Ashleigh Mounser’s debut thriller ‘The House at Hanger Hill’ sells to Penguin Random House Australia and internationally

Penguin Random House Australia (PRH AU) has acquired the highly sought-after first novel by new talent, Ashleigh Mounser. The House at Hanger Hill is a dark and spooky psychological suspense set in an old house in regional NSW, in the vein of Gone Girl and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Beverley Cousins, Publisher of Commercial Fiction at PRH AU, acquired Oceania rights from Michaela McGuire at a4 Literary, at auction, in a two-book deal. Internationally, The House at Hanger Hill has also been acquired for simultaneous publication by Catherine Richards at Minotaur Books/St Martin’s Press (North America), via Gráinne Fox at UTA, and by Zulekhá Afzal at Baskerville/John Murray Press (United Kingdom) via Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates, on behalf of Michaela McGuire. Orly Greenberg at UTA is representing film and television rights.

The House at Hanger Hill is a captivating psychological suspense novel, set in Canyonleigh (near Bowral). On the morning of her 18th birthday, Betty is approached by a police detective. Now of age and free of her mother’s guardianship, he wants Betty to help him solve a bizarre, decades-old mystery that occurred in her home the year before she was born. The only person who knows the truth is her mother – and Betty decides it’s time that she knows her family’s story too.

Publisher Beverley Cousins said: ‘I’m so thrilled to be publishing Ashleigh Mounser – an exciting young writer, brimming with ideas for future books. The House at Hanger Hill is a masterclass in suspense with a gothic edge: bold, inventive, delightfully creepy and full of twists and turns that will have her readers gripped from first page to last.’

Ashleigh Mounser said: ‘I wrote The House at Hanger Hill in the prolonged lockdowns of 2021, when I became interested in the horror of isolation, and the altering of self that can occur in seclusion. Inspired by thrillers with a pulsing gothic heart like Gone Girl, Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves, and the work of Shirley Jackson, I set out to write a book that couldn’t be read the same way twice. I could not be happier or prouder that this twisty story resonated with the iconic Penguin Random House, and its’ incredible team.’

Michaela McGuire said: ‘Ashleigh is an extraordinarily talented author and I’m so excited to be in her corner for what promises to be a long and thrilling career. The House at Hanger Hill absolutely horrified me (in a good way!) and I can’t wait for readers to be thoroughly creeped out by this unforgettable novel.’

Penguin Random House will publish The House at Hanger Hill in early 2027.