TV star and writer Richard Osman has achieved platinum status for the third time with the most recent novel in his Thursday Murder Club series.
The Last Devil To Die, the fourth book in the murder mystery series, was among five titles honoured at the annual Bestseller Awards in London on Monday evening, having sold more than a million copies in the UK.
Children’s book duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler also received the award for two books – Superworm and Tabby McTat – while Bonnie Garmus was recognised for Lessons In Chemistry and David Nicholls for One Day.
It comes after the release of the Netflix adaptation of romance One Day, starring Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall.
Osman, who became a household name on Pointless, left the hit TV quiz show in 2022 to concentrate on writing, having co-hosted alongside Alexander Armstrong since its debut in 2009.
The first book in The Thursday Murder Club series became a platinum bestseller, and book number three, The Bullet That Missed, achieved the same status last year.
The film rights to Osman’s debut novel have been sold to Steven Spielberg’s production company.
Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie will play the lead roles in the Netflix film, while the cast also includes Richard E Grant, Tom Ellis, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays and Henry Lloyd-Hughes.
The 2020 bestseller follows retirement residents who attempt to investigate murders in their sleepy English village for fun, but find themselves caught in a real case.
The Bestseller Awards also saw British writer Dolly Alderton achieve gold status, selling more than 500,000 copies of Everything I Know About Love, which was later adapted into a BBC drama.
US actor Stanley Tucci’s Taste: My Life Through Food achieved silver status, selling more than 250,000 copies in the UK.
