Richard Osman's debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club was named WH Smith's Book of the Year. The Bookseller reported that in September, "the book became the fastest selling adult crime debut since BookScan records began, and is still at number three in this week's U.K. Official Top 50 chart.... Viking bought the TV host's book, alongside one other novel, last year for a seven-figure sum following a 10-publisher auction. Auctions and pre-empts followed around the globe. In September, Osman signed a deal for two more books in the series."
Lucy Swinburn, head of books at WH Smith, said The Thursday Murder Club is "a charming and uplifting novel with witty humor and a clever storyline. This is the perfect read for fiction fans. It's a firm favorite with our books team and our customers."
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The winners of the 2020 Kirkus Prizes, sponsored by Kirkus Reviews, were announced last night during a virtual ceremony hosted by the Austin Central Library in Texas. The winners, each of whom received a cash prize of $50,000, are:
Fiction: Luster by Raven Leilani (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Nonfiction: Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream by Mychal Denzel Smith (Bold Type Books)
Young Readers' Literature: I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James (Nancy Paulsen Books)