is as compelling as the writing is dazzling and which has important things to say about women’s lives, across age, race and sexuality without ever forgetting that totally believable characters are what drives a novel. It is also a novel suffused with moments of joy, connection and empathy; a love letter to Newcastle and to ordinary people finding ways to navigate vibrant, messy lives.” 

Baskerville is the new literary crime and thriller imprint at John Murray which launched earlier this year.