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The Man with the Golden Compass

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Vaseem Khan's Newsletter

The season has turned in the UK and autumn is well and truly here. It’s getting colder… but the sun is still shining!

Publication day for The Man with the Golden Compass is fast approaching (October 22 in the UK; dates for the US and other markets have not yet been set – apologies!), and one of the reasons for posting today is to see if I can encourage you to pre-order the book.

You can find some some order options here

The Man with the Golden Compass is the second in the Q series, with Q from the James Bond franchise playing amateur detective in a small English town.

Dismissed from MI6’s Q Branch, Major Boothroyd (aka ‘Q’) has found a new lease of life in his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. Fresh from successfully solving the murder of his childhood friend, Q is now hired by the police to re-examine the unsolved killing of Lawrence Noble, a tech millionaire turned online antique dealer.
Why was Noble tortured before his death? What is the significance of the circular golden object inscribed with mysterious runes found by his body?
As Q investigates, he soon finds himself dragged into a chilling conspiracy where past and present meet in a way he could not possibly have imagined…


As you can see it really is a beautiful hardback!


Pre-orders and first week orders are important!

The most important thing over the next two weeks are hardback sales. (Though I value each and every audio and digital version reader too, so if that’s your preference, go for it!). This is because hardback sales have a genuine knock-on effect. Retailers are more likely to sell a book that has pre-orders and good first week hardback sales as it shows strong interest from readers, supermarkets are more likely to stock the paperback when it comes out … and so on! Every sale really does make a difference.

And with Christmas coming up, it would make a great gift.

You can find some some order options here

Beautiful sprayed edge indie bookshop edition

There are a couple of different independent bookshop hardback editions. Most indie bookshops in the UK have the below edition with a compass on the sprayed edge. Do go in and order from your local indie bookshop – make sure to check that they have this sprayed edge edition before ordering.

Goldsboro Books in London have their own edition, in a beautiful teal colour with a magnificent gold Q on the black board underneath the dust jacket – practically a collector’s item!

You can order from Goldsboro here

Excellent early reviews

How about this for a great early review from a national English newspaper?

And some lovely words from crime writers I admire:

‘A FIVE-STAR BONDVERSE MYSTERY’ ~ JANICE HALLETT

‘COMPELLING, TIMELY AND LAUGH-OUT-LOUD FUNNY’ ~ CLARE MACKINTOSH

‘SMART AND STYLISH … WILL DELIGHT BOND AND CHRISTIE FANS ALIKE’ ~ TOM HINDLE

’I ALWAYS WONDER IF A SECOND IN SERIES WILL BE AS GOOD AS BOOK ONE AND I CAN CONFIRM THAT FOR ME THIS ONE WAS EVEN BETTER.’~ LYNDA’S BOOK REVIEWS

And if you haven’t read the first… feel free to catch up by also ordering QUANTUM OF MENACE

After Major Boothroyd (aka Q) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6’s Double O agents, he is adrift, no longer sure of his place in the world. But when he learns that his childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, Q is drawn back to his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water. Q soon discovers that Napier’s ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces . . . but can he decode the truth before danger closes in?

You can order Quantum of Menace here

A pre-order giveaway…

If you do decide to pre-order The Man with the Golden Compass hardback or buy it in the first week, you can enter the following giveaway. The prize for the giveaway is a trio of Agatha Christie inspired books: THE LAST DEATH OF THE YEAR by Sophie Hannah, the latest Poirot novel; THE AGATHA CHRISTIE CURE by Cathy Rentzenbrink, a memoir of hope; and THE OFFICIAL POIROT PUZZLE BOOK. One lucky winner will be selected at random from all the entries. Deadline for entering is midnight on 31 October 2026.

To enter click here and complete your details

Once again, thank you for all your support!

Here I am taking a moment out earlier this summer in the great English countryside. The perfect place to think about books, reading and the importance of literature. Thank you for supporting me in this endeavour.

The world needs books and without readers there can be no books!

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CLASSIFICATION:  GOLD LEVEL (FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) … SUBJECT:  MEMORANDUM #2 – THE GREAT PANJANDRUM

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Dear colleagues,

It has come to my attention that the coffee machine in the Q Branch kitchen has once again broken down. It beggars belief that a division renowned for its prowess at invention cannot persuade such a simple device to a) remain operational for longer than five minutes and b) dispense a cup of coffee that does not taste of boiled socks. Following my last run-in with the machine’s maintenance personnel, I am no longer permitted to negotiate this situation on our behalf. (Apparently, I have offended their delicate sensibilities.) Moneypenny has taken the matter in hand and, I am assured, will rectify the situation forthwith.

The coffee machine situation reminds me of recent setbacks on our solo-submersible project. As some of you may remember, the idea for this project originated with our field agents (specifically, one agent). At the time, objections were raised (by myself) as to the viability of the project, with some (again, yours truly) comparing it to The Great Panjandrum, a sort of armed, rocket-powered giant Catherine wheel, designed by British engineers during WW2, an invention so inept that it was never actually deployed. The Great Panjandrum, during its initial test, managed to not only utterly fail in its primary objective – rolling along a beach in a straight line – but misfired rockets in all directions, almost taking out several ranks of senior military brass, before crashing and fragmenting into bits in a series of violent explosions.

In spite of this, Q Branch’s objections to the proposed submersible programme were overruled. As M reminded us at the time, it is our duty, as the research and development arm of the British Secret Service, to provide for the needs of our agents. And if 007 says he needs a personal sub armed with a laser-guided warhead, then who are we to argue? (It should be noted that previous attempts at such armed mini-subs have largely been the domain of drug cartels. These so-called ‘narco-subs’, invariably constructed in potting sheds located deep in the South American jungle, are notoriously badly engineered, little more than tin death-traps for their hapless pilots, where paper bags serve as latrines and the primary propulsion device is no more sophisticated than a mouse-wheel.)  

To be clear, I am not against the idea of submarines, and we shall plough ahead with fortitude, as ever. But the practical limitations of this particular design should not be underestimated. One can only think of the challenges faced by our predecessors. For instance, Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel, credited with the first propulsive submarine – a leather-covered and iron-reinforced rowboat oared by twelve men – built in 1620 under the auspices of King James I – he of Bible fame. This device – imaginatively christened Drebbel I – managed to submerge to a whopping depth of fifteen feet in the Thames. The British navy declined to utilise it. 

Finally, congratulations to Matt G. for correctly ascertaining the answer to the puzzle in my previous memo, and for being fortunate enough to be picked at random from all the correct entries. The answer, of course, was Mata Hari. Below you will find this edition’s puzzle. Good luck!  

Sincerely,

Major Boothroyd

Head of Q Branch

P.S. Here is this edition’s puzzle. One ‘winner’ shall be picked at random from all correct entries and will be mentioned in my following memo. MI6 Archives shall rustle up a book to send to you* Pot luck, I’m afraid! Fill in this form to enter . . . This month’s puzzle is as follows: To what am I referring below?

A vessel now part of ocean lore.

Captained by a fabled submariner of yore.

An adventure tale to set imaginations aflame.

Marine Argonauts now share this name.

*UK entrants only, alas!

NOTE FROM VASEEM KHAN

This ‘memorandum’ is one of a series of 12 that we will be publishing, celebrating the launch of QUANTUM OF MENACE, the first mystery featuring Major Boothroyd, Head of Q Branch (a.k.a Q) from the James Bond universe. Pre-orders are very important to a new series, so we would be immensely grateful if you considered pre-ordering the novel. Buy from bookshops big and small and online. Click here for some options.

To keep updated on the progress of Quantum of Menace, and to receive competitions and giveaways with prizes from the Bond-verse, simply register for my newsletter here. 

You can also receive these updates by registering for the Ian Fleming newsletter by clicking here. 

Quantum of Menace: a new series with Q from Bond

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OK. The news is finally out. I am writing a series of mystery novels featuring my reimagining of Q from the James Bond franchise. Exciting and terrifying, in equal measure. First book: QUANTUM OF MENACE, out Oct 2025. You can pre-order the book here.

It’s been a year-long journey to this point, fittingly, in almost complete secrecy. Thank you to Ian Fleming Publications Limited and publisher Kelly Rose Smith at Zaffre Books (an imprint of Bonnier Books) for trusting me with this mission. I’m having a riot writing the first book. This is a Q that will be both familiar and new, a Q that will appeal to fans of the Bond franchise and to wider readers who enjoy crime fiction that challenges the intellect, served up with a dose of dry humour. As a lifelong Bond and Q fan, this is a dream gig. The Ian Fleming estate were very open to me creating the Q that I wished to, a Q that made sense for the series, a fully rounded character with a backstory. And, yes, Bond will be making guest appearances… I confess, it felt surreal writing a scene with James Bond. Could I have imagined that, all those years ago when I wrote my first (unpublished) book aged seventeen? Not in a million years!

The first book is about the death of a quantum computing scientist. If you don’t know what a quantum computer is, you soon will…And you thought AI was terrifying? Q has been forced out of MI6 and returns to his hometown of Wickstone-on-Water where his childhood friend, Pete Napier, is dead. The police think Napier killed himself, but Q isn’t so sure… I would be extremely grateful if you could pre-order a copy. Pre-orders really help to get a new series off the ground by signalling to booksellers that readers are interested. Thank you!