Canongate nabs author Cathy Rentzenbrink's The Agatha Cure in six-way auction

Canongate has nabbed author and creative writing tutor Cathy Rentzenbrink’s "tonic for weary readers" in which she tracks her journey of reading through Agatha Christie’s entire works.

Senior commissioning editor Helena Gonda acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to The Agatha Cure in a six-way auction. The deal was negotiated with Rachel Mills at Rachel Mills Literary. Canongate will publish in September 2026, with Viking publishing simultaneously in North America, where the book was acquired by Laura Tisdel following a high-profile auction.

Canongate promised The Agatha Cure would be "both a tonic for weary readers in search of solace and an introduction for new readers seeking a route into the Queen of Crime’s canon". It says it was "a playful book that celebrates the joy of reading and reappraises Christie without ever feeling laboured or demanding". In it, Rentzenbrink, "one of the UK’s most renowned bookworms," embarks on her mission to read every one of Christie’s books as a route to her own well-being.

Rentzenbrink is a memoirist and novelist whose 2015 title The Last Act of Love was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick.Her new novel, Ordinary Time, will be released in July by Orion imprint Phoenix. 

Rentzenbrink said: "I’ve been obsessed with Agatha Christie since I was nine and am so happy that my beloved project has been met with such warmth and enthusiasm out in the world. It feels like a dream come to true to join Canongate, which has published many of my favourite books of all time. I’m so looking forward to everything that comes next, and am already excited about meeting my readers and hearing all their Agatha stories."

Gonda added: "I’ve been a huge fan of Cathy’s for many years and this book feels like the perfect combination of author and subject. It’s no accident that the Agatha appeal is so irrepressibly enduring, and to spend some time with Cathy as she so intelligently and thoughtfully explores the Christie canon is a very joyful thing. This will be the book readers turn to in times of need and is above all a love letter to the curative power of reading."

Mills said: "This book has sparked so much joy – everyone who hears about it has their own Agatha story, and Cathy has already sent many of us down happy re-reading rabbit holes. There is no one warmer and wiser to show how books can comfort and heal in times full of anxiety."