Nigerian crime writer Leye Adenle has a new novel coming, and this one marks the beginning of something bigger. Fall From Grace, described as the first book in a sharp, darkly funny private investigator series, is due from Simon & Schuster UK on 10 September 2026. The book is being positioned for fans of Mick Herron’s Zoë Boehm series and Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike, company that signals just how seriously the publisher is taking it.

Adenle is no newcomer to crime fiction. His debut, Easy Motion Tourist, won the Prix Marianne in France in 2016 and introduced readers to Amaka, his sharp, unforgettable protagonist navigating Lagos’s criminal underworld. He has since built a reputation as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary African crime writing, praised by Lee Child as crime fiction’s best new voice in years, and by James Ellroy as his pick for crown prince of crime writers in the UK. Earlier this year, his Quick Reads title Cell One was published as part of the UK’s National Year of Reading campaign, a Lagos-set thriller following rookie cop Bobby Fatokun on a harrowing first day on the job.

Read the Synopsis:

Bobby Fatokun is no stranger to conspiracies. A former police officer turned ‘Bad Coach’, he spends his days reforming corrupt officers within the Met. But when one of his clients requests an urgent meeting, then immediately turns up dead, Bobby realises something much larger than the two of them is at play.

Doubting the official verdict of accidental death, Bobby’s investigation leads him to the church where his client had been working undercover. But he isn’t the only one looking in this direction.

The church’s wealthy pastor has a powerful enemy at the heart of the British Establishment – one who will stop at nothing to neutralise a threat. As the pieces of their dangerous gambit fall into place around him, Bobby will have to tread lightly, or his search for the truth will have deadly consequences.

Fall From Grace is available for preorder now. Watch this space for more details as the September publication date approaches.