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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Emma Loffhagen

$2m crime novel deal collapses amid questions over AI use

Hands type on a tablet with attached keyboard on a white desk surface
Authors, agents and publishers are grappling with how to handle suspected AI use in manuscripts. Photograph: FreshSplash/Getty Images

A high-profile publishing deal for a debut crime novel has collapsed after doubts emerged over whether artificial intelligence played a role in writing it.

The hotly anticipated manuscript Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body, by Jerry Falade, was withdrawn from sale by its agent despite reportedly receiving an offer for more than $2m (£1.5m) from Minotaur, owned by Macmillan US, as part of a 14-way auction. The plan was to publish it in 2028.

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