B7 Media has announced it has struck a deal with the literary estate of Anthony Armstrong to republish for the first time since 1957 (from an earlier novel edition in 1940) his novel The Strange Case of Mr Pelham, a masterclass in suspense and the slow-burning examination of one man’s descent in paranoia.

The Strange Case of Mr Pelham is a tale of the quintessentially polite English bachelor, Mr Pelham, living a life of natural social distancing, who suddenly seems to develop a more sinister doppelgänger with his own agenda. Opening in Monte Carlo, the story is initially told through the eyes of a young couple exploring a nearby casino. There, they learn of a mysterious gambler known as Mr Pelham. Intrigued by him and his glamorous companion, they ask more about the strange man, only to discover that, not that long ago, he was a very, very different person… Or was he?

Filmed several times for television in both the UK for the BBC, and in the US as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Armstrong’s Pelham eventually hit the big screen in 1970 as the movie The Man Who Haunted Himself, starring Roger Moore.

“’The Strange Case of Mr Pelham’ is a multi- levelled, genre-bending intelligent narrative, anda very much overlooked classic, which has again become topical, urgent and relevant for today’s audiences,” says Publisher, Andrew Mark Sewell. “We’re truly delighted that Armstrong’s grandson has entrusted B7 with the opportunity to reintroduce Armstrong’s iconic novel to a new readership.”

Reissued for the first time in more than half a century (publication date: 6 December 2021), this classic period piece is set to bring one of the great 20th century thriller writers to a new generation of admirers. In addition to print, the novel will also be released as an audiobook read by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, with plans for a full-cast dramatisation of the novel also in the works.

Jonathan Maas, Anthony Armstrong’s grandson, says; “I am delighted that ‘The Strange Case of Mr Pelham’ is being republished after all this time. Grandpa was a brilliant and engaging writer and we are all utterly delighted to see his name on the shelves once more. This wonderful project has brought back such lovely childhood memories for me of staying with my grandparents. ‘Pelham” featured many times in many guises across Grandpa’s long writing career and it is an absolute delight to reward my mother’s loving stewardship of her father’s legacy with this new publication. As grandpa presciently commented on ‘Pelham’ in his memoirs: ‘It’ll probably bob up again somewhere yet’. It has grandpa, it has!”