Little, Brown has acquired two more thrillers from “Queen of Crime” Val McDermid.
Lucy Malagoni, editorial director for Sphere Fiction, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to two novels from Jane Gregory at Gregory & Company. The first of these two novels will be published in 2017.
Malagoni said: “I am over the moon that Sphere will be publishing more novels from the inimitable Val McDermid. Val is the most extraordinary writer who continues to thrill and excite readers with every book – it is both a privilege and a pleasure to work with her.”
Gregory said: “Working with David Shelley, Lucy Malagoni and the Little, Brown team is a joy for Val and for me, so I am delighted we have another deal in place.”
Val is the most extraordinary writer who continues to thrill and excite readers with every book…
McDermid publishes her 30th novel Out of Bounds on 25th August and later this week will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award at the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.
She said: “I’m delighted to continue my relationship with the team at Little, Brown who have demonstrated that even after thirty novels there are still new heights to conquer. It’s great to work with such enthusiastic people who relish challenge as much as I do.”
Little, Brown m.d. Charlie King added: “Val is one of the world’s most talented and brilliant crime writers. Everyone at Little, Brown is hugely proud to publish her, and we are thrilled by the prospect of working with Val for many years to come.”
Published June 17, 2016 by Katherine Cowdrey – The Bookseller
The Dead Good Reader Awards shortlists have been announced, featuring Val McDermid, Lee Child and Peter James along with Robert Galbraith, C L Taylor and Stuart MacBride.
The six awards, created in collaboration with the Dead Good community to celebrate “unique elements” in crime writing, are nominated and voted for by readers that will be presented at the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate in July.
Up for The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book is Career of Evil (Little, Brown), the third novel by J K Rowling’s pseudonym “Robert Galbraith”; Die of Shame (Little, Brown) by Mark Billingham, also a recent finalist for the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library; psychological thriller In Her Wake (Orenda) by Amanda Jennings; The Missing (Avon) by C L Taylor, described by Fiona Barton to have “an agonising twist”; Tastes Like Fear (Headline) by former bookseller Sarah Hilary who won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015; and debut Untouchable Things (Legend Press) by Tara Guha, which was authored on the 2014 Luke Bitmead Bursary.
The Tess Gerritsen Award for Best Series shortlists the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, who recently confirmed he would be continuing the series under a new contract with Transworld to fans’ delight, and the Roy Grace series by Peter James, who is on his 11th novel in the series Want You Dead (Macmillan). Also shortlisted are Sarah Hilary’s Marnie Rome (Headline), Stuart MacBride’s Logan McRae (HarperCollins), Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway (Quercus) and Marnie Riches’ George Mackenzie (Maze) series.
The Bookseller – Published June 10, 2016 by Katherine Cowdrey
Scottish crime writer Val McDermid is publishing her 30th novel, a suspenseful thriller called Out of Bounds, with Little, Brown this August.
as twisted as the DNA helix itself
McDermid has sold over 11m books to date, according to the publisher, translated into 30 languages, and this year she is being honoured with the Outstanding Contribution award at the Theakston’s Harrogate Crime Festival. McDermid’s last standalone novel The Skeleton Road (Sphere) was a number one bestseller in paperback and in the top 10 for three weeks.
Her new hardback, Out of Bounds, will be “a gripping, chilling book” that deals with the way in which families live with the impact of violent crime years after the media have forgotten about their once-newsworthy sufferings.
Bringing together grief, terrorism, murder, justice and forensics, the plot takes off when a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma and a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from 22 years ago. The answer to the cold case is “as twisted as the DNA helix itself”. A mystery rooted in a terrorist bombing two decades ago is also simultaneously investigated.
Out of Bounds was part of a two book contract for UK and Commonwealth rights, bought from Jane Gregory. It will publish on 25th August, priced £18.99.
Article by Katherine Cowdrey