Faridah Abike-Iyimide has done it again. The British-Nigerian author of Ace of Spades has secured another seven-figure book deal: her second in just a few years. The announcement, first reported by Publishers Marketplace, and later shared by Abike-Iyimide on Instagram, is milestone moment for one of YA’s most exciting voices.
Her new project is a duology titled The Heirs. Publisher Market says that the book was “pitched as Knives Out meets The Inheritance Games, in which a wealthy family of teen geniuses is brought back together for their father’s annual prodigy ball, during which he is murdered.”
The Heirs was acquired in the U.S. by Foyinsi Adegbonmire at Feiwel and Friends, with Pete Knapp at Park & Fine Literary and Media brokering the deal. Note that this million-dollar deal was struck with Feiwel and Friends in the U.S., which suggests that separate rights were sold to Usborne in the UK and other international publishers. The first book is slated for publication in June 2026, with editions also lined up in Brazil and Spain.
This is Abike-Iyimide’s second seven-figure deal. In 2022, she made headlines with a record-breaking agreement for her sophomore novel Where Sleeping Girls Lie. Her debut, Ace of Spades, became an instant New York Times bestseller and established her as a bold new voice in YA thrillers.
There is information about the UK acquisition of the book here. Congrats to Abike-Iyimide!
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