Fourth Estate pounces with six-figure pre-empt for Gothic crime debut

Fourth Estate has pre-empted an “upmarket gothic crime thriller” by debut novelist Hester Musson in a “significant” six-figure, two-book deal. 

Editorial director Katie Bowden—in her first acquisition since moving to Fourth Estate from Picador—secured UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to The Beholders from Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment. Spanish rights were also pre-empted. It will publish in 2024. 

The Beholders tells the story of Harriet, a young maid newly employed at a grand country house in the 1870s, who finds herself in thrall to her entrancing yet erratic mistress and the much-lauded yet strangely absent master of the household.  

Through Harriet’s diary, the reader joins her as she seeks to uncover the mysteries of Finton Hall. What she discovers is "more terrible than she could ever have imagined..."  

Bowden said: “The Beholders is gloriously sinister and atmospheric, cleverly constructed and about as heart-in-your-mouth terrifying as any reader could want. Finton Hall is a gothic and strange place, and one where the secrets are shockingly real. We are thrilled to be publishing a novel that we will get book clubs all over the country talking about its brilliant narrative devices and the revelations it makes about those in positions of power and how they often collude in abusing that power. We have huge ambitions for Hester and for The Beholders.” 

Musson added: “I am over the moon to be joining Fourth Estate. Knowing that the characters and stories bubbling in my imagination for so long are now in the hands of such a brilliant team is hugely exciting and a real privilege. I can’t wait to share The Beholders with readers and am delighted that other minds will soon be immersing themselves in the strange atmosphere and intrigues of Finton Hall.” 

Musson currently writes for Art Fund, the national charity for art, and its magazine Art Quarterly, and blogs for a nature conservation and rewilding organisation in Devon.