ROY GRACE IS BACK: DEAD IF YOU DON’T BY PETER JAMES OUT TOMORROW!

Roy Grace is about to be tested as he faces his most complex case yet in DEAD IF YOU DON’T, the fourteenth novel in the gripping series by CWA Diamond Dagger award-winning author Peter James, published tomorrow in hardback and ebook with Pan Macmillan. Tonight the launch of the much-anticipated new Roy Grace novel will be celebrated at the Amex Brighton and Hove Football stadium, a venue particularly relevant to the novel…

When the son of a high profile businessman is kidnapped at a football stadium, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is pulled into the city’s dark dealings as he searches for the culprit.

Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose, big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins.

Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye off Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy disappears. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.

Defying instruction not to contact the police, Kipp reluctantly does just that, and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought in to investigate. At first it seems a straightforward case of kidnap. But rapidly Grace finds himself entering a dark, criminal underbelly of the city, where the rules are different and nothing is what it seems . . .

In the run up to the release of DEAD IF YOU DON’T Peter has been a guest on various radio shows including BBC Radio Northampton, BBC Radio Jersey and BBC Radio Devon, and yesterday appeared on London Live TV’s arts news programme to discuss his latest novel and his experiences out with the Met. He will be attending signings at various stores in England on May 17 and 18 to celebrate the publication of DEAD IF YOU DON’T.

DEAD IF YOU DON’T has already been snapped up in Russia by Eksmo and Minerva in Finland. Rights to Peter’s riveting thriller ABSOLUTE PROOF, in which a mysterious phone call pulls an investigative journalist into the search to find proof of God’s existence, have also been bought by international publishers. ABSOLUTE PROOF is set to be published by Macmillan in October, with a major campaign. Fans of Peter James can look forward to more compelling Roy Grace cases as Pan Macmillan have also acquired rights for three further titles.

Peter James is one of the UK’s most treasured crime and thriller novelists. He has won numerous awards for his gripping crime novels, including the coveted 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence, and an Honorary Platinum Award at the Specsavers Bestseller Awards, powered by Nielsen Book.  He was publicly voted by WH Smith – Britain's biggest book selling chain – The Best Crime Author of All Time. The Roy Grace detective novels have sold over 19 million copies worldwide and are now published in 37 territories. The best-selling detective series has dominated the charts, with 12 consecutive Sunday Times No.1s.  His last Roy Grace NEED YOU DEAD went straight in at No. 1 in the paperback bestseller charts in October 2017 and stayed in the top 10 for nine weeks.

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Praise for Peter James:

‘As with all Peter James novels, it is not just an individual cop or storyline that impresses but the excellence of the ensemble’ — The Times

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ — Lee Child

‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters.’ — The Daily Mail

‘Fast-paced and gripping...’ — Jessica Hamzelou, New Scientist

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ — Karin Slaughter

ORDINARY PEOPLE FACE EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES: MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS OUT THIS THURSDAY

MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS by Manu Joseph is out on May 17 with Myriad in paperback and ebook as their lead novel for 2018. As Zoë Heller has said: ‘Manu Joseph's new novel is a daring, page-turning thriller, filled with anger and wit and some of the loveliest sentences you will read this year.’ For a tantalising taster, you can hear Manu read from the novel and talk about it (from Bangalore) with Mariella Frostrup on BBC Open Book here.

Myriad won a closely-fought auction for Manu’s insightful and provocative new novel, buying UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding India and Canada, from Isobel Dixon and fast-tracking its publication to May. Publishing Director Candida Lacey said, ‘MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS is a cracking novel. It is a joy to read, and every bit as beguiling and surprising as its title. Cunning, sympathetic and fiercely original, it is a perfect fit for the ambitious and diverse list of literary fiction we’re developing with our partners at New Internationalist. We’re thrilled and very proud to be publishing such a magnificent and deservedly lauded novelist.’ 

Manu said: ‘Fiction cannot compete with real India. But an Indian novelist tries to make an honourable match of it. In the reactions of Candida Lacey and Myriad, I feel I may have come close. I feel blessed to find a British publisher who is able to see both the Indianness of the novel and the universality of its themes.’

Isobel said: ‘I was thrilled to hear about Myriad's collaboration with New Internationalist, as I've long admired Candida Lacey's publishing and think this is a perfect partnership – and now Manu Joseph's profound, wry and fierce novel has found a perfect UK home.’

On the day that Hindu nationalists and their controversial leader have won a spectacular election victory, a large apartment building collapses in Mumbai. The rescue operation finds a single survivor trapped under a beam. The only person able to reach him is Akhila Iyer, a medical student who is also a notorious social media prankster. Small enough to crawl along to administer medicine as rescuers try to dig him out, she finds him mumbling in delirium that two people are on their way to carry out a terror attack. Elsewhere, a young intelligence agent, Mukundan, is assigned to shadow the two terror suspects, one of whom is the teenage Laila, the sweetheart of her street. Time is running out.

MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS is a gripping chase novel that poses searching questions about the workings of power and its effects on the ordinary people — the watchers and the followers, and those who are trapped when buildings fall. Mariella Frostrup speaks of the novel’s ‘searing prose’ and Ben East in the Observer called it ‘caustic, comic and determinedly controversial’, talking of ‘the thriller lurking beneath it’. HarperCollins India published in India in 2017 and Podium publish the Dutch edition. Manu Joseph will be in the UK for publicity later this year, and will also take up a writer’s residency in Amsterdam.

Manu Joseph lives in Delhi and is a columnist for The Mint Lounge. He used to write the ‘Letter from India’ column for The International New York Times. His debut novel SERIOUS MEN (2010) won The Hindu Literary Prize and the PEN/Open Book Award, and was shortlisted for The Man Asian Literary Prize, the regional Commonwealth Prize and the PG Wodehouse Prize for the Best Comic Novel. His second novel THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE (2012) was shortlisted for the Hindu Prize and longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and IMPAC Dublin Prize for Literature. Both the novels have been translated into several languages.

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Praise for MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS:

‘Manu Joseph's new novel is a daring, page-turning thriller, filled with anger and wit and some of the loveliest sentences you will read this year’— Zoë Heller

‘Stylish and deceptively witty… one of most engaging and insightful interpreters of our times… a page-turning thriller that poses searching questions about the workings of power and its effects on the ordinary people.’ — Deirdre Falvey, The Irish Times

‘The latest satirical novel from Manu Joseph, an Indian journalist, is an unflinching portrait of his country... MISS LAILA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS sits comfortably on the bestseller shelves of bookshops across the country.’ — The Economist

‘Manu Joseph’s thrilling third novel casts a keen eye on not just law enforcement officials and politicians in flared shorts, but also investigative journalists, environmental activists and the good folks.’ — Mint

‘Manu lampoons the entire system- not just politicians, the bureaucracy, law enforcement officials and lackeys, but investigative journalists, social activists, and indeed the common man.’ — The Hans India

A TASTE OF THE CAPITAL: MADE IN LONDON BY LEAH HYSLOP OUT THIS WEEK

Discover a new side to London in Leah Hyslop’s delectable new cookbook MADE IN LONDON, published on 17th May from Absolute Press. Filled with interesting histories, tasty recipes and guides to London’s vibrant food scene, MADE IN LONDON is the perfect gift for foodies and city-lovers alike.

From Tudor oyster pedlars and Victorian pie and mash shops, to the supper clubs and street food scene flourishing today, Britain's capital has always been a tantalising draw for those who live to eat.

In MADE IN LONDON, Londoner Leah Hyslop offers a joyful celebration of the city and its food, past and present. The book features recipes invented in the city; such as the 18th century treat Chelsea buns (a favourite of King George II) and Omelette Arnold Bennett, created for the famous writer while staying at the Savoy Hotel. Alongside these are new, exciting dishes, inspired by Leah's eating adventures around the capital: such as a mouthwatering Pimm's and lemon curd trifle, an unusual goat's cheese and cherry tart, and an easy twist on Indian restaurant Dishoom's iconic bacon naan, one of the best brunches in London. 

Interspersed with the recipes are short, entertaining histories and profiles about London's food scene, including the tale of the 18th century 'gin craze'; a profile of the East End's most beloved greasy spoon; and why Scotch eggs might have actually been invented in a London department store! Short shopping guides, lifting the lid on such pressing gastronomic questions as where to buy cheese, the city's most delicious chocolate shops, or the best cocktail bars for a nightcap (or two) are also featured. 

Beautifully illustrated with contemporary photographs of London, alongside vintage images sourced from historic archives, this is a book for anyone who has ever lived in, visited or simply dreamt of sipping a cocktail while watching red buses trundle by in the world's greatest city.

Leah Hyslop is a lifestyle writer and editor, specialising in food and drink. She spent seven years working at The Telegraph, where she looked after the newspaper's food and drink content and wrote a weekly column, Reader Recipes.

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Praise for MADE IN LONDON:

‘A passionate love letter to London and how it's become the most diverse, delicious and interesting city in the world.’ — Gizzi Erskine

‘This is just the book for London lovers from all over the world.’ — Melissa Hemsley

‘This book and its recipes are a true celebration of all the diversity and culture that make London the beautiful and vibrant city that it is.’ — Sabrina Ghayour

‘Food writer Leah Hyslop explores London's dynamic food scene in this beautifully designed book.’ — Great British Food Magazine

AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS BY CHRISTOPHER NICHOLSON OUT IN PAPERBACK

Christopher Nicholson’s contemplative AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS is out in paperback from September Publishing. His journey to discover the last snows to survive the summer in the Scottish Highlands was first published in hardback in 2017 and was longlisted for the 2017 Highland Book Prize. AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS was also one of six books shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature last year. The judging panel described the book as ‘lyrical and elegiac’.

As the summer draws to a close, a few snowbeds – some as big as icebergs – survive in the Scottish Highlands. Christopher’s AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS is both a celebration of these great, icy relics and an intensely personal meditation on their significance. A book to delight all those interested in mountains and snow, full of vivid descriptions and anecdotes, it explores the meanings of nature, beauty and mortality in the twenty-first century.

Christopher Nicholson is the author of three novels, including THE ELEPHANT KEEPER (Fourth Estate, 2009), shortlisted for the Costa Prize in 2009. In 2011 the novel was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and shortlisted for the Encore Award. His novel WINTER, about Thomas Hardy’s later life and the young actress who became his last muse, was published in 2014 by Fourth Estate and dramatized for BBC Radio as TESS IN WINTER. The stage adaptation of the novel, titled A PURE WOMAN, will premiere in September 2018 and will tour in Dorchester, Poole, Bristol, Chipping Norton, Malvern, Torrington and further afield.

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Praise for AMONG THE SUMMER SNOWS:

‘Lyrical and elegiac, this debut is a tender account of an unusual fascination with the remaining snows of the Scottish Highlands. Nicholson offers us a wry, self-aware take on the relationship between humans and the changed (and changing) natural world.’ – Boardman Tasker

‘Destined to become a classic of mountain literature. Superb.’ – Chris Townsend, Outdoors

‘Strange, beautiful, eerie and unique, this is the best mountain book I've read in years.... it deserves all the praise likely to avalanche upon it.’ – Simon Ingram, Trail magazine

‘It’s a long while since I read a book that made me laugh and cry within just a few pages … A wrong-footing marvel of a book … touching both death’s void, and love, and the beauty of the natural world at one and the same time and in a way that is all the more powerful for its restraint.’ – Books from Scotland

‘A beautiful book about love and loss, fragility and chance, the wide world and the near world . . . full of intense light and colour, extraordinary glimpses, moving insights and subtle humour.' – Richard Kerridge, author of Cold Blood