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Three new books set in the iconic world of James Bond are to be released – written by award-winning novelist Kim Sherwood. Publisher HarperCollins and Ian Fleming Publications have agreed on a deal for the trilogy, which will be available from September 2022.

Sherwood, who becomes the first woman to write a Bond novel, said she felt “honoured” to be chosen.

The first in the trilogy will imagine a world where 007 is “missing, presumed captured or even killed”, causing a new generation of MI6 agents to be recruited – but one of them is a mole. The novel does not yet have a title.

Ms Sherwood described the deal with Ian Fleming publications as a “dream come true” and described James Bond as “one of the enduring loves of my life”.

The 32-year-old said she grew up “hooked” on Ian Fleming’s novels and wrote about the 007 creator as a teenager when asked to write an English essay about an author she admired.

Sherwood’s trilogy will add to her list of achievements, which include winning the Bath Novel Award, being longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Award, and winning the Harper’s Bazaar Big Book Award for her debut novel, Testament. The book, published in 2018, saw her shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

Sherwood’s trilogy is available for pre-order now ahead of its release next year.