HarperCollins snaps up two-book deal with debut author KJ Whittle

HarperCollins has acquired the first book from debut author KJ Whittle in a two-book deal.

Genevieve Pegg, publisher for HarperNorth, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights to Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests via Sam Brace at PFD.

The book will publish in paperback, e-book and audiobook this September, with Source Books publishing in North America.

The book opens on the night of an anonymously hosted dinner party, where at each place setting are small black envelopes revealing the age at which guest each will die.

The synopsis states: "Stunt or scare, the diners wonder… until, as the months pass, the dates turn out to be spookily accurate. Told from the perspectives of each of the guests, the novel asks what would you do if you knew your number was up?"

Pegg said: "I was simultaneously hooked, fascinated and terrified from the first reading. A devilish puzzle which nods to the classic crime novels of the golden age, but told with a cutting modern sensibility and a gimlet-eye for the workings of the human mind, this is a debut to devour from a writer with a subtle eye and a daggersharp pen."

Brace added: "Seamlessly blending classic crime with contemporary issues, Seven Reasons perfectly balances ingenious plotting with a fiendish cast of characters. HarperNorth and Seven Reasons is the perfect pairing, and I know readers will be clamouring for a taste."

Whittle said: "I’m delighted that Seven Reasons has found its rightful home with the exciting and innovative HarperNorth, right on my doorstep in Manchester. I can’t wait for readers to meet my charismatic cast of dinner guests, to try and unravel the mystery at the heart of the book."

Whittle is a journalist who has written for national newspapers and magazines for the past 20 years, specialising in real life stories. She currently lives in Manchester.