Pussy Galore to make comeback after 50 years in new James Bond novel Trigger Mortis

Almost 50 years after Pussy Galore was seen in a clinch with 007 as they drifted on a raft off the coast of Canada, the lesbian gangster is making a return in a new official James Bond novel.

English novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz has announced plans to resurrect Ian Fleming's iconic character in his new book novel Trigger Mortis, which will be set in 1957, two weeks after Goldfinger.

The plot will follow Bond in the middle of the Soviet-American Space Race as the US prepares for a critical rocket launch and the renowned writer has drawn on Fleming's original work, using a TV treatment for Murder on Wheels, an episode that was never made about motor racing.

The novel will be released to mark what would have been Fleming's 107th birthday and Horowitz hopes it will be "the most authentic James Bond novel anyone has ever written".

"I was so glad that I was allowed to set the book two weeks after my favourite Bond novel, Goldfinger, and I'm delighted that Pussy Galore is back!" he said. "It was great fun revisiting the most famous Bond girl of all – although she is by no means the only dangerous lady in Trigger Mortis.

He added: "I hope fans enjoy it. My aim was to make this the most authentic James Bond novel anyone could have written."

In addition to Pussy Galore, portrayed by Honor Blackman in the James Bond films, the book will also feature a brand-new Bond girl, Jeopardy Lane, and deadly villain, Jai Seung Sin.

Trigger Mortis has already received the seal of approval from Lucy Fleming, the niece of Fleming, who said "it was almost as if Ian had written [Trigger Mortis] himself".

"It does feel like a Fleming book," she said. "It takes place a couple of weeks after Goldfinger – Pussy's back, which is fantastic, and we've got a particularly good villain in Sin – he's absolutely horrible, a megalomaniac type, but fascinating as well... Pussy Galore is one of the iconic characters from the films and the books... It will be interesting to see what the public make of that."

Orion Publishing will release Trigger Mortis on 8 September.