Will Dean’s THE LAST THING TO BURN shortlisted for Thriller Book of the Year at the Fingerprint Awards

THE LAST THING TO BURN by Will Dean has been shortlisted for Thriller Book of the Year at the inaugural Fingerprint Awards.  The awards will be announced as part of the Capital Crime Festival in Battersea Park (29th September – 1st October 2022), recognising the best in crime and thriller writing over the past year. Nominated in the Thriller category alongside Will are A SLOW FIRE BURNING by Paula Hawkins, DEAD GROUND by M W Craven, THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED by Lisa Jewell and KNIFE EDGE by Simon Mayo. Public voting for the awards is now open.

In THE LAST THING TO BURN, ‘Jane’ lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows how she got to the UK: no one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen. Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn't like what he sees, she is punished. For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting...

THE LAST THING TO BURN was published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK in 2021, and by Emily Bestler Books in the USA and Canada, with separate deals also agreed for France, Turkey and Croatia. THE LAST THING TO BURN was also shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, and longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Award 2022.

Will’s most recent standalone, FIRST BORN, was published by Hodder in April 2022. He is also the author of the Tuva Moodyson Mysteries, a crime series set in Sweden and published by Oneworld. The fifth instalment of the series, WOLF PACK, will be published in Autumn 2022.

Praise for THE LAST THING TO BURN

‘This is a brilliant, chilling depiction of life on the very edges of society. I read it in one sitting, and lived every second of the book with the characters. Compelling, horrifying and gripping, and written with such empathy and control, it's probably the best thing I will read this year’ — Jane Casey

‘MISERY meets ROOM ... a triumph’ — Marian Keyes

‘Ratchets up the tension to the point where I had to check my pulse’ — Liz Nugent

‘Brilliantly written... Terrifying’ — Ruth Ware

‘Outstanding. The best thriller in years’ — Martina Cole

‘THE LAST THING TO BURN is one of the best thrillers I have read in years: I consumed it in great gulps, desperate to find out how Thanh Dao’s story played out, and then read it again, more slowly, savouring her courage and her unvanquished sense of self, despite everything.’ — Alison Flood, Observer

Credit: Rosalind Hobley

About Will Dean

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.

Follow Will on Twitter and Instagram, and visit his YouTube channel.

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.

Follow Graeme on Twitter

Allie Reynolds' debut novel SHIVER shortlisted for 2022 Davitt Awards

We are delighted that SHIVER by Allie Reynolds has been shortlisted for the 2022 Davitt Awards ‘Best Debut Crime’ category.

The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. They were established in 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of the association, and were designed to bring some ‘much needed recognition’ to Australian women crime writers.

The other shortlisted titles for the ‘Best Debut Crime’ category are: BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME by Jacqueline Bublitz, SHADOW OVER EDMUND STREET by Suzanne Frankham, LARRIMAH: A MISSING MAN, AN EYELESS CROC AND AN OUTBACK TOWN OF ELEVEN PEOPLE WHO MOSTLY HATE EACH OTHER by Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson, THE WATERHOLE by Lily Malone, UNSHELTERED by Clare Moleta, THE FAMILY DOCTOR by Debra Oswald, THE SECOND SON by Loraine Peck, CRIME WRITER by Dime Sheppard, HOUSE OF HOLLOW by Krystal Sutherland, and THE SILENT LISTENER by Lyn Yeowart.

Judges’ coordinator, Dr Philomena Horsley, said: ‘The quality of the prose and the diversity of the themes and scenes of the crime are on an upwards spiral. The six judges have especially been blown away by the standard of the debut books. The authors demonstrate an impressive expertise in their craft. The calibre of the shortlist reflects the leap taken by crime writing generally in Australia.’

When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can't seem to let go.

The five friends haven't seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.

In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

SHIVER was first published in the UK in 2021 by Headline Books and has so far been translated into twenty-two languages and is currently being adapted for television Allie’s second novel, THE BAY (published as THE SWELL in the United States), was published in June earlier this year, and has already been highly commended by readers and reviewers alike.

The winners of the Davitt Awards will be announced at a gala dinner on 27 August 2022 at South Melbourne’s Rising Sun Hotel.

About Allie Reynolds

Allie Reynolds was once a professional freestyle snowboarder in the UK top ten. She spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. In 2003, she swapped her snowboard for a surfboard and moved to the Gold Coast where she taught English as a foreign language for fifteen years.

Allie’s short fiction has been published in women's magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa.

Follow Allie on Twitter and Instagram, and visit Allie’s website.

Praise for SHIVER by Allie Reynolds

‘SHIVER is a tour-de-force, a truly gripping chiller of a thriller, genuinely impossible to put down and a sensational debut.’ – Peter James

‘A white-knuckle-ride through a dangerous world full of deadly ambition.’ – Erin Kelly

‘If Agatha Christie went snowboarding... A deliciously dark locked room mystery about competitive snowboarders who find themselves stranded at the top of a snowy mountain. Throw in a dead woman, shameful secrets, years of resentment and someone out for revenge and you have an exciting, twisty page-turner that keeps you guessing all the way to the end.’ – C.L. Taylor

Canelo acquires historical fiction debut from Sunday Times bestseller Paul Finch

Credit: Eleanor Finch

Canelo will publish three historical fiction titles from Sunday Times bestselling author Paul Finch, writing as P.W. Finch. Commissioning Editor Craig Lye acquired World English Language rights from Kate Burke at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency in a three-book deal.

The novels will be published as a standalone and a duology. The standalone, provisionally titled WOLFHEAD, is set in Northumbria in 1066. When seventeen-year-old Cerdic’s father and brother fall in battle against the invading Earl Tostig and his Viking ally, Harald Hardraada, he briefly becomes Earl of Ripon before the town is seized by the raiders. On the run and fearing for his life, Cerdic must fight to reclaim his birthright.

The duology is set at the end of the 12th century, and follows the adventures of Thurstan Wildblood, a knight who journeys back to England from the Third Crusade, transporting a precious relic at the behest of Richard the Lionheart, and desperately hoping to redeem his soul in the process.

Craig Lye says: ‘I was absolutely delighted to hear that Paul was looking to write historical fiction alongside his superb thrillers. I devoured WOLFHEAD on submission; its pacing is relentless, and Paul’s characterisation and lightly worn historical knowledge are brilliant.’

Paul Finch says: ‘What can I say … I’ve always loved the Middle Ages, especially as a setting for full-on action/adventure fiction. I’m an avid reader of historical action novels, and have been dying to get in there as a writer, to spin some yarns of my own. Canelo have now made that possible.’

Kate Burke says: ‘I'm delighted to have this deal in place with Craig and the Canelo team. This second strand of Paul's publishing is a really exciting one and I'm looking forward to publication next year!’

WOLFHEAD will be published in April 2023 in mass-market paperback and ebook, with the duology to follow in 2024.

About Paul Finch

Paul Finch is an ex-cop and journalist turned author. He is the author of the bestselling Mark Heckenburg and Lucy Clayburn crime series (published by Avon/HarperCollins) as well as standalone thrillers ONE EYE OPEN and NEVER SEEN AGAIN (Orion). Paul lives in Lancashire with his wife and business partner, Cathy.

Praise for Paul Finch

‘Exceptional crime writing. Paul Finch continues to raise the bar.’ – M.W. Craven

‘Edge-of-the-seat reading…Heck is formidable – a British Alex Cross.’ – The Sun

‘Wonderfully dark and peppered with grim humour. Finch is a born storyteller and writes with the authentic voice of the ex-copper he is.’ – Peter James

‘Big star…part edge-of-the-seat, part hide-behind-the-sofa! An excellent series.’ – The Bookseller

Visit Paul's blog. 

Follow Paul on Twitter

Headline to publish two more novels from bestselling author Sheila O’Flanagan

Credit: Bill Waters

Headline Publishing Group will publish two more novels from multi-million-copy-selling author Sheila O’Flanagan. Executive Publisher Marion Donaldson acquired World English Language rights in THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE and one untitled novel from Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.

Sheila O’ Flanagan is the author of an extraordinary 30 bestselling books - all published by Hachette/Headline - most recently the No. 1 Irish Times bestseller WHAT EDEN DID NEXT and the Sunday Times bestseller THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL. Headline has sold nearly 9 million Sheila O’ Flanagan books, and Sheila’s work is available in over 20 languages. She is published in the US by Hachette’s Mobius division.

THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, slated for publication in April 2023, is Sheila’s first historical novel. Inspired by the true story of Sheila’s grandmother, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE is set in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence, in the years following the First World War. It is a dramatic, powerful and authentic novel about love, rebellion and families torn apart by war, with the young, working-class Winifred at its heart. The second title in the new contract will be a contemporary novel in the tradition of WHAT EDEN DID NEXT, and is set for 2024.

Sheila O’ Flanagan said: ‘I’m very excited to know that I will be publishing two more novels with Headline, my publishers for most of my writing life. It’s a tribute to their thoughtful work with all my books that my career has been longer than I ever imagined. I’m particularly pleased that THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, a deeply personal book inspired by stories my grandmother told me of her own life during turbulent times, will be published next year. I hope readers will enjoy the journey into the past with me.’

Isobel Dixon said: ‘In an already celebratory and bestselling year for Sheila O’Flanagan this new deal is another landmark cause for celebration – the promise of another contemporary novel to delight O’Flanagan fans around the world, but with Sheila also breaking fresh ground with her first historical novel, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE, starring a spirited heroine based on her own family history. Sheila is a marvel and the long-term relationship with Marion Donaldson and Headline a rare and exemplary publishing collaboration. We look forward to this further journey.’

Marion Donaldson said: ‘I’m so delighted that we have two new Sheila O’Flanagan novels to look forward to. Earlier this year we hosted a celebration in Dublin of 30 Sheila O’Flanagan bestsellers, something only a handful of authors are in a position to do. It’s an honour as well as a pleasure to publish Sheila’s brilliantly crafted and thought-provoking books, and it’s no surprise that Sheila’s first historical novel is every bit as polished, engaging and memorable as her contemporary novels have been. I can’t wait to bring THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE to the market next year.’

About Sheila O’Flanagan
Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Most of her novels have been immediate and long-lasting No. 1s in Ireland, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers and Kindle Bestsellers, and she is published in more than twenty languages around the world. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award. Headline have acquired two new books from Sheila, a historical novel to be published in 2023 and a contemporary novel out in 2024.  

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan
‘One of my favourite authors’ – Marian Keyes

'Exploring family relationships is what this bestselling author does so well’– Choice

‘One of our best-known, best-loved and most prolific women's fiction authors’ – Irish Independent

‘Brilliantly written and with plot twists popping out like prosecco corks.’ — Woman & Home

‘O’Flanagan weaves an inspiring tale of strength, love and self-discovery’ – Sunday Express

Visit Sheila's website. 

Follow Sheila on Twitter. 

Like Sheila on Facebook.