The Crooked Letter is a 2004 fantasy novel by Sean Williams. It follows the story of Seth and Hadrian who have gone to Europe on holidays. Seth is murdered and they discover that Earth is just one of many realms.

Background

The Crooked Letter was first published in Australia on 30 June 2004 by Voyager in paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

 format. It was later released in the United States in both hardcover

Hardcover

A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...

 and paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

 in 2006 and 2008 respectively. The Crooked Letter is a prequel to William's earlier Books of the Change series and is the first of four books in the The Books of the Cataclysm series. The Crooked Letter won the 2004 Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.-History:...

 for best fantasy novel

Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel

The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and SpecFaction NSW to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers"...

 and the 2005 Ditmar Award

Ditmar Award

The Ditmar Award has been awarded annually since 1969 at the Australian National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in Australian science fiction and science fiction fandom...

for best novel.