ITV DRAMA GRACE GARNERS ENTHUSIASTIC REVIEWS, TO BE STREAMED ON BRITBOX NORTH AMERICA

Brand new ITV crime drama, GRACE, based on Peter James’s Roy Grace series, was launched in the prime-time Sunday slot in March, to widespread praise from the critics and 7.3 million-strong viewing figures.

The stellar first outing for GRACE, starring acclaimed actor John Simm as tenacious detective Roy Grace, Richie Campbell as Glenn Branson and Rakie Ayola as Alison Vosper, is adapted from DEAD SIMPLE – the nail-biting million-selling first novel in the series which has delivered 17 consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones for Peter James and his publisher Pan Macmillan.

The show is now set to cross the Atlantic, with joint ITV and BBC Studios streaming service Britbox adding GRACE to its slate of originals in North America. The series will land on the service in the US and Canada on 27 April.

Before its transmission, GRACE was featured in many ‘2021 One to Watch’ lists, including The Mirror, The Telegraph, The Sunday Express, Radio Times, BBC and The Sunday Times. GRACE was also Pick of the Day in the Observer, Guardian Guide, Daily Star on Sunday, Daily Mail Weekend and Daily Star Hot TV, as well as a TV Must in Woman’s Own.

The series is written by much-in-demand screenwriter and ENDEAVOUR creator, Russell Lewis, and co-produced by Second Act Productions, Tall Story Pictures and Vaudeville Productions.

You can catch up on the episode on the ITV Hub here.

In the first thrilling episode based on Peter James’s first Roy Grace bestseller DEAD SIMPLE, Detective Superintendent Grace is walking a career tightrope and risks being moved from the job he loves most. With so much at stake, his colleague Detective Sergeant Glenn Branson knows he has more to give and asks him for help with a case; a stag night prank appears to go wrong and the groom is missing…  But is this a case of stag night shenanigans gone badly awry? Or is this something more sinister? With nothing but instinct, a lingering suspicion and his obsessive nature, Grace doggedly pursues the groom’s disappearance and becomes uneasily close to the bride to be…

The second title LOOKING GOOD DEAD is already filmed and broadcast dates will be announced in due course. TV tie-in editions of both DEAD SIMPLE and LOOKING GOOD DEAD are available.

Praise for GRACE

‘A twisty race against time… John Simm is one of those actors who makes you think: what must that be like? What must it be like to be so good at the thing you do that, when you come along, everyone just relaxes? To be so good that everyone knows they are in safe hands, knows they are going to be shown something great, knows they won’t have to mess about trying to make a little look like a lot. For viewers, he turns up and you just … believe him… And here he is again, doing his quiet, unfunky, wholly credible thing, in GRACE (ITV)... The plot becomes rapidly and pleasingly complicated without losing any sense of narrative... An adaptation of the second book in the series, LOOKING GOOD DEAD, is due later in the year. I have looked into my crystal ball, consulted with the spirits and say we should all look forward to the day.'  – Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

‘A very effective appetite-whetter… The unpretentious storytelling makes this an easy watch, helmed by the always watchable Simm.’ – The Mail on Sunday, Pick of the Day

‘It’s a good’un... John Simm was pleasingly understated as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and the adaptation was well done by Russell Lewis, creator of ENDEAVOUR. Richie Campbell was great as Roy’s colleague, DS Branson, bringing just the right amount of energy to proceedings... If ITV can find room in the schedules, another Grace instalment would go down nicely.’ – Anita Singh, The Telegraph

‘Roy Grace doesn’t have any obvious gimmick to mark him out, but he swiftly establishes himself as a solid addition to the Sunday-night pack… Chilling.’ – James Jackson, The Times, Critic’s Choice

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

‘It’s so, so good. I nearly missed my train stop!... This is something else I really love about these books, that they’re all set in and around Brighton and Sussex. And I have to say the team have made it look absolutely beautiful – it looks amazing … and they’re such great stories, brilliant whodunnits… I was hooked!’ – Zoe Ball, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 2, interviewing John Simm who plays Roy Grace in GRACE on ITV

‘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

‘Few people do moody, angst-ridden men better than John Simm, who takes on the role of Grace. With so many books in hand, this series could run and run.’ — The best television shows in the UK this April, Prospect Magazine

GRACE was filmed on location in Brighton in 2020 with executive producers Andrew O’Connor and Paul Sandler for Second Act Productions, Patrick Schweitzer for Tall Story Pictures, Michael Vine for Vaudeville Productions, and Russell Lewis and Peter James. The first film, DEAD SIMPLE, is directed by John Alexander with the second film, LOOKING GOOD DEAD  (based on the second book in the series of the same name), directed by Julia Ford.

The seventeenth instalment in the Roy Grace book series, LEFT YOU DEAD, is published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 13 May 2021. Peter James has also written a Roy Grace novella, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, for The Reading Agency’s QuickReads scheme, to be published on 27 May 2021. The paperback of the standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU will be out on 24 June 2021.

A bumper year for Peter James fans!

About Peter James

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over twenty million copies. His Brighton-set Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series has given him seventeen 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.

In addition to his career as a novelist, he has produced several films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. He also co-created the hit Channel 4 series Bedsitcom, which was nominated for a Rose d'Or.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014) and DEAD SIMPLE (2015) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews and NOT DEAD ENOUGH opened to full houses and acclaim in 2017. January 2019 saw the opening of the stage tour of THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL, with the sequel THE SECRET OF COLD HILL published in October 2019. The stage play of LOOKING GOOD DEAD will tour the UK later in 2021, starring award-winning actor and EastEnders icon, Adam Woodyatt.

Praise for Peter James

‘Superior plotting and edge-of-the-seat suspense.’ – The Guardian

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

‘A master plotter who cunningly tunes into contemporary concerns. Peter James cannot fail to thrill.’ ­– Daily Mail

‘Peter James creates a world we can smell, touch and feel for his Brighton detective Inspector Roy Grace.’ – The Times

‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

‘With echoes of Thomas Harris, the closer analogue is to Jeffrey Deaver’s clock-racing thrillers. … James delivers the goods.’ — Kirkus Reviews

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ — Independent on Sunday

BIG FAT NEGATIVE SNAPPED UP BY PIATKUS BOOKS

We’re delighted to announce that Piatkus Books have acquired BIG FAT NEGATIVE: The Essential Guide to Infertility, IVF and the Trials of Trying for a Baby, by Emma Haslett and Gabriella Griffith. UK and Commonwealth rights were bought by Non-Fiction Publisher Zoe Bohm from Juliet Pickering on behalf of Maria Whelan at Inkwell Management, for publication in trade paperback, ebook and audio in January 2022. 

When friends Gabby and Emma started trying to get pregnant, and realised it wasn't going to be straightforward, they turned to books for help and advice. While there were some good, useful publications out there, the books they found were either personal memoir or practical guides, and nowhere was there a book that discussed how going through IVF can impact personal relationships, friendships, and the rest of your life.

They decided to start a podcast in the form of an informal, witty and accessible conversation about all the issues around infertility, featuring experts to debunk common myths and offer advice. Their podcast has now been downloaded over a million times, and inspired this book which will be a go-to resource for women and couples struggling to conceive delivered with the same warmth, honesty and humour.

Zoe Bohm said: ‘I’m thrilled to be publishing Emma and Gabby on the Piatkus list. The Big Fat Negative podcast has already achieved so much in terms of opening out the conversation around infertility and IVF and I know this book has the potential do even more. Big Fat Negative will be a really comprehensive guide offering both practical advice, friendly reassurance and a really holistic view of the process – I’m confident it will fast become the ultimate resource for anyone struggling with infertility.’ 

Emma and Gabby said: ‘Infertility can be a lonely place. Talking about our experiences on the podcast was a lifeline for us while we were going through it, and, as it turned out, for others all over the world. We're over the moon that Piatkus is enabling us to share our 'journey', and all the geeky stuff we have learned along the way, with an even wider audience. We hope this book can act as both an expert handbook and an understanding best friend to those going through infertility.’

Juliet Pickering added: ‘Emma and Gabby tackle the emotional and unpredictable process of IVF and infertility with warmth, humour and openness. Their voices are so needed on this topic, and their book is packed with essential and inclusive advice meaning women at all stages of the process will feel seen, heard and understood.’ 


About the book:

Infertility can be a lonely journey. One in every six couples will struggle to conceive but, despite this, many don’t feel comfortable talking openly about their experiences and sharing what they are going through. As a result, they feel isolated and alone.

It doesn’t have to be this way. By talking, laughing and shouting about our experiences we can start to lift the cloak of shame that so often engulfs those going through it. Big Fat Negative does just that. This no-nonsense, honest guide to infertility from the hosts of the Big Fat Negative podcast smashes the taboo around this isolating and heartbreaking illness, offering first-hand experience, an understanding voice when friends don’t get it, expert advice, reassurance for when you feel alone and, most importantly, humour when it you need it the most. Using first-hand accounts of the various hurdles of infertility, from work to diagnoses and IVF, coupled with advice from leading experts, Big Fat Negative will hold your hand on the no-so simple journey to motherhood – helping you to face and defeat the trials of trying for a baby.

About the authors:

Emma Haslett and Gabriella Griffith met while working as business journalists, where they bonded over their fondness for bright lipstick and their loathing for confusing corporate doublespeak. They launched their podcast, Big Fat Negative, in August 2018, in an effort to wrangle the equally confusing doublespeak surrounding infertility and IVF, and debunk some myths while they were at it. The podcast, which mixes a humorous take on infertility with expert interviews, has received wide acclaim, with mentions on BBC Woman's Hour, the Telegraph, The Metro, and Refinery 29. 

Pre-order the book here

Listen to BIG FAT NEGATIVE here

Kingmaker Winter Pilgrims Audio Drama by Greg Evans launches Today

Greg Evans’ KINGMAKER: WINTER PILGRIMS is now available on Towton Audio.

Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims follows the epic tale of two heroic young people who unwittingly hold the key to the throne and must survive against incredible odds in the savage world of 1460’s England. With a deadly enemy closing in and a mysterious ledger in their hands, wherever they flee they are drawn into the calamitous events of the time, culminating in the terrible slaughter at Towton field on Palm Sunday 1461.

This epic tale of survival, courage and love amidst the carnage of the times will be released on the 560th anniversary of the Battle of Towton on 29th March 2021.

Spread over 5 x 1 hour episodes, Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims is set during what became known as the Wars of the Roses. Recorded in the sumer of 2020 this epic historic audio drama involved 27 actors and 11 crew, and will be released by Towton Audio on 29th March 2021 to coincide with the 560th anniversary of the battle of Towton.

This adaptation is the first of many releases from Towton Audio who are launching a new and unique listening platform to showcase Kingmaker as its premiere title.

The original Kingmaker book series was incredibly well received, with Hilary Mantel describing it as: “An enthralling adventure story, honest and powerful. The Wars of the Roses are imagined here with energy, with ferocity, with hunger to engage thereader.”

Read more about the project here or listen to KINGMAKER: WINTER PILGRIMS here!

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021

We are thrilled that Monique Roffey’s THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, published by Leeds-based independent publisher Peepal Tree Press, has been shortlisted for The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021. The shortlist of five books was chosen by judges Guy Gunaratne, John Mitchinson and Eley Williams, and was announced in partnership with Bookshop.org, a new website selling books from independent booksellers. Also shortlisted are A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press), Lote by Shola von Reinhold (Jacaranda Books), Men and Apparitions by Lynne Tillman (Peninsula Press) and A Musical Offering by Luis Sagasti, translated by Fionn Petch (Charco Press).

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020. 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 longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets under way and a film deal being concluded.

Peepal Tree aims to bring readers the very best of international writing from the Caribbean, its diasporas and the UK, with the goal of always publishing books that make a difference. Jeremy Poynting founded Peepal Tree Press more than 30 years ago and he and Hannah Bannister run it from their offices in Leeds, Yorkshire. You can read more about Peepal Tree Press here.

The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses rewards fiction published by publishers with fewer than five full-time employees. Each publisher on the longlist receives £1,000, and a further £10,000 is split between the shortlisted books. The winner will be announced mid-May.

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 Peepal Tree Press 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

ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES by Dima Alzayat shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize

We are thrilled that Dima Alzayat’s collection of stories, ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES, has been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2021. The shortlist is dominated by novels this year, with ALLIGATOR being the only exception, and four out of the six books, including ALLIGATOR, are from debut writers. The other books on the shortlist are Kingdomtide by Rye Curtis, The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, Pew by Catherine Lacey, Luster by Raven Leilani and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.

Namita Gokhale, Chair of Judges, said: ‘We are thrilled to present this year’s extraordinary shortlist – it is truly a world-class writing showcase of the highest order from six exceptional young writers. I want to press each and every one of these bold, inventive and distinctive books into the hands of readers, and celebrate how they challenge preconceptions, ask new questions about how we define identity and our relationships, and how we live together in this world. Congratulations to these tremendously talented writers – they are master storytellers in every sense of the word.’

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize was launched in 2006, to encourage raw creative talent worldwide and celebrate and nurture international literary excellence. One of the most prestigious awards for young writers, the £20,000 prize awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. Past winners include Bryan Washington, Guy Gunaratne, Kayo Chingonyi, Fiona McFarlane and Max Porter.

The winner will be revealed on 13th May, the eve of International Dylan Thomas Day.

ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES was published in 2020 by Picador in the UK and by Two Dollar Radio in the US. It was also chosen as a finalist for the PEN America Robert W Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection.

Dima Alzayat’s first book, ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES is an intricate, thoughtful exploration of what it is to be ‘other’: as a Syrian, as an Arab, as an immigrant, as a woman. Each story of the stories is a snapshot of those moments when unusual circumstances suddenly distinguish us from our neighbours, when our difference is thrown into relief.

Here are ‘dangerous’ women transgressing, missing children in 1970s New York, a family who were once Syrian but have now lost their name, and a young woman about to discover the hollowness of the American dream. At its centre lies ‘Alligator’: a remarkable compilation of real and invented sources, which rescues from history the story of a Syrian American couple who were murdered at the hands of the state.

‘These charged, visceral stories get under the skin and stay there. This collection heralds the arrival of an electrifying new voice.’ – Irenosen Okojie

‘How does it feel to be an alien at home? . . . Sardonic, monstrous, tender, these well-crafted tales show us circumstances that might be our own, and let us see them through the eyes of others.’ ― Sunday Times

Dima Alzayat was born in Damascus, Syria, grew up in San Jose, California, and now lives in Manchester. She was the winner of the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2019, a 2018 Northern Writers’ Award, the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize, the 2015 Bernice Slote Award, runner-up in the 2018 Deborah Rogers Award and the 2018 Zoetrope: All-Story Competition, and was Highly Commended in the 2013 Bridport Prize. She is a PhD student and associate lecturer at Lancaster University.

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