Fans welcome new James Bond author Anthony Horowitz

James Bond, Quantum Of Solace, starring Daniel Craig. Credit: Sony Pictures/DPA/Press Association Images

James Bond fans have hailed the new 007 author Anthony Horowitz.

Horowitz will write a new novel based on an idea by the secret agent's creator Ian Fleming.

Horowitz, whose screenwriting career includes Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War, is no stranger to thriller writing and has sold more than 19 million copies of his Alex Rider series about a teenage spy. He has recently penned a new adventure for the master detective Sherlock Holmes.

Ajay Chowdhury from the James Bond International Fan Club said:

The last James Bond book was written by William Boyd and was released last year. Credit: Philip Toscano/PA Wire

The new novel, dubbed Project One, is inspired by Fleming's work for a proposed TV series about the secret agent that was never made.It is the latest in a long line of books written after Fleming's death and will see Bond enter the glamorous world of 1950s motor racing.Most of the television plot outlines were turned into short stories by Fleming but this one, called Murder On Wheels, was previously unknown.

The new novel is due for release next September.