On Thursday 6 November,we are delighted and hugely proud to be publishing our first ever novel aimed squarely at adult readers - Mal Peet's astonishing and hilarious The Murdstone Trilogy!

The Murdstone Trilogy is the story of Philip Murdstone, an award-winning writer who has fallen on hard times. His agent assures him that the path to success lies in writing a fantasy novel - but there's only one problem. Philip is allergic to the faintest trace of Tolkien. But then Philip is offered a Faustian deal to make his dreams of writing a successful fantasy novel come true...

Mal has been writing stunning books that have delighted young readers for many years - and has picked up numerous awards along the way, including the Branford Bose, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and The Carnegie Medal, amongst others.

This is his first novel for adult readers - and early reaction has been amazing:

"It's wonderful." - Simon Mayo

"Mal Peet's new book, The Murdstone Trilogy, is just brilliant. Every moment he's spent not writing comedy has been a tragedy." - Meg Rosoff

"An eccentric marvel of a book that continually surprises. Mal Peet is a great and daring writing." - Matt Haig

"The Murdstone Trilogy has instantly become one of my favourite books - right up there with Terry Pratchett and The Princess Bride for fantasy comedy. The writing is sublime and the humour is lacerating. I loved every warped sentence." - Eoin Colfer

"Original, subversive, brilliant. Only Peet could pull off something like this." - Tim Bowler

And we have an special sample just for you, right here:

CLICK HERE FOR EXTRACT

The Murdstone Trilogy is published on 6 November, and you can pre-order your very own copy right now from The DFB Shop!