Sphere acquires three new books from Mark Billingham

Little, Brown has acquired three new novels by number one Sunday Times bestseller Mark Billingham.

Ed Wood, publishing director at Sphere, agreed the major deal for UK and Commonwealth rights with agent Sarah Lutyens at Lutyens & Rubinstein. The novels will include a third novel in the new DS Miller series and the landmark twentieth book in the award-winning Tom Thorne series.

This week, Billingham achieved his 24th consecutive Sunday Times bestseller with The Wrong Hands, the second in the Miller series. The first in the series, The Last Dance, is shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, an award Billingham is one of only two authors to have won twice before. Little, Brown has sold more than six million Mark Billingham novels.

Wood said: "Mark is one of the most versatile, witty, and psychologically incisive novelists in the country today, showcasing the full range of what crime fiction can do. In the Miller series and The Wrong Hands, you have humour, heart and authenticity in equal measure. And as for next year’s dark and shocking Tom Thorne novel What the Night Brings… readers will be absolutely blown away—and be dying to know what comes next. I’m incredibly proud Little, Brown will be bringing that follow-up and more to readers."

Billingham adeded: "I’ve now spent almost 25 years as a Little, Brown author and I could not be more delighted that this new deal will push it that little bit closer to 30. That’s a pearl anniversary, so when the time comes, I’m fully expecting some very flashy jackets! To be serious—for a change—I’m thrilled and hugely excited at the prospect of working on three more novels with the best team in the business."

What the Night Brings will be published in hardback next year and the first novel in the new contract will publish in 2026.