Hello Detectives,

As I hope you know, Once Upon a Crime, my book of Murder Most Unladylike short stories, is publishing in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in August this year! It’ll also be out in all the other territories where the Puffin edition is sold, including South Africa and Hong Kong – but I know that it sometimes takes slightly longer for stock to reach those places!

We announced the book in November with its beautiful black-and-white holding cover – and a lot of you assumed that was what the finished book would look like. But … you guessed wrong.

I have the gorgeous finished cover, illustrated by Nina Tara, all ready to share with you on Friday the 16th of April – but what will it look like? What colour, or colours, will it be? Who and what will be on it? Now’s your chance to guess – put all of your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll be back early next week to share the top colour picks with you as we get ready for the big reveal next Friday.

I hope you’re excited – I certainly am! See you next week, Detectives, for a very exciting announcement!