Fans are now able to pre-order The Hallmarked Man, J. K. Rowling’s eighth instalment of the Strike-Ellacott saga on Amazon. The online store is showing a release date of 9th September 2025 in both the US and UK pages. My UK order is showing a delivery date of 17th September, and John’s US order is showing delivery on 9th September. So, case closed, we have a release date, right?
Some notes of caution: No official J. K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith or Little Brown (or Sphere, or Mulholland) channel has confirmed this date. No pre-order date is a guarantee that a book will be delivered on that date, or in that year (or in that decade).
My personal record for a late pre-order is N. A. M. Rodger’s The Price of Victory, volume three of his A Naval History of Britain. First available for pre-order in 2013 (volume two was published in 2006), delivery was made in October 2024. In this case, due to Dr. Rodger’s illness, publication was delayed for more than a decade. Achieving almost mythical status among fans of his work, the delivered book was well worth the wait.
So 9th of September could be either:
- An accurate date, leaked early by Amazon.
- A best guess based on a publisher’s tentative schedule (2036 anyone?)
- A clever and well worked plot by Dr. Beatrice Groves to win a case of Doombar.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
