The Opposite of Murder
On sale
16th July 2026
Price: £9.99
Genre
Sophie Hannah’s unguessable thrillers have readers hooked!
‘INGENIOUS! I challenge anyone to unravel this clever whodunit’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Sophie Hannah could well be our modern Christie, such a deliciously complicated plot. Her best yet!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This murder mystery really did blow my mind. It kept me awake at night! Absolutely brilliant’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This lived up to its press for me. I loved every page — a truly impossible puzzle!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What if the only way to prevent a murder is by confessing to it?
Jemma Stelling has confessed to a murder – one she can’t have committed. She has an unshakeable alibi: when Marianne Upton was stabbed to death outside her home, Jemma was at the police station confessing to a murderous obsession with Marianne and a plan to kill her in precisely the way she was killed.
So is Jemma innocent? Or is she an ingenious, cold-blooded murderer?
Can someone be guilty of the opposite of murder?
PRAISE FOR SOPHIE HANNAH:
‘A new novel by Sophie Hannah is a cause for celebration!’ ALEX MICHAELIDES
‘One of the best crime writers currently working’ SCOTSMAN
‘High concept and so satisfying’ GILLIAN McALLISTER
‘Brain-bending’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
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Reviews
Why would somebody confess to a murder they have yet to commit? Hannah answers this with her trademark flair, creativity and stylish prose. I loved it
Original and thrilling. Sophie Hannah is a genuine storyteller. The definition of unputdownable
Clever, complex and compelling
An ingenious puzzle of a novel that crackles with energy and menace
Such a clever, twisty book - I loved it!
Hannah scatters elements of a whodunnit through the novel (there's even a version of a Poirot-style reveal) but everything is disrupted by the use of unreliable narrative centres, lines of inquiry that lead nowhere and the diverting comedy of Simon's idiosyncrasies . . . Teasing and bizarre, Hannah's writing is not for everyone, but it might appeal if you like the idea of an author simultaneously telling a detective story and drolly deconstructing the genre