THE INVISIBLE WOMAN by Helen Walmsley-Johnson published by Icon Books today

Helen Walmsley-Johnson’s THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is published in the UK today by Icon Books.

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is a funny, frank and essential book on ageing. Helen discusses what it is to reach your fifties, look both backwards and forwards, and how to continue pursuing adventures in later life even when it seems your brain and body are against you.

To give you a flavour of the book, here are some of our favourite quotes:

“The 'age 55 to 64' box is the God's waiting room of my form-filling life.”

“The older I become the more I feel deeply and symbiotically attached to my pyjamas.”

“Polyester is to menopausal women as garlic is to a vampire.”

“Ageism has sexism running through the middle like a stick of Blackpool rock.”

“As a middle-aged person I steadfastly refuse to be rushed into anything.”

“Keeping your mind open and curious is one of the most vital things you will ever do.”

Helen, writing as The Invisible Woman, is a freelance writer and author of the popular online fashion column The Vintage Years, which she wrote for the Guardian. She moved to London in 2001 after losing patience with rampant workplace ageism in Leicestershire and Rutland where she grew up, was educated and later brought up her three daughters as a divorced single mum. She has also worked as a dancer, aerobics instructor, model, designer, artist, medical secretary and shop assistant - but not at the same time.

Helen has written a variety of opinion pieces for the Guardian, is a regular contributor to Standard Issue, and has spoken out against ageism on Woman's Hour and BBC radio.

Praise for THE INVISIBLE WOMAN:

‘THE INVISIBLE WOMAN always speaks to me, and for me. It's about saying up yours to the cult of youth, but also about seeing the life of the 50 + as hilariously funny (not unlike the life of the 15 year old, when you come to think about it).’ – Professor Mary Beard

'THE INVISIBLE WOMAN in The Vintage Year reminds us that style and wit begin in youth but are mastered in middle-age. You can roundly stick your 20's. Hers is a voice for proper grown-ups not yet ready to come down, and I'm in.' - Alison Moyet

Peter James Shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library award 2015

Peter James has been shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library Award 2015. The award, for an author's body of work, is sponsored by Penguin Random House's Dead Good Books, and the shortlist is based on votes at the Dead Good site.

There are 6 writers on the shortlist, including Mark Billingham, Ann Cleeves and Peter May.

The shortlist was decided by a panel of judges including previous winner Sharon Bolton, CWA Director Lucy Santos, and a group of UK librarians. The winner will be announced at the CWA Annual Awards dinner on 30 June. 

Peter James’ 11th Roy Grace novel, YOU ARE DEAD was published on 21 May 2015, and went straight to number one in the Bestseller chart. The paperback of his short story volume A TWIST OF THE KNIFE was published on 4 June. The Roy Grace novels are translated into more than three dozen languages.

A TWIST OF THE KNIFE published in paperback yesterday

Peter James’ short story collection A TWIST OF THE KNIFE was published in paperback yesterday by Macmillan.

From a woman intent on bizarre revenge, to a restaurant critic with a morbid fear of the number thirteen; and from a man arranging a life-changing assignation, to a couple heading for a disaster-filled vacation, A TWIST OF THE KNIFE features 30 short stories that are sometimes funny, often haunting, but always shocking.

A TWIST OF THE KNIFE also features ‘Santa Drops In,’ the tale that inspired DEAD SIMPLE, the first novel in the bestselling Roy Grace series.

Peter James’ latest Roy Grace novel YOU ARE DEAD is currently No.1 in the bestseller chart. The Roy Grace novels are translated into more than three dozen languages.

Praise for Peter James

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' -- Karin Slaughter

'Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off.' -- Washington Post

COBRA by Deon Meyer published in paperback tomorrow

Benny Griessel is back! Tomorrow, Deon Meyer’s latest novel COBRA is published in paperback in the UK by Hodder.

Why would a mathematics professor from Cambridge University, renting a holiday home outside Cape Town, require a false identity and three bodyguards? And where is he, now that they are dead? The only clue to the bodyguards' murder is the snake engraved on the shell casings of the bullets that killed them. Investigating the massacre, Benny Griessel and his team find themselves being drawn into an international conspiracy with shocking implications…

Read the first chapter of COBRA here.

Hear Deon Meyer introduce you to his hero Benny Griessel here.

You can read what his editor Nick Sayers has to say about the novels, and test your Afrikaans, here.

COBRA has been selected for Elle Magazine’s Prix de Lectrices Prize 2015, and shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2015, which will be announced at the CWA dinner in London on 30 June, marking the end of National Crime Reading Month.  It was also chosen by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the Top Ten Mystery and Thriller for Fall and ‘Thriller of the Week’ on the very popular Dutch thriller & crime fiction community Crimezone.nl. When initially released in his home territory of South Africa, COBRA (published in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau as KOBRA) shot to Number 1 on Afrikaans publication, beating off all international competition in English as well. 

His new novel, ICARUS (published in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau as IKARUS) has also held the Number 1 spot in South Africa for several weeks and is set to be released in English on August 27th 2015 in the UK and on October 6th 2015 in the US. 

COBRA was published last year in France and Germany and has since been signed by more than a dozen more international publishers. Deon will be at the Salerno festival in June and in October will be on tour in Europe visiting Holland, Germany, and Poland among other places.

Mike Ripley from Shotsmag has nothing but praise for COBRA:

‘A masterful new thriller.  This is terrific stuff:  fine plotting, superb characterisation, a constant thread of suspense, a multi-ethnic cast and an intriguing setting. It also comes with a glossary of South African terms and if COBRA doesn’t win at least one major prize this year, then someone needs a good snotskoot blikseming.’

More Praise for COBRA:

‘An astonishing and violent climax… Meyer gives rare insights into the texture of everyday life in a country still troubled 20 years after the release of Nelson Mandela.’ – The Sunday Times

“Nothing takes you further into the heart of South Africa than a Deon Meyer crime novel, the beating heart of its hopes and disappointments.” – L’Hebdo

Visit Deon's website here.

Follow Deon on Twitter.

Praise for Deon Meyer:

‘A master on vintage form… He is a defining novelist of modern South Africa.’ – Barry Forshaw, Books of the Year 2012, Independent

‘Deon Meyer is one of the best crime writers on the planet.’ – Mail on Sunday

‘Meyer is brilliant at suspense, a skill that is coupled with beguilingly unabashed social commentary.’ – William Saunderson-Meyer, The Times (SA)

 'With Deon Meyer you can't go wrong. He's a writer whose work I admire, wait for and then devour.' -- Michael Connelly

THE EYE OF THE DAY BY DENNISON SMITH PUBLISHED TODAY

THE EYE OF THE DAY by Dennison Smith is published in the UK today by Periscope. It was published in Canada in 2014 by HarperCollins Canada.

When a brutal explosion in a summer-cottage town in Vermont brings together Amos, a disfigured handyman, and Aubrey, the cosseted son of a wealthy New England family, neither has any idea that this one event will shape them forever. THE EYE OF THE DAY is a masterly evocation of friendship; peace, love and loss; and a profound meditation on the compromises exacted by life.

You can read an extract from the novel on Periscope’s Facebook page. Dennison wrote about ten reasons an author should get a PhD for the FemaleFirst blog.

Dennison will be launching her novel with UEA in Norwich on the 10th June and will be reading at a special UEA Live event for the Norwich World’s Festival on 18th June.

Dennison’s first novel, SCAVENGER, was published by Insomniac Press and presented in play form as DESERT STORY. She is the author of two books of poetry: ANON NECESSITY and FERMATA. Originally from Chicago, she now divides her time between a small island in Canada and her home in London.

You can learn more about Dennison on her website

Praise for THE EYE OF THE DAY:

‘A wonderful novel, from one of Canada’s most exciting new authors. Exceptionally bold, beautiful, original and humane.’ – Joanna Kavenna, author of THE BIRTH OF LOVE

‘A remarkable coming-of-age story, told in a stunning voice that beguiles and enchants on every page.’ — Ruth Ozeki, author of A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING

‘Surprisingly beautiful … a riveting narrative of survival, self-knowledge, and the possibility of second chances.’ — Quill & Quire