Jo Dickinson, executive publisher at Hodder & Stoughton, has acquired world English language rights from Kate Burke to books six and seven in Will Dean’s Tuva Moodyson series. With the first five books of the series previously published by Oneworld, this move brings all of Dean’s writing under one publishing house. She has also acquired the US rights in books one through to five.

Hodder has published Dean’s standalone novels since 2021, beginning with THE LAST THING TO BURN which received huge acclaim from readers and reviewers alike, and was nominated for a number of awards. The paperback of Dean’s second standalone novel FIRST BORN and the hardback of his third, THE LAST PASSENGER, will both be published in spring 2023, backed by major campaigns.

Will Dean says: ‘Writing the Tuva Moodyson books is a privilege. Every novel is both a challenge and a real pleasure to write. I am constantly awed by the dedication and talent of the Hodder team, and I’m thrilled Jo Dickinson will be publishing the next books in the series. I’m excited for readers, new and old, to discover the next Tuva story: a dark, icy standalone set deep in the Swedish mountains.’

Kate Burke says: 'I’m delighted to have this deal in place, bringing both strands of Will’s brilliant writing under one roof. I’m very excited for the next steps in his publishing journey!”

Jo Dickinson says that it has been ‘an absolute joy to work with Will these past three years’, and added: ‘His creativity, ambition and passion for the writing community is awe-inspiring. Bringing the Tuva series to the Hodder list is the exciting next step in our growth and allows us to manage both strands to maximum potential.’

Book six in the Tuva series, as yet untitled, will feature Tuva Moodyson but be a standalone locked-room thriller. It will be published in hardback, e-book and audio in autumn 2024.

The synopsis reads: ‘When reporter Moodyson discovers a deaf teenage ice-hockey star has gone missing in the far north of Sweden, she races eight hours north. The town she arrives at is separated from the outside world by a vast mountain range, accessible only through a tunnel that closes each night. As Tuva investigates, other locals begin to go missing and it becomes clear there is a serial killer on the loose, who is locked in with the town every night…’

About Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.

Praise for Tuva Moodyson series

‘Scandi Noir meets Gormenghast. Just wonderful. Can’t get enough of Tuva Moodyson…’ – Mark Billingham

‘Tuva is a wonderful creation and Dean’s series is not to be missed.’ — Daily Express

‘In the legions of “Scandibrits” – British writers who set their work in the Nordic countries – Will Dean is primus inter pares.’ – Financial Times

‘Tuva […] is admirably resilient, full of warmth and humour (as well as having curious gastronomic tastes) and generally manages to identify the murderers who skulk among the strange inhabitants of the region… Her travails may well give sensitive readers nightmares, but that’s a small price to pay for spending time in her exhilarating company.’ – Natasha Cooper, Literary Review

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