Robin Stevens's Blog

A Stocking Full of Spies publishes on the 11th of September in the UK and Ireland (Australia and New Zealand, your edition will publish in November – but I promise it’s on the way!).

But if you just can’t wait to be back with May, Nuala and Eric, I have a gift for you – the first three chapters of the book, available to read now!

Click here to download the extract – and if you like it, please do pre-order the book from Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org, Eason’s, Dubray or your local independent retailer!

I’m delighted to announce the Stocking Full of Spies autumn 2025 tour!

11th September, London. 4pm, Pickled Pepper Books. This is a book signing to celebrate the launch of A STOCKING FULL OF SPIES. Tickets cost £7.99 (the cost of the book) and include a book – and you can bring old copies of my books from home for me to sign too.

12th September, Taunton. 4:30pm, Waterstones Taunton. This is a book signing to celebrate the launch of A STOCKING FULL OF SPIES. Tickets cost £7.99 (the cost of the book) and include a book – and you can bring old copies of my books from home for me to sign too.

13th September, Paignton, Devon. 12:30pm, Agatha Christie Festival. This is a festival event to celebrate both my own books and my love for Christie’s! It’s free, but you need to book a ticket in advance. There will be a signing afterwards where you can get both old and new copies of my books signed.

4th October, Bath. 10am, Bath Children’s Literature Festival. This is a festival event – tickets cost £8.50 and books can be purchased at additional cost after the event. I’ll sign copies old and new at the signing!

18th October, Sevenoaks, Kent. 2pm, Sevenoaks Bookshop. This is an event and signing – tickets cost between £15-25 and include a copy of the book. I’ll sign copies old and new at the signing!

25th October, Manchester. 12pm, Trafford Centre Waterstones. This is a book signing for ASFOS – tickets cost £7.99 and include a book. I’ll sign old copies brought from home as well as ones purchased on the day!

8th November, Stroud. Stroud Book Festival. This is a talk and a signing – full details have not been released yet, but when the programme goes live I’ll update this page with more!

Irish fans, despite best efforts (and I really did try!) it’s looking like your next event will be in Spring 2026. Bear with me – I’m working hard to make sure I come to Ireland soon, and I’ll share details when they’re finalised!

And if you’re disappointed that I’m not coming to your town or city, I am sorry. I try to keep moving around different parts of the UK with each tour (this time it’s the South West’s turn!), so there won’t always be an event in your area with each tour, and if I recently visited your area it’s likely I won’t be back for a few years. You may also need to travel a bit to meet me – I have to make sure I keep enough time to write, and that means I can’t visit everywhere that wants me. But 2026 will bring new opportunities, so please be patient and hopefully I’ll see you soon!

I’m delighted to be able to say that a special edition of First Class Murder, complete with a shiny new cover, special sprayed edges and a new introduction from me, is available NOW wherever my books are sold.

If you want to make sure you get your hands on one, I’d recommend going into a bookstore if you can – but even if you order online, the edition you get should be this one, at no extra cost!

And that’s not all – I’m really pleased that we’re going to be releasing the rest of the series in special edition over the next few years.

Each of these will be LIMITED editions – we’ll be doing one print run and not reprinting – so my advice to you if you want to build your collection is to buy each copy as it arrives in stores. This is one for the patient superfans – I hope you’ll feel rewarded!

Big news for everyone waiting for the perfect time to pre-order A Stocking Full of Spies – Waterstones is offering 25% off pre-orders of hundreds of titles, including Stocking, this week.

This offer only runs until the end of this month, so don’t delay – and use the opportunity to add some more brilliant upcoming books to your basket as well!

The autumn tour for A Stocking Full of Spies is shaping up really nicely! Events are starting to be posted on my website calendar, so please do check that out – and today I want to highlight my visit to Bath for their children’s literature festival.

I’ll be there on the 4th of October at 10am to talk about ASFOS – tickets are on sale NOW for £8.50 so please don’t delay! My Edinburgh event in August has already sold out, and I don’t want any of you to miss out on seeing me.

I’m really looking forward to visiting Bath again – it’s always one of the highlights of my year! I hope I’ll see lots of you there!

I’m delighted to be partnering with Daunt Books again to offer signed and personalised copies of A Stocking Full of Spies!

You can pre-order now, at the link here – I will sign any name you want (or no name at all!) as well as a message of your choice, if you’d like. I’ll be signing them all during the week of publication, after which point your copy will be posted to you. Postage rates will vary depending on where you are – for all questions about postage, please talk to the Daunt team.

Not long to wait now – September will be here before you know it!

We had to say goodbye to my old newsletter at the end of last year. But the good news is … its replacement is finally here!

The brand new Robin Stevens newsletter will have everything the old version did: updates about what I’m doing, sneak peeks into my next books and reminders about where I’m going to be visiting.

But it’ll also have recommendations (remember my monthly YouTube recommendation videos? I just don’t have time to do those any more, but this is the next best thing) as well as general thoughts from me.

I’m really excited about it, and I hope you are too – sign up now through my website’s newsletter page (if you’re under 18, please ask a trusted adult to sign up using their email), and the first email will be hitting your inboxes next week!

I’m delighted to announce my next event – in Edinburgh!

I’ll be there at 10:30 on the 23rd of August, to talk about the Puzzle Book and to give a special sneak peak of A Stocking Full of Spies.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on the 21st of June at 10am BST – mark your calendars! And I hope I’ll see you all there!

I’m currently working on my tour dates for the autumn – more on that soon – but for now, I’m delighted to announce an international signing date for Spanish fans! I’ll be at Feria del Libro Madrid on the 7th of June at 11am (Madrid time).

I’ll be at Caseta 319, the stand of my Spanish publisher Editorial Alma – please come along and say hello!

It’s finally here! I’m delighted to be revealing the gorgeous glittery gold cover for A Stocking Full of Spies, illustrated by Jan Bielecki!

I think it’s beautiful – I love the details Jan has put in! Look at Eric and his little duck! Look at May on her bicycle! It’s a perfect wintery cover for a story that’s all about holiday intrigue.

From the book’s description …

It’s December 1941, and almost Christmas, when a bomb falls on Deepdean School for Girls. May and Nuala are whisked away from the chaos and sent to stay with May’s big sister, Hazel Wong, who is working at Bletchley Park.

Within seconds, they’re thrown straight into their most dangerous case yet. A codebreaker has been shot in what appears to be a tragic accident – until a suspicious and top-secret message is discovered in his pocket. Was he a spy, working for the other side? Was the message planted on him? Most importantly – was this murder?

Worst of all, Daisy’s big brother, Bertie Wells, is being blamed. It’s up to May, Nuala and their friend Eric to prove Bertie’s innocence and solve the mystery. But Bletchley is a strange and secretive place, full of Britain’s most ingenious minds. They’ll need to watch, listen, and puzzle out the incredible, unthinkable truth…

A Stocking Full of Spies will publish on the 11th of September this year, and you can pre-order it NOW from all good bookshops, including Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org and of course your local independent bookseller.

I’m currently lining up my autumn tour for the book, so watch out for that – and keep your eyes peeled for more exciting announcements from me soon …