The Ending Writes Itself is a love letter to the locked room mystery.
The writing duo behind Evelyn Clarke know every trope and trick in the book, and each surprise is multi-layered and knowing. The cast of writers who are our suspects in this clever puzzle offer insight into why writers love to write, even when success seems agonisingly out of reach. It also offers a glimpse into the tumultuous relationship we have with the publishing industry. ‘So much of publishing,’ one character says in the book, ‘feels like a zero sum game.’ With echoes of Yellowface, The Ending Writes Itself takes that idea as its starting point: six authors are competing for a two-million-dollar publishing contract on a 72-hour deadline and only one of them will win. Or should that be – only one of them will survive?
Due to the publishing theme, we kept the authors’ identities a secret when we announced the book. This caused quite a social media storm as influencers rushed to make their guesses (my favourite was Emily Henry and Cher). But now the identities have been revealed because, as Evelyn Clarke writes, ‘secrets don’t stay secret for long in publishing.’
It was a dark and stormy night (well, it was actually an unusually warm evening in Edinburgh, Scotland) when Sunday Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab proposed an absurd idea to longtime friend and screenwriter Cat Clarke: that they should write a book together. V had made quite a name for herself, with more than twenty books, including The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but had sworn she’d never co-write a novel, let alone one without fantasy. 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, as they switched from tea to something stronger, Evelyn Clarke was born.
“That night, as they switched from tea to something stronger, Evelyn Clarke was born.“
A common response to the book has been delight at how seamlessly it is written, and the relationship between the two writers makes this book even more special. The Ending Writes Itself is a crime novel, but it isn’t just for crime readers. We all love sharing stories with others, and this novel is that rare and brilliant thing – one that I can wholeheartedly recommend to all lovers of stories.
— Cicely Aspinall, HQ Publishing Director
About the book
07 April 2026
The new twisty and gripping locked room mystery crime thriller everyone is talking about for 2026
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.