The Ending Writes Itself
Published on 9. April 2026
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-00-873926-3 (ISBN)
Description
The instant Sunday Times bestseller!
'My favourite book I've read this year' FIVE star reader review
'It's great fun! A new spin on a classic mystery with plenty of humour' FIVE star reader review
'An absolute cracker of a book' FIVE star reader review
'This book had me squealing so much! I honestly could not put it down' FIVE star reader review
'I kept fighting the urge to speed through because I was having so much fun!' FIVE star reader review
* * * *
It's the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
Six authors. One private island. Seventy-two hours to write the ending.
World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won't write itself.
When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch's private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars.
Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?
They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write...
Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.
Perfect if you love:
Murder/locked-room mysteries
Killer DEADlines
Amateur Sleuths
Deadly Competitions
Forced Proximity
Plot to Die For
* * * *
Praise for THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF:
'In the running for the best mystery of 2026' STEPHEN KING
'A cracking read' VAL MCDERMID
'Smart, original and completely addictive' KARIN SLAUGHTER
'There were so many things I loved about this intelligent crime novel' RED MAGAZINE
'Slick, sharp and wickedly fun' LUCY CLARKE
'My favourite book I've read this year' FIVE star reader review
'It's great fun! A new spin on a classic mystery with plenty of humour' FIVE star reader review
'An absolute cracker of a book' FIVE star reader review
'This book had me squealing so much! I honestly could not put it down' FIVE star reader review
'I kept fighting the urge to speed through because I was having so much fun!' FIVE star reader review
* * * *
It's the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.
Six authors. One private island. Seventy-two hours to write the ending.
World-famous author Arthur Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won't write itself.
When six struggling authors are invited to Fletch's private Scottish island and presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the plot thickens: whoever writes a worthy ending will receive a game-changing book deal and two million dollars.
Why have they been chosen to attend? Who is behind the invitation? And just how far would they go to secure a place on the bestseller list?
They have just seventy-two hours, a typewriter and a blank page. All they have to do is write...
Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.
Perfect if you love:
Murder/locked-room mysteries
Killer DEADlines
Amateur Sleuths
Deadly Competitions
Forced Proximity
Plot to Die For
* * * *
Praise for THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF:
'In the running for the best mystery of 2026' STEPHEN KING
'A cracking read' VAL MCDERMID
'Smart, original and completely addictive' KARIN SLAUGHTER
'There were so many things I loved about this intelligent crime novel' RED MAGAZINE
'Slick, sharp and wickedly fun' LUCY CLARKE
Reviews / Votes
'A great locked-room thriller and a brilliant satire on the publishing industry' Karin Slaughter 'I was absolutely hooked from the beginning and then practically inhaled the rest of the novel. It's funny, razor sharp and scarily relatable! I laughed and I winced. I hated and adored seeing my friends in publishing portrayed so cleverly/accurately/sardonically. The twists and turns are gorgeously unexpected and the characters brilliantly drawn. I just know readers will LOVE it as much as I did.' Sarah Crossan 'Fiendishly clever and compulsively readable... An absolute must read' Ellery LloydMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
558 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-873926-3 (9780008739263)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
It was a dark and stormy night (well, it was actually an unusually warm evening in Edinburgh, Scotland) when Number One Sunday Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab, known for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, proposed an absurd idea to longtime friend and screenwriter Cat Clarke: that they should write a book together. Victoria had made quite a name for herself, but had sworn she'd never co-write a novel.
While Cat, following a tumultuous career as an editor and the author of several YA novels, including Girlhood and Entangled, had fled the publishing industry to work in the even more tumultuous film industry, swearing she'd never return to books.
And yet, fate - and an irresistible idea - made liars of them both.
That night, Evelyn Clarke was born.
While Cat, following a tumultuous career as an editor and the author of several YA novels, including Girlhood and Entangled, had fled the publishing industry to work in the even more tumultuous film industry, swearing she'd never return to books.
And yet, fate - and an irresistible idea - made liars of them both.
That night, Evelyn Clarke was born.