Headline bags ‘utterly original’ adult début by Evans

Headline has bagged Over My Dead Body, the “utterly original, hilarious and heart-warming” début adult novel from Maz Evans. 

Editorial director Toby Jones acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates. The novel will be published in August 2023. 

“Fans of Maz’s brilliant children’s books will know that no one combines the hilarious and heartfelt quite like she does,” said Baxter. “Her first adult novel is a joyful, deeply satisfying and properly funny crime novel like no other and I couldn’t be happier to have found the perfect home for her at Headline.”

Evans’ children’s books Who Let the Gods Out? (Chicken House), VI Spy series (Chicken House) and Scarlett Fife series (Hachette Children’s) have collectively sold more than half a million copies in 22 countries according to the publisher, receiving more than 30 award nominations.

The synopsis for Over My Dead Body reads: “When the misanthropic Dr Miriam Price wakes up dead, her day has only just started to go wrong. With everyone mistakenly thinking she killed herself, she’s condemned to half a century in Limbo as a ‘death by misadventure’ – unless she can prove that she was murdered. Unable to communicate with anyone living, Miriam’s investigative options look decidedly limited.

“But she soon realises that Winnie, her elderly next-door neighbour – and mortal enemy – can communicate with her. The good news for Miriam is that the dying can interact with the dead. The bad news for Winnie is that if she can see Miriam, she hasn’t got long to live. Now this unlikely detective duo must work together to solve Miriam’s murder – and maybe avert Winnie’s death – before time runs out for them both. And before they kill each other first...”

Jones commented: “Over My Dead Body is wonderfully inventive, scathingly witty and unexpectedly joyous – Maz blends, with great panache, the conventions of a ‘classic’ crime mystery with an imaginative hook and a lacerating comic voice. We cannot wait to share her unique and unforgettable novel with readers.” 

Evans added: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Toby and Headline on my first foray into adult publishing. I look forward to meeting a new readership with Over My Dead Body, a novel that I hope espouses everything my younger readers have come to expect: humour, heart, adventure and most of the words in the order right.”