Crime fiction boom as book sales rocket past 2019 levels

With bookshops still closed in parts of the UK, sales have surpassed last year’s numbers, with 3.8m print books sold in the last week

Britain’s readers have been emerging from lockdown to restock their bookshelves, with book sales – and particularly crime novels – booming in the three weeks since booksellers were allowed to open their doors.

The print market continued its healthy run since England’s bookshops reopened on 15 June, with 3.8m books sold in the last week, for £32.6m, up from 3.1m (making £26.9m) at the same time last year. This is a 15% increase in value on last week and 21% year-on-year.

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