Graeme Macrae Burnet’s A CASE OF MATRICIDE shortlisted for Ned Kelly Awards’ Best International Crime Fiction prize

Graeme Macrae Burnet’s acclaimed conclusion to the Inspector Gorski trilogy, A CASE OF MATRICIDE, has been shortlisted for this year’s Ned Kelly Awards. Run by the Australian Crime Writers Association, the Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest and most prestigious honours for the best crime fiction and true crime writing published in Australia. A CASE OF MATRICIDE, published by Text Publishing in Australia in October 2024, is recognised in this year’s Best International Crime Fiction category, alongside fellow nominees Michael Bennett, David McCloskey, Charity Norman, Jacqueline Bublitz and Michael Connelly. The winner, who will follow in the footsteps of recent honourees Adrian McKinty, Chris Whitaker, Nita Prose and Louise Candlish, will be revealed in September.

A CASE OF MATRICIDE – in which small-town French police inspector Georges Gorski must investigate the overlapping paths of a deceased business magnate, a shadowy stranger with no apparent reason to be there, and the titular threat of familial murder – sees Graeme receive his second nomination at the Ned Kelly Awards, having also been recognised for his Booker-longlisted standalone CASE STUDY in 2022.

Alongside Text Publishing, A CASE OF MATRICIDE was published in North America by Biblioasis and, most recently, as a paperback in the UK by Saraband in May 2025. The audiobook edition is published by Bolinda, and rights have sold to Impedimenta in Spain. Graeme will return this autumn with his new novella BENBECULA, the latest entry in Polygon’s Darkland Tales series, in which Scotland’s best writers reimagine moments from the country’s past – Polygon, Biblioasis and Text will all publish in October 2025.

Congratulations Graeme!

About A CASE OF MATRICIDE

In the unremarkable French town of Saint-Louis, a mysterious stranger stalks the streets; an elderly woman believes her son is planning to do away with her; a prominent manufacturer drops dead. Between visits to the town’s bars, Chief Inspector Georges Gorski mulls over the connections, if any, between these events, while all the time grappling with his own domestic and existential demons.

Graeme Macrae Burnet pierces the respectable bourgeois façade of small-town life in this deeply human story. He draws a wry humour from the tiniest of details and delves into the darkest recesses of his characters’ minds to present a fascinating puzzle that blurs the boundaries between suspect, investigator and reader in an entertaining, profound and moving novel.

Credit: Euan Anderson

About Graeme Macrae Burnet

Graeme Macrae Burnet was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and now lives in Glasgow. He has also lived in the Czech Republic, France, Portugal and London.

His first novel, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ADÈLE BEDEAU (Contraband, 2014), received a New Writer’s Award from the Scottish Book Trust and was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. A second Inspector Gorski novel, THE ACCIDENT ON THE A35, was published in 2017, and the trilogy was completed in 2024 with the ‘tragic, cinematic, propulsive' (Martin MacInnes) A CASE OF MATRICIDE.

HIS BLOODY PROJECT (Contraband, 2015) won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award and the Vrij Nederland Thriller of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the LA Times Mystery Book of the Year and the European Crime Fiction prize. It has been published in over twenty languages. CASE STUDY was published in 2021 by Saraband (UK), Text (ANZ) and Bolinda (UK audio) to wide critical acclaim. The North American edition was published in 2022 by Biblioasis. It has been longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 and the Dublin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Ned Kelly International Crime Prize. It has been published in fifteen languages.

Graeme was named Author of the Year in the 2017 Sunday Herald Culture Awards and has appeared at festivals and events in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Russia, Estonia, Macau, Ireland, Germany, Poland and France, as well as in the UK.

Praise for A CASE OF MATRICIDE

‘A dizzyingly immersive experience. Macrae Burnet’s Gorski novels were already a significant achievement, but the concluding part is breathtaking – tragic, cinematic, propulsive – and marks a new standard in contemporary crime fiction.’ – Martin MacInnes, Booker-longlisted author of IN ASCENSION

‘Burnet plays metafictional games, but the book pulls off the rare double of being emotionally involving as well as teasingly tricksy.’ – Jake Kerridge, 5* review, The Telegraph

‘Brilliantly weird.’ – Paula Hawkins, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

‘I’ve long appreciated the way Burnet’s novels are in conversation with earlier times… min[ing] the postmodern era without pretense and with deep respect… You can gulp down A CASE OF MATRICIDE in one sitting, as the prose style seems to demand. But linger over Burnet’s novel, and its real pleasures emerge.’ – Sarah Weinman, New York Times

‘A CASE OF MATRICIDE demonstrates literary talent of the highest order… Details of place are especially rich, and the subtle mores of the small town are reflected in Gorski’s misguided incorruptibility… few writers can rival Burnet.’ – Andrew Rosenheim, The Spectator

‘Macrae Burnet brings a slyly playful quality to his reimagining of the classic police procedural… and here delivers a wickedly funny novel that owes as much of a debt to Albert Camus as it does to Georges Simenon.’ – Declan Burke, Irish Times

‘Burnet has proved to be a durable talent, and A CASE OF MATRICIDE continues his upwards trajectory… this final book in a trilogy is a triumph.’ – Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

‘Graeme Macrae Burnet’s A CASE OF MATRICIDE finished up his Gorski trilogy with all the Kafkaesque shenanigans, paranoia and observational bathos you could wish for. It’s an incredibly fun, cleverly crafted novel that works on so many levels I can even forgive him for being a postmodernist.’ – Eimear McBride, The New Statesman, ‘Books of the Year 2024’

Visit Graeme’s website.

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Ivan Vladislavić longlisted for top South African prize for ‘cinematic, masterful’ portrait of Johannesburg, THE NEAR NORTH

We are delighted to announce that Ivan Vladislavić – one of South Africa’s foremost writers of both literary fiction and non-fiction – has once again been longlisted for South Africa’s prestigious Sunday Times Literary Awards, with his latest work THE NEAR NORTH recognised among the nominees for this year’s non-fiction award.

The non-fiction award honours ‘the illumination of truthfulness, especially those forms of it that are new, delicate, unfashionable and fly in the face of power’ through their ‘compassion, elegance of writing, and intellectual and moral integrity’. Ivan’s book THE NEAR NORTH is a vivid account of life in Johannesburg in times of crisis. From the stony ridges of Langermann Kop in Kensington to the tree-lined avenues of Houghton, the book invites the reader to follow Ivan through the city’s streets, meeting its ghosts and journeying through time and (often circumscribed) space, finding meaning in the everyday and incidental. The book was first published by Picador Africa in March 2024; an extract from the book, ‘A Faceless Compass’ was published in the Yale Review and is available to read online.

Ivan is a previous winner of both the non-fiction and fiction awards – the only writer to have claimed both to date – having triumphed in non-fiction for his ‘ingenious love letter’ (Geoff Dyer) to Johannesburg PORTRAIT WITH KEYS (SA: Umuzi; UK: Portobello Books) in 2007, and in fiction with his ‘imaginatively wild’ (Neel Mukherjee) novel THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET (SA: Umuzi; UK: And Other Stories) in 2002.

Congratulations Ivan!

Photo: Minky Schlesinger

About Ivan Vladislavić

Ivan Vladislavić was born in Pretoria in 1957 and lives in Johannesburg. His books include the novels THE DISTANCE, THE RESTLESS SUPERMARKET, THE EXPLODED VIEW and DOUBLE NEGATIVE, and the story collections 101 DETECTIVES and FLASHBACK HOTEL. In 2006, he published PORTRAIT WITH KEYS, a sequence of documentary texts on Johannesburg. He has edited books on architecture and art, and sometimes works with artists and photographers. TJ/DOUBLE NEGATIVE, a joint project with photographer David Goldblatt, received the 2011 Kraszna-Krausz Award for best photography book.

His work has also won the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the Alan Paton Award, the University of Johannesburg Prize and Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Creative Writing Department at Wits University.

Praise for THE NEAR NORTH

‘Some of the most moving prose ever written about this former mining town…What a chronicle of a city in perpetual crisis.’ – Jacob Dlamini (author of ASKARI)

‘Ivan Vladislavić’s hand, not unlike that of Marlene Dumas, is unshaking as it paints silent, slow and highly vivid, almost cinematic, lines on the canvas of our shared Johannesburg… A masterful form of reportage of life spent seeing… feeling.’ – Bongani Madondo

‘A bewitching meditation. A raw, literary, and heart-felt ode to life in Johannesburg.’ – Andrew Harding

‘An elegant, gentle, bitter-sweet ramble through the streets of Johannesburg with the incomparable Vladislavić.’ – Jonny Steinberg

‘Ivan is one of South Africa’s best writers… the book is filled with exquisitely observed observations of Johannesburg in all its different moods and the different way people experience the different streets of Johannesburg: absolutely exquisite writing.’ – John Maytham, CapeTalk

‘THE NEAR NORTH has the febrile, hallucinatory feel of JG Ballard’s earlier apocalyptic novels, but tempered and made gentle by a Proustian attention to the ordinary that manages to make the book both paean and threnody.’ – Chris Roper, Daily Maverick

‘Vladislavić's helpless addiction to the inexhaustible variety of the ordinary reality is what makes his books so extraordinary. THE NEAR NORTH is a delightful addition to a substantial output.’ – Michiel Heyns (translated from Afrikaans)

‘There is sadness, rage, confusion and humour in the author’s responses to things but they come together in a reassuring gentle wisdom, an acceptance of things as they are, even as he wishes they could be different. There has been no waning of the author’s observational powers, and no waxing of the author’s ego. It’s a beautiful book. A true thing.’ – Karin Schimke

Praise for Ivan Vladislavić

‘Ivan Vladislavić occupies a place all of his own in the South African literary landscape: a versatile stylist and formal innovator whose work is nevertheless firmly rooted in contemporary urban life.’ – J.M. Coetzee

‘Mysterious, lyrical and wickedly funny… Ivan Vladislavić is one of the most significant writers working in English today. Everyone should read him.’ – Katie Kitamura

‘In a country obsessed with social realism, Vladislavic has always tried to find less obvious ways to approach the world.’ – Damon Galgut

‘Vladislavić's narrative intelligence is nowhere more visible than in his way with language itself… We enter incidents in medias res – as though they were piano études – and exit them before we have overstayed our welcome.’ – Teju Cole

‘Nothing short of a great contemporary writer, he pushes at form and content to make something strangely new and profound.’ – Neel Mukherjee

Visit Ivan's website.

Sheena Lambert won Best Irish Language Film at the Galway Film Fleadh July 2025

Dublin-based screenwriter, playwright and novelist Sheena Lambert has won the Best Irish Language Film award at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh for her debut feature film BÁITE, which premiered at the festival in July.

Set in the fictional rural village of Glanaphuca in the late summer of 1975, BÁITE follows Peggy Casey as she struggles to preserve her family's pub and the unity of her family. The story takes a dark turn when a body is discovered in the receding waters of a local lake, drawing the attention of Dublin Detective Frank Ryan. As Ryan's investigation intensifies and uncomfortable questions mount, Peggy's carefully constructed world begins to collapse, threatening to transform the Glanaphuca community forever.

The film's success at one of Ireland's most prestigious film festivals marks a significant milestone for Lambert, who adapted the screenplay from her 2015 novel THE LAKE (HarperCollins). As an established Irish writer, she brings a deep understanding of character and place to her debut feature.

Sheena Lambert is represented by Julian Friedmann for her books, screenplays and plays.

PASSIONTIDE by Monique Roffey nominated for the inaugural CARICON Prize for Caribbean Literature

PASSIONTIDE – the latest novel by Costa Prize winning author Monique Roffey (THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH) – was shortlisted for the very first CARICON Prize for Fiction, a new annual literary award honouring outstanding works by Caribbean authors and storytellers across the diaspora. The paperback edition of the book was published in the UK by Vintage in May, with an American paperback forthcoming from Knopf on 23 September 2025.

In their nomination statement, CARICON called PASSIONTIDE ‘a provocative tale of love, faith and rebellion,’ adding that ‘Roffey confronts the tension between institutional power and human desire, crafting a bold vision of resistance and liberation in a tightly controlled society.’

The awards were started to spotlight voices that explore the richness, complexity, and evolution of Caribbean identity and experience across four categories: Fiction, Poetry, Children’s Literature and Young Adult Literature. Also shortlisted for the Fiction award were VILLAGE WEAVERS by Myriam J.A. Chancey, A HOUSE FOR MISS PAULINE by Diana McCaulay, CASUALTIES OF TRUTH by Lauren Francis-Sharma and The Lost Love Songs of Boysie Singh by Ingrid Persaud.

Rights for PASSIONTIDE were acquired by Alex Russell, Editorial Director at Vintage (UK and Commonwealth) and John Freeman, Executive Editor at Alfred A. Knopf (US) with a French edition to be published by Memoire D’Encrier in 2027. Monique’s previous novel, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, was a worldwide success, winning the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020 and being nominated for the Goldsmiths Prize, Folio Prize, Republic of Consciousness Prize, OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Orwell Prize and the Ondaatje Prize. It has so far been translated into fourteen languages, and optioned for film.

Congratulations on this latest accolade, Monique!

About PASSIONTIDE

Early one morning, at the close of St Colibri’s carnival, a young female steel-pan player is found dead beneath a cannonball tree. It is a discovery that will transform the lives of everyone on this small island.

As the days pass, this shocking event draws together four women. There’s Sharleen, a journalist with an eye for the real story. Her childhood friend Tara, a pink-haired, straight-talking local activist. Gigi, the ‘notorious’ founder of the Port Isabella Sex Workers Collective. And Daisy, first lady of St Colibri, who is haunted by a disappearance in her own family decades ago.

In a community in which women’s voices are often silenced and violence against them is overlooked time after time, the group soon find themselves compelled to speak out – and to act. But even they could never have foreseen the consequences of their courage…

About Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey, FRSL, is an award-winning Trinidadian-born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism and a memoir. THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH won the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020, and was nominated for eight other major awards. Her other Caribbean novels, THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE and HOUSE OF ASHES have also been nominated for awards. ARCHIPELAGO won the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature in 2013. Her work has been translated into many languages and adapted for screen. She was a co-founder of Writers Rebel within Extinction Rebellion and she is a member of the Hard Art collective. She is also a Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Praise for PASSIONTIDE

‘Roffey is channelling a woman story so deep and old it feels foundational to who we are and can be.  Raw and beautiful and in your face, this novel is a liberating read.’ – Julia Alvarez

‘PASSIONTIDE is a bold rallying cry of a novel. Vital, enraging and brilliant. I loved it.’ – Sarah Winman

‘Beautiful and important… By the end of this book, I was ready to join the revolution.’ – Safiya Sinclair

‘PASSIONTIDE has scale, politics and power – a thrilling read, I loved it’ – Sadie Jones

‘The best book I have read in years. It’s so wonderful: so rich, inspiring, funny, moving. A true chronicle of hope, in sisterhood, community, faith and men’ – Rosie Boycott

‘The spirit of carnival itself is in the writing. A powerful and electrifying novel’ – Jason Allen-Paisant

‘A vital novel that addresses a grossly normalised horror – it’s also fiery, funny and ferociously feminist, written with a singular rhythm and style, a beautiful ease.’ – Diana Evans

‘A raging, searing protest cry… A heartfelt novel filled with solidarity, love, joy, and moreover, unflinching honesty.’ – Courttia Newland

‘Riveting… Guided by its intricately drawn characters and razor-sharp characterisation, the novel captivates readers from its opening pages to its compelling conclusion’ – Roger Robinson

‘Once again, and with a terrific, lively cast of police officers, hookers, politicians, mothers, young women, old women, even the dead – Roffey lures you into her mesmerising world and spins an intricate, human story you can't wait to unravel. Yes, let’s smash the patriarchy!’ – Amanda Smyth

‘Roffey’s world-building power is evident on every page… Taken as a whole, PASSIONTIDE offers a devastating critique of the interrelationship between religion, sexism and colonialism… a full-throated campaign for change.’ – Kit Fan, The Guardian

‘The larger-than-life characters and at times ribald humour turn what could be a polemic into an exhilarating fantasy… Roffey’s use of Trinidadian English gives the narrative authenticity, particularity and lyrical energy.’ – Lindsey Hilsum, Times Literary Supplement

‘A masterful exploration of love, identity, and the complexities of human relationships.’ – Chaya Colman & Sophie Ezra, Glamour Magazine, ‘Best new books of June 2024’

‘Suspense-filled and simmering with anger’ – Francesca Peacock, ‘The Best New Fiction’, Mail on Sunday

Praise for Monique Roffey

‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers. I never know what to expect and I’m never disappointed.’ – Bernardine Evaristo

‘Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and compassion, and her work is always a joy to read.’ – Sarah Hall

‘Monique Roffey has established herself as a fearless writer with her choices of subject and her visceral style.’ – Kapka Kassabova, The Guardian

RECIPES TO LIVE FOR by Sally Andrew wins a 2025 Gourmand World Cookbook Award

Sally Andrew’s delightful cookbook, RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR, has been announced as the winner for the 2025 Gourmand World Cookbook award in the Acknowledgements category.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards is one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau, on an annual basis, they honour the best food and wine books and food-related television. Participants from 221 countries and regions entered the competition with 1250 nominations. The winners were announced at the awards ceremony in June 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Other nominees in the Acknowledgements Award shortlist included: DOOR73 by Eric Ivanidis and Marcelo Ballardin (Belgium); QUININE REMAINS by Townsend Middleton (India); LOS FERMENTOS DEL BOSQUE by Andrea Martin (Spain); NOODLES, RICE & EVERYTHING SPICE by Christina de Witte and Mallika Kruppinen (Thailand).

RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR shares recipes from Sally Andrew’s popular Tannie Maria murder mystery books along with some new inventions. Quotes from the series are sprinkled in, with letters written to ‘Tannie Maria’s Love Advice and Recipe Column’, as well as photographs of the food and the beautiful Karoo peppered throughout the cookbook. RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR embodies Tannie Maria’s wit and warmth and is guaranteed to charm fans and newcomers to the series.

Many of the dishes are traditional South African and slow foods, but there are also quick meals and innovative recipes, from nachos to spekboom ice cream. Whether you are craving a Karoo lamb pie or sweet melktert or a syrupy koeksister, you’ll find something to discover and savour among Tannie Maria’s culinary delights.

The Tannie Maria murder mystery series was recently adapted into the acclaimed television series, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER with Season Two released earlier this year.  The series was also shortlisted in the Comedy Drama and Sitcom category at the Rose d’Or Awards and is now available to watch on terrestrial television in the UK.

Sally is currently working on the fifth novel in the Tannie Maria series.

About Sally Andrew

Sally Andrew is based in South Africa, splitting her time between the Klein Karoo where she lives on a nature reserve with her artist partner, and Muizenberg on the coast of Cape Town. She has a Masters in Adult Education from the University of Cape Town and has published several books on adult and environmental education.

Her first novel, RECIPES FOR LOVE & MURDER: A Tannie Maria Mystery was a Kirkus Best Book of 2015, A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book 2015, The Bookseller Fiction editor’s Choice 2015 and A Good Housekeeping Book of the Month. Her books are published in at least fourteen languages, across five continents. 

Praise for Sally Andrew’s RECIPES TO DIE LIVE FOR and Tannie Maria mystery series

‘RECIPES TO LIVE FOR features a delightful mix of recipes from the novels alongside new creations, all infused with Tannie Maria’s trademark warmth and wit. From slow-cooked Karoo lamb pies to quick weeknight meals, this collection celebrates the heart and soul of South African home cooking.’ –  Noluthando Ngcakani, news24, ‘13 must-try cookbooks to kick off 2025’

‘Utterly delicious, to the very last morsel.’ – Deon Meyer

‘Twists, turns, suspicions, ‘journalistic investigations’, agony aunt recipes – all falls into place, as expected. In a crazy world, Tannie Maria is the coziness you need right now.’ – Roelia Schoeman, The Life and Times of a Boozy Foodie, ‘Milk Tart Murder Mystery: A Book Review #RoeliaReads’

‘A host of secrets, leads, and recipes. Add a touch of drama, some suspense, and a charming love story, and you have the recipe for a winning story. … A true literary adventure with a delightful South African flair … an absolute joy to read.’ – Samantha Gibb, W24

‘Chock full of good food and interesting characters.’ – Kerry Greenwood, author of the PHRYNE FISHER and CORINNA CHAPMAN series

Visit Sally’s website

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