Richard Osman sails into history books as new novel smashes sales records

20 September 2023 , 20:02

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Richard Osman (Image: PA)

Quitting TV to become a writer certainly wasn’t Pointless... Richard Osman’s latest book has become the fastest-selling British hardback novel in history.

Richard, who stepped down as co-host of the hit BBC quiz show in 2022 to focus on his career as a crime author, has sold 146,919 copies of The Last Devil to Die in just a week. The fourth book in his Thursday Murder Club series leapt to the top spot in the UK Official Top 50.

Since records began, only three fiction hardbacks written by two US authors – Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (2015) and Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (2009) and Inferno (2013) – have sold more copies during their launch weeks. Comic Richard, pictured left, said: “All I can say is an enormous thank you to readers and to booksellers. I am absolutely blown away by this news and I need to have a sit down now.”

Since his debut with The Thursday Murder Club in September 2020, Richard has spent 57 weeks in the original fiction number one spot. The series’ global total has now topped 10million copies, according to figures from publisher Viking Press. Richard’s agent, Juliet Mushens, said: “The global success of Richard shows how special this series is - combining fiendishly clever mysteries with humour and heart has proven to win over countries all over the world where he has hit numerous bestseller lists.”

Richard has made literary history (PA)

Osman also knocked Stephen King’s Holly (Hodder) from the Original Fiction number one, claiming his 57th week in the category chart top spot since The Thursday Murder Club - the first in the series - debuted in September 2020. The category chart saw a frenzy of activity, with 14 new entries in the top 20.

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Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown’s debut Nineteen Steps (HQ) hot-footed it into second place, as Mick Herron’s The Secret Hours (Baskerville) clocked in in fourth place. Former MP and podcaster Rory Stewart ’s Politics on the Edge (Jonathan Cape) swiped second place in the overall Top 50,elbowing Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients Mediterranean (Michael Joseph).

Ryan Merrifield