David Oyelowo to narrate Anthony Horowitz's James Bond novel Trigger Mortis

David Oyelowo is to narrate the new James Bond novel by Anthony Horowitz.

The British actor, perhaps best known for playing Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, will read spoken word versions of Trigger Mortis which will see the reunion of 007 with one of the most famous Bond girls of all time Pussy Galore.

Oyelowo follows in the footsteps of other actors who have narrated Bond novels, including Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hiddleston and Rosamund Pike.

He said he considers it "a huge honour" to have been asked to narrate the book, adding: "Anthony Horowitz has crafted a taut thriller with a fascinating cast of characters and stunning action sequences that I am relishing bringing to life.

"It is an acting challenge as exciting to me as any I have faced on stage or screen. I get to play James Bond! It doesn't get much better than that."

Horowitz said Oyelowo "will do marvels with the audiobook" of Trigger Mortis, adding: "What an honour to have an actor as talented as David to read my take on James Bond.

"He has a brilliant voice and talent for bringing out the nuances of dialogue and characters."

The author has already revealed details of the story which will begin in 1957 two weeks after the end of Ian Fleming's original novel Goldfinger.

As well as Galore, famously played in the film version by Honor Blackman, the story will also see the secret agent rub shoulders with another Bond girl - Jeopardy Lane - and a sadistic Korean villain called Jai Seung Sin.

It is based in part on an original Fleming idea which was written for a television show that was never made.

The book was commissioned by Fleming's estate and his niece Lucy described it as ''a James Bond book with a nail-biting adventure that could have come from Ian's own typewriter''.

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 also recently penned a new adventure for the master detective Sherlock Holmes.

He follows in the footsteps of authors including Kingsley Amis, William Boyd and Sebastian Faulks who have written new Bond books since Fleming's death in 1964.

Trigger Mortis is published on September 8.