MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks longlisted for 2022 McIlvanney Prize

We’re delighted that MAY GOD FORGIVE by Edgar Award-winning author Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022.

The McIlvanney Prize is Bloody Scotland’s annual prize awarded to the best Scottish crime book of the year and aims to raise the profile and prestige of the genre as a whole.

Also longlisted this year are:  A MATTER OF TIME by Claire Askew, THE SOUND OF SIRENS by Ewan Gault, THE BLOOD TIDE by Neil Lancaster, FROM THE ASHES by Deborah Masson, THE HERETIC by Liam McIlvanney, RIZZIO by Denise Mina, A CORRUPTION OF BLOOD by Ambrose Parry, A RATTLE OF BONES by Douglas Skelton and THE SECOND CUT by Louise Welsh.

Bob McDevitt, Director of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, said:

‘I'm so pleased to see such an excellent longlist of books in the running for this year's McIlvanney prize. Police procedurals dominate this year, set all around Scotland and from the 1970s to the present day, along with a few striking historical novels (set before the 1970s!) and some contemporary Glasgow noir. Once again, the judges have their work cut out for them!’

The shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September, with the winner announced in Stirling on Thursday 15th September.

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth in the highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series and was published in the UK by Canongate in April, and in the US by Europa in May.

Rights to the series have been sold in more than ten countries around the world and have also been optioned for television. The fourth book in the series, THE APRIL DEAD, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize in 2021. The third book, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, recently won the Best Paperback Original category at the 2022 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Awards.

MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks

Glasgow is a city in mourning. An arson attack on a hairdresser's has left five dead. Tempers are frayed and sentiments running high.

When three youths are charged the city goes wild. A crowd gathers outside the courthouse but as the police drive the young men to prison, the van is rammed by a truck, and the men are grabbed and bundled into a car. The next day, the body of one of them is dumped in the city centre. A note has been sent to the newspaper: one down, two to go.

Detective Harry McCoy has twenty-four hours to find the kidnapped boys before they all turn up dead, and it is going to mean taking down some of Glasgow's most powerful people to do it…

Praise for MAY GOD FORGIVE

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is a bleak and violent book, full of grisly details not for the squeamish, but also tenderness, poignance and hard-earned wisdom.’ – Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

‘Enjoyably readable… Parks is a gifted story-teller’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

About Alan Parks

Alan Parks was Creative Director at London Records in the mid 1990’s, then at Warner Music, where he created ground-breaking campaigns for artists including All Saints, New Order, The Streets, Gnarls Barclay and Cee Lo Green. He was also Managing Director of 679 Recordings, a joint venture with Warner Music. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene immediately and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike.

BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER was picked as a Times Best Book of the Year and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.

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Visit Alan’s website

ITV commissions new series of Grace

We are delighted to announce that ITV has commissioned a new series of GRACE, the popular television show based on the internationally bestselling Roy Grace series by Peter James.

John Simm will reprise his role as Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, with Richie Campbell, Zoe Tapper and Craig Parkinson also returning to their roles of DS Glenn Branson, Cleo Morey, and DS Norman Potting respectively.

In an interview with the Radio Times, John Simm revealed that he’s ‘more than happy to keep playing [Roy Grace]’ for years to come, saying: ‘I've played loads of different characters, and I'm sure there'll be loads more coming up, I'll do other things as well. But Roy Grace is such an intriguing part and to have the whole world of the novels to immerse myself in has been invaluable. I'm more than happy to keep playing him if people want to keep watching the show.’

The new series will consist of three feature-length films, with episodes one and three written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip, and the second penned by Ed Whitmore.

Roy Grace hit TV screens around the world for the first time in 2021 when ITV’s much-anticipated adaptation, written by the critically acclaimed screenwriter and ENDEAVOUR creator Russell Lewis, premiered in March. The first episode, based on the first Roy Grace book DEAD SIMPLE, was watched by 8.8 million viewers in the UK and has since aired in countries including the USA, Canada, Japan, Norway and Finland.

Roy Grace returned to ITV in April 2022, starting with LOOKING GOOD DEAD, which like the subsequent episode NOT DEAD ENOUGH, topped the charts as most-watched UK TV show of the night. DEAD MAN’S FOOTSTEPS followed, and DEAD TOMORROW will be broadcast at 8pm on Sunday 22 May. All the latest episodes of GRACE are available to watch on BritBox and ITV Hub.

GRACE is produced by Tall Story Pictures (part of ITV Studios) and Vaudeville Productions. Along with Patrick Schweitzer (Tall Story Pictures), Andrew O’Connor (Vaudeville Productions) and Paul Sandler (Vaudeville Productions), author Peter James will be executive producing the new films. ITV Drama Commissioner, Huw Kennair Jones, will oversee production from ITV’s perspective.

The eighteenth Roy Grace novel, PICTURE YOU DEAD, will be published in hardback on the 29th of September by Pan Macmillan, and is available to pre-order now. All the Roy Grace novels are being released in new TV tie-in editions as well, as the series progresses. See more about the whole series in order here.

Praise for GRACE:

‘GRACE has earned its coveted spot among ITV’s crime perennials.’ – Gabriel Tate, The Telegraph

 ‘Simm is excellent as the melancholic copper and should get his wish to play the role for years to come.’ – Joe Clay, The Sunday Times, Critic’s Choice

 ‘There is a reason why Peter James’s novels have sold all over the world, and one of the main ones is that… Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is a well-written and believable character… Simm makes for a likeable lead and the atmospheric Brighton setting is well used.’ – Sarah Hughes, The Sunday Telegraph, The Very Best of the Week Ahead

 ‘The intricate, twist-laden plot, atmospheric south-coast location and impressive performances mean that GRACE is likely to be a hit with fans of the books and newcomers alike.’ – The Sun, Pick of the Day

‘‘Grace and Branson’s race to find Michael made for truly nail-biting TV and there were great performances, with Simm as watchable as ever as the shrewd, yet vulnerable Grace… With more to come later this year… I’ll certainly be tuning in.’ – Gwendolyn Smith, The i

‘Simm gives [Roy Grace] a winning sense of humour beneath all the grit… Campbell is smooth foil, playing Branson quietly enough that Simm doesn’t have to be enormous to stand out. Brighton’s mix of pretty shoreline, faded glamour, criminal past and contemporary hipsterism makes it a ripe spot for some murder. The action feels rooted in its setting … It’s almost inconceivable Simm hasn’t already been in a long running franchise… and I expect the wait’s over.’ – Ed Cumming, The Independent

 ‘The first TV adaptation of the first of bestselling author Peter James’ Brighton-based Roy Grace detective novels impressed on its debut last year. But with the second episode last week, there was a huge sense that the whole thing stepped up a gear. The actors actually started to become those characters that we have been reading about across 17 brilliant novels so far; and importantly, we also started to get a genuine sense too of the relationships between them. Tonight, the Grace series, with its third episode, took maybe its biggest leap so far: the one that fully establishes it as a thrilling series which is now fully into in its stride – a series with the legs to run and run for as long as Peter James is prepared to keep writing the novels… The series is now absolutely required Sunday night viewing… complex without being convoluted; at the extreme ends of human behaviour but also thoroughly rooted in our humanity.’ – Phil Hewitt, Sussex Express

 ‘LOOKING GOOD DEAD is an undeniably fun ride. The central mystery itself is gripping and well-paced, doling out bits of information at just the right time to keep things engaging, while Simm and Campbell make for a strong on-screen pairing. Simm in particular is naturally charismatic in the role, making Grace at once unknowable yet also deeply empathetic at the same time… action sequences are thrillingly executed, and the overall story resolution is satisfying, while leaving enough character threads hanging to allow for development across the rest of the season… I was hooked and came away wanting more.’ – James Hibbs, Radio Times

‘It’s so, so good. I nearly missed my train stop!’ – Zoe Ball, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 2, interviewing John Simm who plays Roy Grace in GRACE on ITV

 About Peter James:

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, repeatedly occupying the Number One slot on the Sunday Times bestseller charts in both hardback and paperback. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series, now adapted for ITV.

Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-one million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 19 consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

 The 16th Roy Grace, FIND THEM DEAD, was a UK Number 1 in both hardback and paperback, spending four consecutive weeks at Number 1 in paperback, and reaching Number 5 in Australia and Canada too. In 2021 Peter James repeated the hardback and paperback Top Ten double with LEFT YOU DEAD and standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015,) NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017) and THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. Several other Peter James novels are optioned for film and in further development.

Visit Peter’s website

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Kaite O’Reilly’s PRIDE AND PROTEST on BBC Radio 4’s Drama of the Week

Kaite O’Reilly’s PRIDE AND PROTEST – a powerful examination of disability rights, anger, friendship, and womanhood – was BBC Radio 4’s Drama of the Week (13th May 2022).

Julie McNamara recording PRIDE AND PROTEST. Image credit: Kaite O’Reilly (@kaiteoreilly) on Twitter

Featuring disability actors Sara Beer, Mared Jarman, and Julie McNamara, Kaite’s play tells the story of Seren, a once fierce activist, who is nostalgic for the old campaigns and frontline high jinks. She can’t get over her daughter’s anxiety and apathy about climate change, but is slow to understand the impact of her disability activism on her daughter’s childhood.

PRIDE AND PROTEST is now available on BBC Sounds to stream and download for free.

Praise for PRIDE AND PROTEST:

‘Kaite O’Reilly’s play is a thoughtful, often shaming treatise on the predicament of those disquieted by injustice: to what extent can or should someone dedicate their life to a cause?’ – Jack Seale, The Guardian

‘Although these insights into contemporary disabled life are horrific, O’Reilly carries them with a lightness of touch… Harnessing hope and rage in equal measure, Pride and Protest examines the complex issues of identity politics, disability rights, and queer relationships with a playfulness that can’t help but charm the listener.’ – Natasha Sutton Williams, Disability Arts Online

About Kaite O’Reilly

Kaite is a multi-award winning playwright and radio dramatist.

She has won many awards for her work, including the Peggy Ramsay Award, Manchester Theatre Awards best play of the year, Theatre-Wales Award and the Ted Hughes Award for new works in Poetry for PERSIANS for National Theatre Wales. Widely published and produced, she works internationally.

Her plays are collected in the critically acclaimed ATYPICAL PLAYS FOR ATYPICAL ACTORS, published by Oberon, with the forthcoming THE ‘D’ MONOLOGUES about disability, difference and diversity published to coincide with the UK Autumn tour.

She has written extensively for radio, and she wrote and directed ‘Mouth’, a Screen Gem, back in 2000. Her first screenplay THE ALMOND AND THE SEAHORSE, co-written with Celyn Jones, was produced as a feature film in 2021 starring Rebel Wilson.

A veteran of the disabled peoples’ movement, she received two Cultural Olympiad Commissions for IN WATER I’M WEIGHTLESS, part of the official Olympiad Festival during the 2012 London Paralympics/Olympics. A leading figure in the UK’s disability arts and culture, she is patron of Disability Arts Cymru and DaDaFest.

Matt Harvey’s MANDRAKE to stream on Shudder

MANDRAKE. Image Credit: Deadline

The Northern Irish folk horror film MANDRAKE – written by Matt Harvey – has been acquired by Shudder for streaming in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and North America.

The film debuted at FrightFest Glasgow in March and follows a probation officer attempting to return notorious murderer ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw to society after twenty years in jail – but her faith and resolve are tested when children go missing, and accusations of witchcraft begin to stir.

MANDRAKE was directed by debutant Lynne Davison for Village Films, and backed by Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus program. It will exclusively stream on the leading genre streaming service.

Praise for MANDRAKE:

‘This casts a particularly creepy spell… A few shock moments jar the nerves, but it’s the atmosphere of damp, earthy dread that’ll stick with you.’ – Kim Newman

‘The film doesn’t leave much room for hope, but it does present viewers with a shifting moral landscape in which motivations are tricky to pin down. There is witchcraft involved here, alright, but it’s not a simple matter of good versus evil – it’s much more uncomfortable than that.’ – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

‘Matt Harvey’s screenplay is loaded with tensions and shocking surprises, and Davison wrings every possible bit of suspense from it, giving the film a brooding, dread-filled atmosphere… Unrelentingly bleak and absolutely mesmerizing, Mandrake gets my highest recommendations.’ – Joseph Perry, The Scariest Things

About Matt Harvey

Matt is a feature film and television writer specializing in thrillers and factual dramas. His credits include the award-winning AN ACT OF DEFIANCE, which tells the true story of the ANC Rivonia trial in Apartheid South Africa. Matt is represented by Conrad Williams.

HARPERCOLLINS WINS AUCTION FOR MY FIRST MEALS COOKBOOK FROM INSTAGRAMMER GRACE MORTIMER

We are delighted to announce that HarperCollins will publish MY FIRST MEALS: Fast, fun recipes for children with just five ingredients, the first cookbook from Instagram sensation Grace Mortimer. Louise McKeever, Editorial Director at HQ, acquired World All Language rights, at auction, from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

Grace has amassed an impressive following of over 130,000 on Instagram since starting @_myfirstmeals during the first lockdown of 2020. She uses the platform to share her ingeniously quick, simple, and affordable five-ingredient recipe ideas for kids. In MY FIRST MEALS, Grace creates easy, delicious, and healthy recipes that take minimal effort to prepare and cook. With every dish requiring just five ingredients (or less), she makes quick and tasty lunches, snacks and dinners, that young children (and adults!) will love.

Grace Mortimer said: ‘I am beyond excited to be working with HQ on my first book. I wanted to create a book where the recipes were so easy to follow that anyone could confidently undertake them, whatever their level of experience in the kitchen, and without having to give their full concentration to cooking. I’m so pleased that HQ saw what I wanted to do with MY FIRST MEALS and gave me the opportunity to create this book for time-poor, usually exhausted, cooks!’

Louise McKeever said: ‘As soon as we met Grace and discovered the magic she could create with just a couple of ingredients in hand, we knew we had to publish her first cookbook. These are fast, fabulous and fun recipes that you can easily make and that your kids will absolutely adore.’

Juliet Pickering said: ‘From the minute Grace’s first email landed, I knew she had the most brilliant idea for a book – not least because I have a 3-year-old to feed at home myself! Grace is a joy to work with, and I have loved cooking her simple and delicious dishes - and there’s no harsher critic than a toddler, who’s loved them too. I’m so pleased to bring this book to more parents and carers, who want an easier mealtime and happy, well-fed children! I can’t wait to share copies of MY FIRST MEALS with friends and family.’

HQ will publish My First Meals in the UK in August 2022 in hardback and eBook: https://amzn.to/3KKDFkn

About Grace:

Grace Mortimer is the 29-year-old mother to Harry. She lives in Gloucestershire with her long-term partner, Tom. She studied law at university and worked in sales for years but decided to start working part-time when Harry turned one. Grace is originally from Essex and grew up with extremely foodie parents but didn’t develop her passion for cooking until her third year of university.

Follow Grace on Instagram