The Opposite of Murder
Published on 29. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-1-5293-5296-2 (ISBN)
Description
***WINNER OF THE 2023 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY***
What if the only way you could prevent a murder was by confessing to it?
Jemma Stelling has confessed to a murder.
She is the police's lead suspect.
She couldn't have committed the crime.
She has an unshakeable alibi: at the time of Marianne Cass's brutal murder, Jemma was at the police station, confessing to a murderous obsession with Marianne.
Is Jemma Stelling innocent? Or is she an ingenious, cold-blooded killer?
Can you be guilty of the opposite of murder?
PRAISE FOR SOPHIE HANNAH:
'A new novel by Sophie Hannah is a cause for celebration!' ALEX MICHAELIDES, author of THE SILENT PATIENT
'One of the best crime writers currently working' THE SCOTSMAN
'High concept and so satisfying' GILLIAN MCALLISTER, author of WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME
'Brain-bending' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
What if the only way you could prevent a murder was by confessing to it?
Jemma Stelling has confessed to a murder.
She is the police's lead suspect.
She couldn't have committed the crime.
She has an unshakeable alibi: at the time of Marianne Cass's brutal murder, Jemma was at the police station, confessing to a murderous obsession with Marianne.
Is Jemma Stelling innocent? Or is she an ingenious, cold-blooded killer?
Can you be guilty of the opposite of murder?
PRAISE FOR SOPHIE HANNAH:
'A new novel by Sophie Hannah is a cause for celebration!' ALEX MICHAELIDES, author of THE SILENT PATIENT
'One of the best crime writers currently working' THE SCOTSMAN
'High concept and so satisfying' GILLIAN MCALLISTER, author of WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME
'Brain-bending' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
More details
Person
Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling crime fiction writer. Her psychological thriller The Carrier won the Specsavers National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year in 2013. Sophie is the author of the bestselling Poirot continuation mysteries. The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives have been adapted for television as Case Sensitive, starring Olivia Williams and Darren Boyd. Sophie is also a bestselling poet who has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE and A-level. Sophie is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She lives in Cambridge with her family. Her novel Haven't They Grown was chosen for the Richard and Judy Book Club and her novel The Couple at the Table became a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller in 2023. In 2023 Sophie was awarded the prestigious Dagger in the Library from the Crime Writers' Association in recognition of her brilliant body of work.