Pan Macmillan acquires new Jane Harper novel

Pan Macmillan Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Last One Out by Jane Harper.

The novel will also be published internationally by Flatiron in the US and Pan Macmillan UK with their own publication dates.

According to the publisher, Last One Out is a standalone mystery set in the dying town of Carralon Ridge where Ro Crowley waits in vain for her son to return home on his 21st birthday.

‘Five long years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the coal mine operating on its outskirts,’ said the publisher. ‘Only a few people remain. If the truth is to be found in that town, does it lie among them?’

Harper is the author of five novels. She has won several awards, including the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year ,and the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year. Her books The Dry and and Force of Nature have both been adapted into films, while The Survivors has been adapted as a six-part Netflix series.

Discussing the novel, Harper said: ‘A standalone novel is a special opportunity to create new characters and test them with a challenging setting, and I hugely enjoyed seeing this story come to life on the page. At its heart, Last One Out is a story about loss and I hope it resonates with readers in the same way as it did for me as a writer.’

Pan Macmillan plans to release Last One Out in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand on 14 October 2025.

Photo credit: Smart Photography.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions