We are delighted to announce a double success for crime writing titan Deon Meyer in South Africa with his latest book SKORPIO: the first edition, published in Afrikaans, has taken home the ATKV-Woordveertjies awards, celebrating exceptional achievement in Afrikaans literature, in the best thriller category; while the freshly printed English-language translation, titled SCORPIO RISING, has shot straight to the top of the charts.

Deon’s success at the ATKV-Woordveertjies awards repeats the feat he achieved in 2024 for his previous novel LEO. In a statement (translated from Afrikaans), the prize committee said: ‘an internationally renowned thriller writer, Deon Meyer has proven himself to be a master of crime fiction over the past three decades. As a result, each new Meyer novel is subject to exceptionally high expectations: the challenge is no longer simply to write a good thriller, but to continue to surprise within an established and highly recognizable oeuvre (and genre). Meyer succeeds excellently in this with SKORPIO.’

‘The novel once again demonstrates Meyer's extraordinary control over the "architecture" of the suspense story: the fine dosing of information, the alternation between storylines, the manipulation of reader expectations and the gradual convergence of seemingly unrelated events. Particularly striking is the way in which Meyer complicates the moral certainties on which the traditional crime story is based in SKORPIO. The distinction between right and wrong, guilt and innocence, becomes increasingly less obvious.’

Meanwhile, his success in the charts with the new English language edition SCORPIO RISING, translated by K.L. Seegers – taking the top spot in both the Fiction and Overall bestseller lists – continues Deon’s domination of the South African charts, having claimed a 9-week end-of-year run at the top of the South African bestseller lists, including the Christmas #1 with SKORPIO. This latest achievement marks a successful debut for Deon’s new English-language publisher, Pan Macmillan, who will publish SCORPIO RISING in the UK on 11 February 2027, alongside Grove Atlantic in the US and Canada.

Rights have further sold in France (Editions Gallimard), the Netherlands (A W Bruna) and Germany (Aufbau). SKORPIO was first published last year in Afrikaans by Human and Rousseau.

Many congratulations Deon!

In SKORPIO/SCORPIO RISING, when Detective Benny Griessel is assigned the case of a private eye crushed under a BMW in his garage, it looks like a tragic accident. But Benny’s partner, Vaughn Cupido, knew the deceased, and he says it’s murder. Benny would love to have Vaughn’s help on the case, because so far it’s going nowhere. But his partner is stuck wasting his considerable talents investigating the arson of a remote shepherd’s hut.

Then a caravan explodes on a nearby farm, and the identity of the body inside drives the media into a feeding frenzy just a week before an international security forum comes to town.

Suddenly, Griessel and Cupido’s dead-end cases are burning red-hot, and the flames threaten not just their careers, but those dearest to them.

Local and international threats become perilously entwined in this tautly constructed thriller from a master of the form, as Griessel and Cupido race against time to uncover a plot that could challenge global politics at the highest level…

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa. His books are sold in 31 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, the Martin Beck Award in Sweden and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’. THE DARK FLOOD was longlisted for the 2023 CWA Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. His novels always achieve many weeks at the top of the South African bestseller lists, becoming Number One across all categories and languages.

Adaptations of Deon’s novels have recently had great success on screen: in April 2024, HEART OF THE HUNTER topped the global Netflix film charts, becoming the first African film to do so, with over 11 million views in its first two days alone. DEVIL’S PEAK was also adapted for a miniseries by Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions, premiering on M-Net in South Africa in 2023 before reaching international audiences. In 2020, TRACKERS, produced by Three River Fiction and Scene 23, aired on Sky Atlantic in the UK and HBO in the USA and the latest thriller to hit the screens is INVISIBLE (adapted from BLOOD SAFARI) an 8-part mini-series starring Abbie Cornish which was launched on M-Net on 14 October 2026.

Praise for SKORPIO

‘Even if he writes a book where Griessel and Cupid just go on holiday without any crime to solve, I will still buy it, read it and add it to my collection… Meyer needs no introduction… I don’t even want to think what he has meant to the Afrikaans book and film industry as a whole. He showed everyone what is possible, and SKORPIO shows how everyone still listens when he speaks. In 2025, a wealth of good suspense literature was published; SKORPIO is the icing on the cake.’ – Stefan Coetzee, LitNet

‘It’s the characters, the humanity and the humour that keeps me devouring Deon Meyer’s novels.’ – Deborah Steinmair, Netwerk24

‘In terms of depth, it is Meyer’s penetrating consideration of the nature of criminality that is surprising… In Meyer we notice the necessary awareness of South Africa’s social diversity. This makes the story nuanced and credible. What is also striking is the compassion with which Meyer treats the characters. This is a novel that is marked by humanity. Even the characters and suspects do not lack the author’s compassion… Ultimately, it is the scope of the story that surprises both the detectives and the reader. The evil that is systemic corruption is strikingly exposed. With the unmistakable Deon Meyer trademark, precise and powerful, SKORPIO is prime crime fiction that captivates to the end’ – Francois Bekker, Netwerk24

Praise for Deon Meyer

‘He’s up there with the best in the world.’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘I love Deon Meyer novels. It’s global storytelling at its best, with the undeniable hallmarks of gritty realism and deep character building.’ – Michael Connelly

‘Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.’ – Tess Gerritsen

‘Deon Meyer is one of the giants of crime fiction.’ – El Mundo

‘One of the best crime writers on the planet.’ – Mail on Sunday

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