Canongate acquires next McCoy novel from Alan Parks

We are delighted that Canongate has acquired TO DIE IN JUNE, the sixth instalment in the Harry McCoy series by Alan Parks.

 The fifth book in the series, MAY GOD FORGIVE, won the 2022 McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year Prize, and the third, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, recently won the Prix Mystère de la critique in the foreign fiction category in France.

 TO DIE IN JUNE thrusts Harry McCoy into the case of a missing boy and will be published on 25th May 2023.

A woman enters a Glasgow police station to report her son missing, but no record can be found of the boy. When Detective Harry McCoy, seconded from the cop shop across town, discovers the family is part of the cultish Church of Christ’s Suffering, he suspects there is more to Michael’s disappearance than meets the eye.

Meanwhile reports arrive of a string of poisonings of down-and-outs across the city. The dead are men who few barely notice, let alone care about – but, as McCoy is painfully aware, among this desperate community is his own father.

Even as McCoy searches for the missing boy, he must conceal from his colleagues the real reason for his presence – to investigate corruption in the station. Some folk pray for justice. Detective Harry McCoy hasn’t got time to wait.

Alan Parks says: ‘Very much looking forward to working with Canongate again on this new Harry McCoy novel. TO DIE IN JUNE is Harry’s most difficult case yet, a case that takes its toll on him and the people around him. This time no one escapes unscathed.’

Francis Bickmore says: ‘After Alan Parks scooped both an Edgar Award and the McIlvanney Prize last year, he is on a roll with readers and critics alike. The worldwide crime pantheon needs to make space for Detective McCoy alongside Rebus, Reacher and Laidlaw. TO DIE IN JUNE is Parks’ most brilliant, brutal and breathless novel yet and we look forward to 2023 being Parks’ breakout year.’

Isobel Dixon says: ‘So many readers around the world love Harry McCoy and we’re delighted that Canongate will be publishing the sixth novel in the series this year. Alan Parks can take you from nail-biting to heart-breaking with the turn of a page, then back to the very the edge of your seat – and TO DIE IN JUNE does all of this and more.’

About Alan Parks

Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before turning to crime writing. His debut, 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 won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original and was shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The latest Harry McCoy book, MAY GOD FORGIVE, was published in April 2022 and won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022. Rights to the Harry McCoy series have been sold in more than ten countries around the world and have also been optioned for television.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a MA in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city as well as spending time in London.

Praise for the Harry McCoy series

‘The meticulously described setting is so suggestive readers may even catch whiffs of stale cigarette smoke and patchouli. Fans of Scottish noir will be satisfied.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘Parks’ sprawling plot offers not tidy whodunit puzzles but a wide-angle view of a gritty city in the grip of crime, home to an entertaining cross section of characters. Broad-shouldered McCoy is suitably unflappable as he walks Glasgow’s mean streets.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘Parks captures the feel of a city long vanished in a breathless and tense retro crime caper.’ – The Sun

‘A series that no crime fan should miss: dangerous, thrilling, but with a kind voice to cut through the darkness.’ – Scotsman

‘Pitch-black tartan noir, set in 70s Glasgow... Compelling... with an emotional heart that’s hard to ignore.’ – Daily Mail

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Biblioasis to publish Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Booker-longlisted CASE STUDY in North America

We are delighted that Biblioasis have clinched a deal for North American rights to CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet and will publish in the US and Canada on 1 November this year. Dan Wells acquired rights from Blake Friedmann’s Isobel Dixon, with an offer made before the news of CASE STUDY’s longlisting for the UK’s prestigious Booker Prize. Graeme will visit Canada and make a couple of festival appearances (details to be confirmed shortly) around the time of publication.

CASE STUDY was published by Saraband Books in the UK and Text in Australia, with the audio edition released by Bolinda. It has already been the recipient of numerous accolades, in addition to the Booker longlisting, including being chosen as a Book of the year in 2021 by The Spectator, The Scotsman and Waterstones. It is shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2022, shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award, and was one of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s favourite books of 2021. To date, translation rights have been sold in 12 further countries.

Dan Wells says: ‘We're delighted to be the North American publishers of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s CASE STUDY, a fabulously playful novel of psychological intrigue that kept us guessing from the first pages through to the last.  A joyful puzzle of a book, brilliant and funny, it's no surprise to us that it has made the Booker longlist: our congratulations go out to Graeme, and we look forward to introducing readers to the world of Collins Braithwaite and Rebecca Smyth (or whoever she may in fact be).’

Isobel Dixon says: ‘It’s a delight to welcome Dan Wells and Biblioasis to Graeme Macrae Burnet’s excellent indie publisher ranks and to know that Graeme’s dazzling CASE STUDY will go out to North American readers published with such energy and care. Biblioasis is an excellent home for this brilliant book and readers in Canada and America are in for a treat.’

Graeme Macrae Burnet says: ‘I feel that CASE STUDY has found its perfect North American home with Biblioasis, such an exciting indie with a great track record. I’m thrilled, and really looking forward to working with Dan and his team.’

CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet

I have decided to write down everything that happens, because I feel, I suppose, I may be putting myself in danger.

London, 1965. An unworldly young woman suspects charismatic psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite of involvement in a death in her family. Determined to find out more, she becomes a client of his under a false identity. But she soon finds herself drawn into a world in which she can no longer be certain of anything.

In CASE STUDY, Graeme Macrae Burnet presents both sides: the woman’s notes and the life of Collins Braithwaite. The result is a dazzling, page-turning and wickedly humorous meditation on the nature of sanity, identity and truth itself, by one of the most inventive novelists writing today.

Praise for CASE STUDY

 ‘A mystery story – or is it? – that takes us into the heart of the psychoanalytical consulting room. Or does it? Interleaving a biography of radical ’60s “untherapist” Collins Braithwaite with the notebooks of his patient “Rebecca”, a young woman seeking answers about the death of her sister, “GMB” presents a forensic, elusive and mordantly funny text(s) layered with questions about authenticity and the self.’ – 2022 Booker Prize Jury Statement, Longlisted.

‘A twisting and often wickedly humorous work of crime fiction that meditates on the nature of sanity, identity and truth itself.’ – Gordon Burn Prize Jury Citation, Shortlisted.

‘A provocative send-up of mid-century British mores and the roots of modern psychotherapy … brisk and engaging.’ – Kirkus

‘Brilliant, bamboozling… In addition to CASE STUDY’s ludic pleasures, Burnet captures his characters’ voices so brilliantly that what might have been just an intellectual game feels burstingly alive and engaging.’ – Jake Kerridge, 5-star review, Sunday Telegraph

‘Consistently inventive, caustically funny and surprisingly moving, this is one of the finest novels of the year.’ – Christian House, Financial Times

‘Enormous fun to read, a mystery and a psychological drama wrapped up in one – CASE STUDY is a triumph.’ – Alex Preston, Guardian, ‘Book of the Day’

‘This is a novel which, like Macrae Burnet’s previous ones, holds the attention, develops an insidious narrative interest, and poses questions about the nature of the self and the authenticity of identity . . . Macrae Burnet writes with an admirable lucidity, at the same time being able to probe and shed light on the dark places of the mind. … He is an uncommonly interesting and satisfying novelist.’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

About Graeme Macrae Burnet

Photo: Euan Anderson

Graeme Macrae Burnet was brought up Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and now lives in Glasgow. He has also lived in the Czech Republic, France, Portugal and London. He has appeared at festivals and events in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Russia, Estonia, Macau, Ireland, Germany and France, as well as in the UK. He has also been shortlisted for European and American literary awards.

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, the year he won Author of the Year for the Sunday Herald Culture Awards.

HIS BLOODY PROJECT (Contraband, 2015) won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the LA Times Book Awards. It has been published to great acclaim around the world and film rights have been optioned by Synchronicity.

His latest novel CASE STUDY is longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize in the UK, as well as being shortlisted for the Australian Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction 2022.

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THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey to be published by Vintage in paperback

We are delighted to announce a new stage in the epic journey of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey. Originally published in 2020 by Jeremy Poynting and Hannah Bannister of Peepal Tree Press, to widespread acclaim, Penguin Random House’s Vintage imprint will now pick up the baton to publish the 2020 Costa Book Award winner in paperback and eBook.  Alex Russell at Vintage acquired UK & Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann. Vintage will publish THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH in paperback and eBook on 10 June, with a high-profile marketing and publicity campaign. Alongside Vintage, Harvill Secker have also acquired UK & Commonwealth rights to Monique Roffey’s next novel, due to be published in 2023.

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020 and has risen to become one of the most lauded novels of the year. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Folio Prize and won both the Costa Novel Award and the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020. It has also been shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses and longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Translation rights have been sold in France, Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets under way and a film deal being concluded. W.F. Howes publish the audio edition and radio reading rights have also been sold.

Monique Roffey says: ‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is a lucky book and I am thrilled with this deal, which takes me from one dream team to another. I look forward to working with Alex Russell and the Harvill Secker and Vintage teams as my mermaid swims out into wider oceans, and with the new book.’

Alex Russell, Senior Editor at Vintage, says: ‘The Costa Prize judges celebrated THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH as “a classic in the making” and I couldn’t agree more. I escaped into Monique Roffey’s entrancing, unforgettable writing and was blown away by a story of love, jealousy and the search for freedom. Monique is a literary star and I cannot wait for readers to encounter the new novel too. It is thrilling to be joining her on a new adventure this summer and beyond at Vintage and Harvill Secker.’

Isobel Dixon, Head of Books at Blake Friedmann, says: ‘From the moment I read the manuscript I knew THE MERMAID OF BLACK was something extra special. She has swum through turbulent waters in this strange year, steered by the great team at Peepal Tree Press, and it has been an absolute joy to see the book and Monique receive such deserved acclaim. Here’s to an exciting new phase of the journey with Harvill Secker and Vintage as well.’

Jeremy Poynting at Peepal Tree Press says: ‘We will always be proud that we recognised immediately what a powerful novel THE MERMAID was and that we enjoyed with Monique Roffey its well-deserved success. For us, authors always come first, so we knew that it was in Monique’s interests that the rights to her novel should go to Vintage.’

Beth Coates, Publishing Director at Vintage, says: ‘We couldn’t be happier to have landed the wonder that is Monique Roffey and her MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, as well as a new novel. We’ve long admired Monique’s vivid and fearless work and we can’t wait to join her on the next part of her literary journey.’

Liz Foley, Publishing Director at Harvill Secker, says: ‘We are honoured to welcome a writer of such exhilarating originality and quality to Harvill Secker and are so excited to be working with Monique on her next novel.’

A vivid, moving story of love and trust, family and friendship in a Caribbean island community, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is a world brought to unforgettable life by a master storyteller. A fisherman sings to himself in his boat, but attracts an unexpected sea-dweller — Aycayia, a beautiful young woman cursed to live as a mermaid, swimming the ocean for centuries. Theirs becomes a calm, unspoken bond. But when she hears David’s engine again one day and follows the vessel, she finds herself in a fierce battle for her life. Caught by American sports fishermen, she is strung up on the dock as a trophy, but David rescues her, and gently wins her trust as she starts to transform, painfully, back into a woman. But jealous eyes are watching them…

Interwoven with David and Aycayia’s love story is that of Miss Arcadia Rain, a white landowner bringing up her deaf son on a dwindling estate. As her young son connects with fellow outsider Aycayia, an old lover of Arcadia’s returns to the island and she too begins to feel her way into love and trust again.

See more about THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH on the Penguin Random House site and read an interview with Monique Roffey here.

Praise for THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH

‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers.’ — Bernardine Evaristo

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH arrives bearing tragedy and beauty. Monique Roffey has created a new myth for an age of ruined oceans. She continues to be one of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ — A.L. Kennedy

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

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is wonderfully written, with both soul and intense drama – it glistens almost, like the mermaid! I love its all-round charisma and also its great compassion for both humanity and the natural world.’ — Diana Evans

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is like a lost myth, found, and made fresh again for our times.’ —  Tessa McWatt, author of Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

About Monique Roffey

Credit: Marcus Bastel

Monique Roffey is an award-winning novelist. In addition to the success of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, House of Ashes (Scribner UK) was shortlisted for the Costa and the BOCAS Prize. Archipelago, winner of the OCM BOCAS prize for Caribbean Literature, was published by Scribner in the UK, Viking in the US, and translated into 5 languages. Her second novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Encore Prize, among other accolades, and film/TV rights have been optioned.

Visit Monique’s website

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HONEY & SPICE by Bolu Babalola acquired by Headline in whirlwind pre-empt

We are thrilled that Headline have acquired Honey & Spice by rising star, Bolu Babalola, author of the Sunday Times bestselling Love in Colour, also a Waterstones Book of the Year. Katie Packer, Commissioning Editor at Headline, pre-empted the novel within a few hours of submission, and bought UK and Commonwealth and Translation rights for Honey & Spice and one more book from Juliet Pickering. US and Canadian rights in Honey & Spice were also pre-empted by William Morrow, in a significant six-figure deal.

Honey & Spice tells the story of the sharp-tongued (and secretly soft-hearted) Kiki Banjo, an expert in relationship-evasion, as well as the women who make up the Afro-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University, and their plights to avoid the mess of situationships, players and heartbreak. But when Kiki meets distressingly handsome and charming newcomer Malakai Korede — who she has publicly denounced as ‘The Wasteman of Whitewell’ — her defences are weakened.  A clash embroils them in a fake relationship to salvage both their reputations, and soon she finds herself in danger of falling for the very man she warned her girls about. Can Kiki look beyond her own presumptions and open herself up to something deeper, or is love out of her reach?  Full of romantic intrigue, the loveable characters that make up the Whitewell ACS and Bolu’s trademark humour, this book is the romantic comedy you cannot miss. Headline Review will publish as a super lead hardback in summer 2022.

Katie Packer says: ‘Working with Bolu on her Sunday Times bestseller Love in Colour has been one of the highlights of my career so far, and so, it was only right we continue this journey with two incredible new novels. I was hooked on Honey & Spice from the first chapter; so full of Bolu’s warmth, humour and love of love. The book struck a chord with the whole Headline Review team, as I know it will for masses of enthusiastic readers and I can’t wait for the world to meet Kiki in 2022.’

Bolu Babalola says: ‘I am elated for the world to finally meet Kiki and Malakai! This story was years in the making and so much love was poured into it. The universe of Honey & Spice is so special to me; it’s one of friendship and inner growth, romance and the strength in allowing yourself to open yourself up to love and community;  to be truly understood and to be seen. It is my hope that many feel understood and seen by it.’ 

Elle Keck at William Morrow says, ‘LOVE IN COLOR is one of the most anticipated US publications of 2021, garnering excitement and enthusiasm from every quarter. We are thrilled to continue our publishing journey with Bolu Babalola. HONEY & SPICE is emotionally vibrant and wonderfully fresh, and we believe readers will fall in love with this story as much as our team has.’

Juliet Pickering says: ‘Honey & Spice is fresh, spicy, witty and joyful, and will be read in one gulp! There are so many moments of recognition in love and friendship here, and it made me cry as well as laugh out loud. It’s utterly Bolu and utterly brilliant.’

Praise for LOVE IN COLOUR

‘Inventive, intimate, witty and wise, Babalola's irresistible explorations uplift you from the start. Here is love as freedom, love as deep joy. Romance will never be dead, as long as she's writing it.’ — Jessie Burton

'Perfection in short story form, I am in love with every single word Bolu Babalola has written. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully.’ — Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie

‘Beautifully written and full of joy. Bolu Babalola is a star.’ — Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Little Bridge Island series

About Bolu Babalola

Bolu Babalola is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Love in Colour, cultural commentator and lover of love. In 2016, she was shortlisted in 4th Estate’s B4ME competition for her short story ‘Netflix & Chill’, a hilarious tale of teen romance. Since then, she has been writing scripts for TV and film as well as articles for The Guardian, VICE, Cosmopolitan and GQ.

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Debut novel INTERVIEWS WITH AN APE by Felice Fallon to Selina Walker of Cornerstone

Photo: Richard Loncraine

Selina Walker of Cornerstone has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in a remarkable debut novel, Interviews with an Ape by Felice Fallon, about a gorilla called Einstein who comes to us with an extraordinary secret: he can communicate with humans through sign language. Rights were acquired from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann.

Walker describes Interviews with an Ape as a ‘truly original novel, a series of interlinked stories told by a group of animals and the people who care for or exploit them. It’s a story about all of us – animals and humans – a tale of triumph and defeat, of hope over despair, and our infinite capacities to endure, to love, and to survive through the stories we tell. A work of imaginative daring, it’s written with a direct simplicity as well as a deep insight into the animal kingdom and the natural world around us.’

Felice Fallon says: ‘My primary objective is to tell a good story, and one that will lend a new perspective about the world around us. I hope the characters, both animal and human, succeed in doing this by relating to the reader in their own words and voices their unique stories.’

Isobel Dixon says: ‘Felice Fallon writes with such empathy, humour and love – her absorbing debut, Interviews with an Ape, is a transformative reading experience and I’m so thrilled that through Selina Walker’s publishing vision it will be shared with a wide audience.’

Interviews with an Ape will be published in hardback by Century in July 2021, and comes with an advance quote from Michael Palin who calls it ‘an unusually powerful novel, and a timely one too.’

About Felice Fallon

Felice Fallon was born in Los Angeles, California and worked in advertising in New York before moving to London to marry and raise a family. In her mid-fifties she read history, politics and philosophy at Birkbeck. She has written screenplays, but Interviews with an Ape is her first novel.