And in his college entrance application to start his doctorate at New College, Oxford, Mallory wrote that his entire family was dead as an explanation for his grades while completing his master’s degree. Though the New Yorker confirmed that his parents and three siblings are all alive, it claimed Mallory had told people in publishing that his mother had died of cancer and his brother had killed himself. In later years, Mallory reportedly told authors and employers that he had a PhD from Oxford, but the university confirmed that while he did complete his master’s degree there in 2004, Mallory never submitted a doctoral thesis. Mallory subsequently became vice president and executive editor of US publisher William Morrow. However, the competitor later told several figures at Little, Brown that it had never made an offer to Mallory and he was asked to leave. Sources at Little, Brown told the Guardian that he later claimed to have received a job offer from a competitor, with Little, Brown offering him a pay increase to encourage him to stay. The New Yorker also alleges repeated instances of Mallory lying about his professional abilities, asserting during his job interview at Little, Brown that he had been an editor at US publisher Ballantine, when he had only been an assistant. Mallory denied to the New Yorker that he was the author of those emails. They began to suspect it was untrue after receiving emails from someone claiming to be Mallory’s brother Jake, detailing his illness. The author said he never showed any evidence of being ill and that his “miraculous” recovery had long been a talking point among those around him.Ī former colleague of Mallory’s at Little, Brown also confirmed that the author had told the office that he had brain cancer as an explanation for long periods out of the office. One author published by Sphere, the crime imprint Mallory worked on, said that Mallory frequently spoke of having cancer and once told her that he had enjoyed reading one of her manuscripts multiple times, despite wearing an eyepatch due to losing sight in his eye after an operation on a brain tumour. On Tuesday, several industry sources who asked to remain unidentified confirmed to the Guardian that Mallory had told them he had brain cancer while working at publisher Little, Brown in London between 20.

The article claims Mallory had repeatedly said he had cancer, including in an Oxford University application, and to colleagues while working at publishing houses in both London and New York. However, the New Yorker article by Ian Parker lays out a history of Mallory fabricating stories of illness and death, including that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

The woman in the window author