Pointless host Richard Osman has landed a seven-figure deal for his debut novel.
The presenter announced news of his upcoming book on Thursday night, revealing that his debut will be called The Thursday Murder Club.
Telling his Twitter followers that he spent “the last 18 months writing a novel”, he explained: “A month ago I finally showed it to someone, and then all this happened.
“I have never been prouder of anything in my working life, and I can’t wait for you all to read it next year!”
According to The Bookseller’s article on the deal, as many as 10 publishing houses battled it out for the rights to the book.
The winner, Penguin Random House imprint Viking, will pay Richard a tidy seven-figure sum for the rights.
Richard’s book The Thursday Murder Club will be published in autumn 2020, and is set in a Kent retirement village where four residents meet up each week to tackle cold cases, eventually tackling a fresh murder in the novel.
According to The Guardian, pre-publication deals have already been signed in Germany, North America, France, the Netherlands and Italy, with more on the way.
Richard told the newspaper: “Nobody knows who I am in these countries.
“They’re not buying the rights because I’m off the telly. They’re buying them because of the book.”
And he’s already working on the sequel too.
While this is Richard’s first move into the world of fiction, he’s previously penned six non-fiction books with his fellow Pointless star Alexander Armstrong.