Picador lands two more from Macneal

Picador has landed two new novels from Sunday Times bestseller Elizabeth Macneal 

Sophie Jonathan, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth print, digital and audio rights in The Burial Plot and an unnamed novel by Elizabeth Macneal from Madeleine Milburn. Picador will publish The Burial Plot in June 2024. 

Set in London, in 1839, where the cemeteries are full and there is money to be made in death, The Burial Plot follows Bonnie and Crawford who lead a life of trickery, surviving off ill-gotten coin and nefarious schemes. But one hot evening, their luck runs out. A man lies in a pool of blood at Bonnie’s feet and now she needs to disappear. 

Jonathan said: “The Burial Plot is an unstoppable historical thriller about murder, manipulation, and a young woman trying to wrestle power from the hands of a dangerous man. It had me thrilled at every turn of the page, and quite breathless by the end. No one writes Victorian London like Elizabeth does, and with The Burial Plot I am certain we can bring her work to even more readers. We’re hugely ambitious for Elizabeth, and I couldn’t be more excited that her next two novels will be published by Picador.” 

Macneal added: “I am absolutely delighted to be working with Picador and my brilliant editor, Sophie Jonathan, on two more books. The Burial Plot is the culmination of many years’ research, thinking and writing, and I am so excited to share it with readers. While it is very much a standalone novel, I see it as a sister novel to The Doll Factory [also Picador], with its grand and macabre Victorian setting, its detestable villain, and its mounting sense of claustrophobia. More than anything, though, I can’t wait to introduce Bonnie: a woman who will kick and kick in order to carve out her own space in the world.”