The Opposite of Murder
Publishing in hardback, ebook and audio on 29 January 2026
Jemma Stelling has confessed to a murder — one she can’t possibly have committed.
She has an unshakeable alibi: when Marianne Cass 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?
REVIEWS
“I loved this book. It’s so clever, and has the perfect twist. Anyone can write something that is just a lie, but this, a kind of dual truth, takes real skill. A killer last line, too.”
Gillian McAllister, bestselling author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time
“An ingenious puzzle of a novel that crackles with energy and menace.”
Nicci French
“Clever, complex and compelling. No one does it like Sophie Hannah.”
Louise Beech
“Such a clever, twisty book – I loved it!”
Harriet Tyce
“Original and thrilling. Sophie Hannah is a genuine storyteller. The definition of unputdownable”
Michael Wood
“An engrossing tale… Witty and unpredictable”
Daily Mail
Publishing in America August 2026