Publishing Deal - G S Locke

Is Birmingham becoming more popular as a setting for crime fiction? This April we have Lucie Whitehouse's Critical Incidents, the first of projected trilogy set in Birmingham and next year sees Neon from the pseudonymous G S Locke. Details from today's Bookseller:

Orion has scooped a debut thriller by G S Locke, about a Birmingham detective and hitwoman tracking down a serial killer.

[]It will be published by Orion Fiction in spring 2020.

The book follows “desperate detective” Matt Jackson and hitwoman Iris as they try to find the murderer who killed Jackson’s wife. The synopsis explains: “But the killer, dubbed ‘Neon’ for the way he displays his victims among elaborate, snaking neon light installations, is also on the hunt – and has both Jackson and Iris in his sights.”

Locke, the pseudonym for a Birmingham based crime writer, said: “For some time, I’ve had this powerful image in my head of a desolate detective sitting alone in a café, picking up the phone and ordering his own murder after his wife is killed by a serial killer. With that, DCI Jackson was born, and with him, Iris, a contract killer who I hope is as fierce and unrelenting a character as Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Killing Eve’s Villanelle. What follows is a story of survival, revenge, an unorthodox investigative partnership, and a serial killer with a particular fondness for neon art.”

More Birmingham crime fiction can be found here.

Publishing Deal - Sarah Ward

News has been released today of the next book(s) from Euro Crime favourite, Sarah Ward. She is changing tack to historical crime fiction, and so the new book will be under the pseudonym of Rhiannon Ward.

Here are some of the details (from The Bookseller):

Trapeze has acquired historical mystery The Quickening by Sarah Ward, writing under a pseudonym, in a two-book deal.

[] Written by crime writer Ward under the pen-name Rhiannon Ward, the first book will be published by Trapeze in hardback, e-book and audio in February 2020.

The novel’s protagonist is Louisa Drew, based on the celebrated Christina Broom, a pioneer of women’s press photography in the Edwardian era.

Its synopsis states: “Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six-year-old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly re-married to a war-traumatised husband and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex where she is to photograph the contents of the house for auction.

“She learns Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, and that the lady of the house has asked those who gathered almost thirty years ago to come together once more to recreate the evening. When a mysterious child appears on the grounds, she finds herself compelled to investigate and becomes embroiled in the strange happenings of the house. Gradually, she unravels the long-held secrets of the inhabitants and what really happened thirty years before… and discovers her own fate is entwined with Clewer Hall’s.”

Publishing Deal - Lucie Whitehouse

This publishing deal for Lucie Whitehouse particularly caught my eye as her new book will be set in Birmingham. I have a very short list of crime authors writing about Birmingham.

From The Bookseller:

The first title in the Fourth Estate deal, Critical Incidents, introduces disgraced former Met homicide detective Robin Osborne, who is forced to return to her parents’ home in Birmingham to work as an insurance-fraud investigator and share her former teenage bedroom with her own teenage daughter, aged 13. Osborne then discovers that her best friend, Corinna, is dead, and Corinna’s missing husband is wanted for murder...

Critical Incidents has a publishing date of 4 April 2019 on Amazon.

Publishing Deal - Louise Hare

From yesterday's The Bookseller, details of a publishing deal for debut author Louise Hare. This Lovely City will be published in Spring 2020:

A murder mystery set in 1950s London, This Lovely City follows Lawrie, who left the Caribbean on board the Windrush. He now tours Soho’s music halls as a jobbing musician by night, walking the streets of Brixton as a postman each morning, the synopsis reads. One such morning, crossing a misty Clapham Common, he makes a terrible discovery. Face-down in a pond is a baby: swaddled in a blanket, stone-cold to the touch and with skin as dark as Lawrie’s. Far from being celebrated for raising the alarm, Lawrie finds himself swept up in the tragedy of the case. And as the police pursue the child’s murderer, dark secrets threaten the city Lawrie calls home and the people who live there – especially its newest inhabitants.

Publishing Deal - Tana French

A standalone crime novel by Tana French is to be published next year. From the Bookseller:

Editorial director Katy Loftus bought UK and Commonwealth rights to The Wych Elm from her long-term agent Darley Anderson [], who described the novel as “an ambitious, thought-provoking, page-turning, masterpiece”. It is slated for publication for spring 2019.

The American-Irish author has written six award-winning novels published by Hodder, all set in Dublin, featuring different members of a fictional murder squad. The Wych Elm marks a move away from that series, with a central character who finds himself at the centre of a murder case when a skull is discovered in his family’s ancestral home.

And it's already on Netgalley, under a variation of the title:

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life - he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

Publishing Deal - Søren Sveistrup

Michael Joseph have bought the rights to The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup. Søren Sveistrup is best known here as the creator of The Killing and this is his first novel. It is scheduled for UK publication in October.

From The Bookseller:

Set in Copenhagen, The Chestnut Man opens on the day a government minister returns to work a year after her 12-year-old daughter went missing. On the same day, a young mother is found brutally murdered in a city suburb, her hand cut off and a chestnut doll-figure hanging from a nearby Wendy house. Detectives Thulin and Hess form an unlikely duo must to find the culprit whilst encountering trouble in their own personal lives.

Publishing Deal - Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Great news for one of my favourite writers. Three books by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir have been bought by Hodder & Stoughton.

From The Bookseller:

Hodder & Stoughton has acquired three new novels by international bestseller Yrsa Sigurdardottir in a six-figure deal.

Sigurdardottir, whose work has sold nearly 2m copies across 30 territories according to the publisher, released The Legacy with Hodder in 2017. The book is part of a series featuring child psychologist Freyja and detective Huldar and shot to number one in Iceland, where it won the Blood Drop Prize for best crime novel of the year. It also scooped the Danish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award in Denmark.

Publishing Deal - Jesper Stein

Danish author Jesper Stein is to be published in English with the first of five books purchased by Mirror Books being published in July; Unrest is being translated by David Young.

From The Bookseller:

Mirror Books has acquired a five-book series by "Scandi noir sensation", Jesper Stein.

The third bestselling author in Denmark, with over 250,000 copies sold, Stein has already won "huge critical and commercial success" across Denmark, but this is the first time his work is being translated into English, said the publisher.

The first title in the series, Unrest, is due for publication in the UK on 19th July 2018.
Drawing on his experience of working as a crime reporter on a Danish newspaper, Stein introduces his "rough-hewn and complex" homicide detective, Axel Steen.

When the bound, hooded corpse of an unidentified man is found propped up against a gravestone in the central cemetery, Steen is assigned the case. Rogue camera footage soon suggests police involvement and links to the demolition of a nearby youth house, teeming with militant left-wing radicals.  But Axel soon discovers that many people, both inside and out of the force, have an unusual interest in the case – and in preventing its resolution.

With a rapidly worsening heart condition, an estranged ex-wife and beloved five-year-old daughter to contend with, Axel will not stop until the killer is caught, whatever the consequences. But the consequences turn out to be greater than expected – especially for Axel himself.

Publishing Deal - Philip Kerr

From the Bookbrunch newsletter:

Quercus has signed three novels by Philip Kerr, continuing his historical noir series featuring Detective Bernie Gunther.

Reviews and series order can be found on the Euro Crime website.

Publishing Deal - Isabel Ashdown

From today's Bookseller:

Trapeze will publish an “unsettling thriller” set in Norway from novelist Isabel Ashdown which promises “jawdropping twists and turns”.

Sam Eades, editorial director at the Orion imprint, acquired world rights (all languages) for two more books by Isabel Ashdown.

The first book, Lake Child, will be published in spring 2019, set in Norway and London, exploring the "dangerous lengths parents will go to in the name of love".

Lake Child follows a young Norwegian woman who wakes from an accident missing her most recent memories and trusts her parents’ advice that she must stay confined to her bedroom while she recuperates. However when she breaks out she discovers a world of secrets and lies which force her to question her who her parents really are.

Publishing Deal - Susanne Jansson

[I discovered this a bit belatedly]..from The Bookseller:

In the Mire, the atmospheric Swedish debut which prompted a Europe-wide frenzy for rights at last week's London Book Fair, has been snapped up by Hodder & Stoughton after a three-way auction.

Crime and thriller publisher Ruth Tross bought British and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, as part of a two-book deal and will publish In the Mire by Susanne Jansson on the Mulholland list in early 2019.

[] "eerie" thriller, about two women who are forced to confront “buried horrors of the past” in a mire in rural Sweden []

It's also been snapped up in the US. From Publishers Lunch Weekly [with a bit more about the plot]:

Susanne Jansson debut IN THE MIRE, following a young biologist who returns to the rural town where she grew up in order to make up with her traumatic past, only to get pulled into the hunt for a serial killer who draws inspiration from the Iron Age when people buried their human sacrifices in peat bogs - a natural ecosystem that preserves bodies for thousands of years, to Grand Central.

From my Inbox

A couple of pieces of news from recent emails:

1. From Publishers Lunch, deal news;

Julia Phillips' DISAPPEARING EARTH, about two sisters who go missing on a remote volcanic peninsula in Kamchatka, as clues to the crime lie in the lives -- and stories of violence and loss -- of twelve women in the girls' rural Russian community, to Knopf, in a two-book deal; UK/Commonwealth rights to Scribner UK.

And a new one from Eleanor Catton:

Booker winning author of The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton's third novel, BIRNAM WOOD, a psychological thriller, set in a remote area of New Zealand where scores of ultra-rich foreigners are building fortress-like homes in preparation for a coming, following the guerilla gardening outfit Birnam Wood, a ragtag group of leftists who move about the country cultivating other people's land, whose chance encounter with an American billionaire sparks a tragic sequence of events which questions how far each of us would go to ensure our own survival--and at what cost, to Farrar, Straus (US); McClelland & Stewart (Canada); Granta (UK/Australia); and Victoria University Press (NZ).

2. A press release from Harvill Secker re Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10:

CBS Films announced that it has secured the rights to bestselling author Ruth Ware’s latest psychological thriller THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10. Hillary Seitz (Eagle Eye, Insomnia) is set to adapt the novel for the screen with The Gotham Group (The Maze Runner) serving as producers.

Published by Harvill Secker, an imprint of Vintage, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 follows journalist Lo Blacklock who is given the travel magazine assignment of a lifetime: to spend a week on a boutique ultra-luxury cruise ship with only a handful of unimaginably wealthy travellers. Lo’s dreamlike experience could not be more perfect until late one night she witnesses an unspeakable act culminating with a woman being thrown overboard. The following morning all of the passengers remain accounted for and the ship sails on as if nothing has happened.

THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 is a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback in the UK, a New York Times bestseller for nineteen consecutive weeks, and it is currently enjoying its tenth week at the top of the Canadian bestseller chart. The rights to the book have been acquired by thirty international publishers.

The film rights to Ware’s debut psychological bestseller, In a Dark, Dark Wood, have already been optioned by New Line Cinema and the film is in development with Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Pacific Standard.

The hotly-anticipated new psychological thriller from Ruth Ware – The Lying Game – will be published by Harvill Secker in the UK on 15 June 2017.

Harry (Hole) returns in 2017!

From today's Press Release:

Harvill Secker announce Harry Hole’s return

in a new JO NESBO novel in 2017

THE THIRST by JO NESBO will be published 4 May 2017

19 September 2016: In news that will delight his millions of fans worldwide, Jo Nesbo confirms that his hardboiled Oslo detective Harry Hole will return in his latest novel, THE THIRST, to be published by Harvill Secker in May 2017.

THE THIRST continues the story of #1 bestseller POLICE, Harry Hole’s last outing in 2013, which saw the maverick cop protecting those closest to him from a killer wreaking revenge on the police.  THE THIRST will see Harry drawn back to the Oslo police force when a serial killer begins targeting Tinder daters with a signature killing method that leads Harry on the hunt of a nemesis from his past.  It is the eleventh instalment in Jo Nesbo’s bestselling crime fiction series, which have sold over 30 million copies worldwide and are published in 50 languages.

Jo Nesbo says: ‘I was always coming back to Harry, he is my soul mate. But it is a dark soul, so it is - as always - both a thrill and a chilling, emotionally exhausting experience. But Harry and the story make it worth the sleepless nights.’

THE THIRST is one of several treats in store next year for the millions of Jo Nesbo and Harry Hole fans.  In January 2017, Harvill Secker will publish a 20^th anniversary edition of THE BAT, Jo Nesbo’s first Harry Hole novel, with a new introduction by the author.   In October 2017, Michael Fassbender will star as Harry Hole in the film adaptation of The Snowman, in which Nesbo’s detective tracks a serial killer murdering unfaithful women and leaving a snowman behind as a calling card.  The film will be directed by Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Let the Right One In).

Liz Foley, Harvill Secker Publishing Director, says: ‘2017 will be the year of Harry Hole!  We are delighted to be bringing the millions of Jo Nesbo fans a thrilling new Harry Hole novel in The Thirst  and celebrating Harry’s first adventure with our special anniversary edition of The Bat, as well as watching Harry’s first foray onto the big screen with the film adaptation of The Snowman next autumn. It’s going to be brilliant to be back in Harry’s world again.’ 

Publishing Deal - Sarah Ward

So chuffed to hear that Faber have picked up Sarah Ward's third and fourth books! From the press release received today:

Faber has acquired Sarah Ward's new novel A Patient Fury which is a gripping psychological thriller with a Scandinavian sensibility, set in the Peak District. A Patient Fury will tell the story of a deadly house fire that reveals deeply hidden family secrets and long-held resentments that have devastating consequences.

World all languages for A Patient Fury, plus one further novel, were acquired from Kirsty McLachlan at David Godwin Associates.

Ward’s debut novel, In Bitter Chill, was widely acclaimed and Faber is publishing the sequel, A Deadly Thaw, in September. Mitzi Angel, publisher at Faber & Faber, said: ‘There is a tidal wave of enthusiasm for Sarah’s writing from the entire team at Faber. She has a very exciting career ahead of her and we are delighted to be publishing two further books—she represents a very important part of the list.’

Ward has reviewed for the Los Angeles Review of Books, crimesquad.com and Eurocrime. Her articles have appeared in the Sunday Express magazine, Traveller and other publications. She is a judge for The Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel.

Publishing Deal - Katarzyna Bonda

I received a press release today from Hodder re their purchase of four titles from Polish crime writer, Katarzyna Bonda:

Hodder & Stoughton is delighted to announce the acquisition of four novels by Katarzyna Bonda, who has been described as the queen of Polish crime writing. She is currently the biggest-selling female author in Poland, acclaimed by readers and reviewers alike.

The books were acquired by Nick Sayers from Sandra Sawicka at Marjacq Scripts. The first book Girl at Midnight has sold over 180,000 copies in Poland and the second has recently topped the bestseller list there also, selling over 50,000 copies since publication in April. Hodder plans to begin publishing in early 2017.

Nick Sayers said: ‘I don’t read Polish but I was intrigued by the very strong story in the English synopsis – a double timeframe narrative reaching back to the time of Solidarity from a present-day murder case, with a strong female protagonist and lots of twists to the plot. Then I was lucky to have a colleague in Joanna Kaliszewska who read the books in the original language and absolutely loved them, so we decided to get involved. It’s very exciting. Katarzyna is a former journalist with a great eye for what makes a story work. In the year of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, no-one can doubt that readers enjoy crime in translation and I think they will be fascinated by these novels.’

Sandra Sawicka said: ‘I’ve been looking for a Polish writer to bring to the UK for quite some time, and when I stumbled upon Girl at Midnight, I knew this had to be it. Bonda is a world-class storyteller, with a strong, fresh voice which pulls you in immediately. I think to many readers the setting will feel familiar and exotic at the same time, which is the beauty of translated fiction. Katarzyna is thrilled at the thought of being published in the UK. To have such an amazing publisher as Hodder on board – we could not ask for a better chance to introduce the series to the international audience.’

Publishing Deal News: Puzynska & Khemiri

News of potential and actual publishing deals for Katarzyna Puzynska and Jonas Hassen Khemiri respectively. From Publishers Weekly:

Polish Crime Series Hits U.S. Shores
The first book in the Lipovo crime series, Butterfly, is now on submission in the U.S. and U.K. Polish author Katarzyna Puzynska has been drawing comparisons to bestselling Swedish crime writer Camilla Lackberg for the series, which was published in Poland by Proszynski. Gregory Messina, of the newly formed Linwood Messina Agency, is representing rights for the novel on behalf of Proszynski, and has recently closed deals with publishers in Romania and Lithuania. Butterfly opens with the discovery of the body of a nun outside a small Polish village. When another victim is found days later, police begin a race to find the killer. As the investigation gets underway, Proszynski explained, "dark secrets from the nun's past" as well as the secrets of the villagers, are revealed.

Swedish 'Serial'-esque Novel Lands in the U.S.
Everything I Don't Remember, the new novel by Swedish author Jonas Hassen Khemiri (One Eye Red), has been heating up in the international market. The book has sold to 10 publishers around the globe recently, including to Atria in the U.S., where editor Rakesh Satyal has acquired it. After a young man dies in a car crash, a writer begins interviewing the young man's friends and relatives in an effort to map out the victim's final day. The writer's goal: figure out if crash was an accident or suicide. Satyal said the book reminded him of the popular podcast Serial because it's a "multilayered, ethnically diverse narrative in which reportage and mystery coincide masterfully.” Rights to the book are controlled by Astri von Arbin Ahlander, at the Ahlander Agency, and the originating publisher is Albert Bonniers in Sweden.

Publishing Deal News: Kati Hiekkapelto

Orenda Books have signed up Kati Hiekkapelto and her book The Defenceless - the sequel to The Hummingbird which was published by Arcadia. Both are translated by David Hackston.

From Book Trade:

Karen Sullivan, of the newly formed indie publisher Orenda Books, is delighted to announce the acquisition of WEL ex USA rights for Finnish crime writer Kati Hiekkapelto's The Defenceless. The novel will be translated by David Hackston and published in 2015.

Karen says, 'I'm ecstatic to have signed Kati for Orenda, and very much look forward to publishing the sequel to The Hummingbird, with fabulous protagonists Anna and Esko returning for a new series of crimes. Kati is a fresh, stunning new voice on the Nordic noir scene, and she's also an extraordinary woman. You can expect to see lots of her in the coming year, with a film in the pipeline and numerous festival appearances booked.'

Kati says, 'For a Finnish writer, being published in English has always been a bit of a pipe dream, as it's often difficult to find a publisher. Working with Orenda Books seems like double luck! With Karen's passion for and devotion to her writers, nothing seems impossible! I'm really happy to work with her.'

Publishing Deal - Gunnar Staalesen & Don Bartlett

Great news in yesterday's Bookseller - a new publishing deal for Gunnar Staalesen:

Newly launched independent Orenda Books has signed three books from a Norwegian crime writer.

Karen Sullivan, the former managing editor at Arcadia Books, signed world English rights for three titles by Gunnar Staalesen, We Shall Inherit the Wind, No One is Safe in Danger, and Where Roses Never Die [] the books will be translated by Don Bartlett, who has previously translated works by Jo Nesbo.

Staalsen was previously published in the UK by Arcadia.

Sullivan said: "This is a landmark signing for Orenda, and I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to publish Gunnar Staalesen, who is not only one of the finest international crime writers around, but undeniably a father of Nordic noir. Author of over 25 crime thrillers featuring Bergen PI Varg Veum, the time is ripe for Gunnar to achieve the worldwide recognition he deserves."

We Shall Inherit the Wind will be published in June 2015, with the other titles following in 2016 and 2017. Staalesen will make festival appearances to promote the titles.

Publishing Deal - Ragnar Jónasson

From today's Bookseller, Ragnar Jónasson has been signed up by new company Orenda Books:

Arcadia Books managing editor Karen Sullivan has left the company to set up her own publishing company, Orenda Books.

Launching next week with a small, “exciting” list of commercial literary fiction, the company has already signed three début novels, including David F Ross’ The Last Days of Disco, which Sullivan said will draw comparison with Roddy Doyle and Irvine Welsh.

Sullivan has also negotiated British Commonwealth rights with David Headley at DHH Literary Agency and Monica Gram at Leonhardt & Høier Literary Agency A/S for Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jónasson’s atmospheric, gritty début thriller Snowblind, and a second title, Dark Night (Bjartur Veröld). It will be author Jónasson’s first publication in English.

Publishing Deal - Andrew Taylor

In The Bookseller yesterday, news of a publishing deal for Andrew Taylor with HarperCollins:

Crime and thriller publisher Julia Wisdom signed world English-language rights to The Ashes of London and two more 17th-century-set novels.

The Ashes of London is set in 1666 as the Great Fire of London rages, when a murder victim is found in the ashes of St Paul’s Cathedral.