Paperback writer
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
Two months to go till the launch of the paperback of Murder Below Deck, the cover of which has been given a blushing new look by the Transworld design team. A lot of work went in to making the Maldemer look right, complete with Bermuda ensign, a cluster of worried-looking passengers and even an albatross, and the result is about as different as you can get from the North American edition, with its different title and bowl of shark soup.
I’m often asked how much input authors have into the covers and titles of their books, and it seems to vary drastically from publisher to publisher. In my case I was happy to trust the experts at Penguin, who have infinitely more experience than I do of how to get a book noticed in a bookshop. My main worry was that the yacht looked realistic and in scale.
May Contain Murder was the original title and I still love it; the British title is a bit more obvious, and one reason for releasing the paperback in May is to make it attractive holiday reading.
If you resisted buying the hardback, the paperback will be out on 21 May 2026. Ordering in advance is a great favour, as is leaving a review; you don’t need to have bought it through Amazon to leave a review there, which is where a lot of people look.
That being said, please support your local bookseller if you can. Here are the links if you prefer to order online:
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