Cornerstone snaps up two more from Parsons

Cornerstone has signed two more novels from bestselling author Tony Parsons, with a "gripping psychological thriller" on the way alongside a new Max Wolfe instalment.

Century publisher Selina Walker secured UK and Commonwealth rights from Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown.  

Scheduled for publication in 2023, Who She Was will be set in an isolated fishing village in Cornwall. A woman has moved to escape her past life—but who is she, what secrets is she hiding, and is she telling the truth about the life she left behind? Described by Cornerstone as "a My Cousin Rachel for our time", it is tipped as “a gripping psychological thriller where no one’s identity is ever quite certain or exactly what it seems”. The second novel in the contract will be a return to the Max Wolfe detective series, in which there is continued film and TV interest, Cornerstone said. 

“I cannot be more pleased and excited to be publishing more novels with Tony, and that this new contract will take us up to 2025 and beyond,” Walker said. “Tony is such a great storyteller, and his flawed yet sympathetic characters, who can end up doing the most terrible things for all the right reasons, can move you to tears. I cannot wait to read these new books and be held spellbound by the twists and turns of Tony’s plotting and by the travails of his main characters.” 

Parsons commented: “This is a dream deal for me because it gives me the opportunity to write a third standalone psychological thriller after Your Neighbour’s Wife and The People Next Door and then to return to Max Wolfe for the seventh book in the series. I am grateful to Selina, Century and everyone at Penguin Random House for their continued faith in me and my stories.” 

Parsons has sold 3.3 million print copies in the UK altogether for £24.4m, according to Nielsen BookScan.