Deon Meyer’s DEVIL’S PEAK to premiere on M-Net in South Africa

DEVIL’S PEAK, the long-awaited screen debut for Deon Meyer’s troubled detective Benny Griessel, arrives on South African screens this weekend, with the first episode airing on Sunday, 29 October at 20:00 (SAST) on M-Net. Based on Deon Meyer’s prize-winning 2005 novel of revenge, forgiveness and suspense, the 5-part series follows Griessel as he is tasked with tracking down a vigilante killer whose crimes are causing a stir in Cape Town. Meyer’s latest novel LEO, starring Benny Griessel and his detective comrade Vaughn Cupido, is also just out in Afrikaans from Human & Rousseau in South Africa — a double treat for fans!

‘I’m absolutely delighted and so very proud to finally see Benny Griessel and his world come alive on screen, thanks to a brilliant team of local and international talent,’ says Meyer. ‘DEVIL’S PEAK was the first novel in which Benny became a protagonist, and now, it’s his debut on the box. Exciting stuff!’

Produced by Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions, with backing by BBC Studios and Multichoice Studios, the series stars Hilton Pelser (THE KISSING BOOTH, MOFFIE) as Benny, with Sisanda Henna (who starred in previous Deon Meyer adaptation TRACKERS), Tarryn Wyngaard, Shamilla Miller, and Masasa Mbangeni. The 5 x 1-hour series is directed by Jozua Malherbe (JUSTICE SERVED, GRIEKWASTAD) and written by Matthew Orton (MOON KNIGHT, OPERATION FINALE). International distribution for the show is being handled by BBC Studios.

On behalf of M-Net, Director for Premium Channels Waldimar Pelser said ‘M-Net is proud to bring our viewers a first-class global production with deep local roots. This is a story that could only have played out in South Africa, where the dark underworld of crime pierces – on an almost daily basis – the bubble in which those who can, seek security and comfort. DEVIL’S PEAK shows the extraordinarily beautiful city of Cape Town with and without its mask. It’s the tale of iconic detective Griessel’s struggle against external and internal demons to find justice for others and redemption for himself. It’s also the story of a father willing to do anything to avenge the death of his young son. Not all deaths, the story suggests, are mourned equally. We hope DEVIL’S PEAK will be a story from which it is impossible to look away.’

DEVIL’S PEAK, the first of six novels featuring the detective as central character, sees the talented but broken Benny Griessel tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. Meanwhile, grieving father Thobela Mpayipheli seeks justice after the untimely murder of his son. Benny and Thobela are brought into the orbit of a trapped mother, Christine, who is willing to do anything to achieve a better life for herself and her daughter, and the fates of these three characters become inextricably linked. Combining gripping tension with uncompromising authenticity, DEVIL’S PEAK offers an original South African take on the investigative thriller for today.

Originally published in Afrikaans as INFANTA in 2005, DEVIL’S PEAK was awarded the ATKV Prize in South Africa and won the Svenska Oversatta Kriminalroman (Martin Beck) Award and the Readers’ Award from CritiquesLibres.com in October 2010.

The latest Benny Griessel thriller, LEO, is published in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau in South Africa and already storming the charts. Rights are sold to Hodder in the UK and Commonwealth (with Jonathan Ball to publish in South Africa), Bruna in Holland, Aufbau in Germany and Gallimard in France, with more deals pending.

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer lives in Cape Town. His books are sold in 23 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, the Martin Beck Award in Sweden and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’. THE DARK FLOOD was longlisted for the 2023 CWA Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. Several of his books have been filmed, broadcast and streamed and others are in development for film and television now. His latest novel is LEO (Human & Rousseau, 2023).

Praise for the novel DEVIL’S PEAK

‘It isn’t just about the action. A far, far cry from your basic ‘cops and robbers’ or blow-by-blow ‘good guys vs bad guys’, DEVIL’S PEAK is a grown-up and multi-faceted tale, tough and visceral in tone, but also rich in flawed characters and deeply redolent of both urban and rural South Africa; not just the geographic landscape, but the political and social scene as well.’ – Paul Finch

‘This is one of those entertainment fictions that teaches one more than any textbook or documentary. This thriller is a fascinating portrayal of one aspect of life in post-apartheid South Africa…winding up the tension to a gripping, shocking climax. Highly recommended.’ – Literary Review

‘Deon Meyer is…one of the sharpest and most perceptive thriller writers around…Meyer paints a wonderful picture of the dark side of the rainbow nation… Against the odds Meyer leaves us with a resolution that is both poignant and supremely satisfying. In no way is this a negative book about the new South Africa. It makes the place come alive with a breathless urgency that recalls the 1940s Los Angeles of Dashiel Hammet or Raymond Chandler: a bit mad, a bit bad, a bit dangerous, but exotically vibrant, a society in adolescence. Think of Meyer in the way that you might have regarded a bottle of Cape red a dozen years ago – dark, strong with an unusual but beguilingly moreish taste. If it can produce popular literature as good as this, the new South Africa has a lot going for it.’ – Peter Millar, The Times

Visit Deon’s website

Follow Deon on Twitter

Gallic Books acquire Edward Carey’s dazzling EDITH HOLLER

EDITH HOLLER, Edward Carey’s first full-length novel since 2018’s internationally acclaimed LITTLE, has  been sold to Gallic Books. Gallic’s Managing Director, Joe Harper, acquired the UK and British Commonwealth rights to this ‘raucous, blistering, beautiful, and totally indelible’ novel from Isobel Dixon with publication planned for autumn 2024, accompanied by a ‘standout publicity campaign’ from FMcM.

EDITH HOLLER tells the story of a bright, inquisitive girl who spends her days among the boisterous denizens of the Holler Theatre, warned by her domineering father that the playhouse will literally tumble down if she should ever leave its confines. Fascinated by tales of the city she has only seen through her window, Edith decides to pen a play of her own: a stage adaptation of the legend of Mawther Meg, whose local delicacy Beetle Spread is rumoured to have been made from the blood of children.

But when her father suddenly announces his engagement to a peculiar, imposing woman named Margaret Unthank, heir to the actual Beetle Spread fortune, Edith scrambles to protect her father, the theatre, and her play – the one thing that is truly hers – from the newcomer’s sinister designs.

Edward Carey says: ‘I am so very delighted to be back with my beloved Gallic for my new novel EDITH HOLLER. Gallic have looked after my books in the most generous and ingenious ways, and I couldn't be happier to have a fourth book published by this incredible team.’

Joe Harper says: ‘We are thrilled to be once again publishing Edward Carey at Gallic Books. Teeming with a theatrical cast of characters and brought to life by Edward’s fantastical illustrations, EDITH HOLLER is a surprisingly modern fable of one young woman’s struggle to escape her family’s control, and in doing so, craft her own destiny. It is timely, brilliant, a love letter to Norwich, and will be adored by Edward’s many readers new and old.’

Isobel Dixon says: ‘It’s a joy when an author is given creative space by dedicated publishers. Edward Carey’s blazing talent and originality is in full force in this splendid book and I am so pleased that Edith and the Holler Theatre are in excellent hands with Joe Harper and the Gallic Books team.’

La Nave di Teseo have bought Italian rights, while Riverhead will publish EDITH HOLLER in the USA and Canada at the end of the month. See below for more on the pre-publication praise and Starred Publisher’s Weekly review affirming Edward Carey as a major literary talent.

About Edward Carey

Edward Carey is a writer and illustrator who was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, England, during an April snowstorm. Like his father and his grandfather, both officers in the Royal Navy, he attended Pangbourne Nautical College, where the closest he came to following his family calling was playing Captain Andy in the school’s production of Showboat. Afterwards he joined the National Youth Theatre and studied drama at Hull University.

He has written plays for the National Theatre of Romania and the Vilnius Small State Theatre, Lithuania. In England his plays and adaptations have been performed at the Young Vic Studio, the Battersea Arts Centre, and the Royal Opera House Studio. He has collaborated on a shadow puppet production of Macbeth in Malaysia, and with the Faulty Optic Theatre of Puppets.

Edward has lived in England, France, Romania, Lithuania, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, and the United States and now teaches Creative Writing at the University of Austin, Texas. He was awarded the prestigious Italian Fernanda Pivano Prize in 2016 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019.

He is the author of the novels OBSERVATORY MANSIONS, ALVA & IRVA, THE IREMONGER TRILOGY (HEAP HOUSE, FOULSHAM and LUNGDON), LITTLE and THE SWALLOWED MAN, all of which he illustrated. His book B: A Year in Plagues and Pencils is a visual chronicle of a year in lockdown and has been published in different editions in the UK, America and Italy. LITTLE has been acclaimed around the world and has sold over 100,000 copies in twenty countries.

Praise for EDITH HOLLER

‘Carey draws on fairy tales and Shakespeare for a dazzling bildungsroman… [EDITH HOLLER] affirms the author’s standing as a major literary talent.’ – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

‘EDITH HOLLER is that rarest thing, a newly written tale that feels as though it's been discovered behind the stacked stone walls of an abandoned estate. It’s eldritch, raucous, blistering, beautiful, and totally indelible.’ – Maria Dahvana Headley, New York Times bestselling author of THE MERE WIFE

‘A raucous romp through the world of early 20th-century theater, with its barrels of fake blood and donkeys living in the bowels of the understage to provide the muscle for scene changes. In ways both witty and dark, the novel brilliantly probes the distinction between drama and real life, audience and performer, actor and character. And the whimsical illustrations, all drawn by Carey himself, are the perfect accompaniment to a story about an art form as visual as it is verbal. A wonderfully strange and quirky tale about the power of penning and performing tales.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘Edward Carey is an extraordinary craftsman, and EDITH HOLLER is a masterpiece. Carey’s prose teems with wonderfully twisted humour and play, breathing life into the spirits that haunt its gothic framework. It is that special novel that makes you wonder why there aren’t more like it. The answer, of course, is that there is just one Edward Carey. EDITH HOLLER is singular – a dark delight from beginning to end.’ – Erika Swyler, bestselling author of THE BOOK OF SPECULATION and LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS

‘Brilliant and shiver-inducing, EDITH HOLLER is a delightfully macabre achievement, equal parts Charles Dickens and Sweeney Todd. Through Edith’s keen eyes we come to know her family theatre and its many denizens – each a masterpiece of oddity – as well as the frightening newcomer who threatens to topple her very world. A bravura performance.’ – Helene Wecker, New York Times bestselling author of THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI

Visit Edward’s website
Follow Edward on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram

Sunday Times Bestseller Grace Mortimer Returns with More 5-Ingredicent Recipes for HQ’s MY FAMILY MEALS

HarperCollins will publish MY FAMILY MEALS, Instagram sensation Grace Mortimer’s mouth-watering follow-up to the Sunday Times­-bestselling MY FIRST MEALS. MY FAMILY MEALS will be out in the UK on the 18th July 2024 in hardback and eBook – the first in a two-book World All Language rights deal agreed between Louise McKeever, Publishing Director at HQ, and Blake Friedmann’s Juliet Pickering.

Grace has a fast growing and hugely engaged following of over 425,000 on Instagram since starting @_myfirstmeals during the first lockdown in 2020. Grace creates super simple, budget-friendly family recipes that are made using five or fewer ingredients. The book will feature 100 sensational recipes from fast meals and easy tray-bakes to no-fuss one-pot meals and family-pleasing desserts. Grace will make dinner time a breeze, with helpful shopping lists and weekly meal planners included too.

‘I have loved creating this book for families just like mine,’ Grace Mortimer said, ‘with easily accessible and budget friendly crowd pleasers for everyone to enjoy. We can often get stuck in a rut creating the same dinners week in, week out because they feel easier to us than picking up a cookbook, sourcing the ingredients and potentially serving up something that isn’t to everyone’s taste. This isn’t a book to test culinary skills or challenge palates with obscure or hard to find ingredients, this is a book designed to help you through the week, add more delicious meals to your regular repertoire and keep your weekly food shop as low as possible. A quick glance at virtually any recipe and you’ll know it off by heart for next time!’

Grace’s agent, Juliet Pickering said: ‘Grace’s energetic, inventive and accessible approach to cooking dishes that the whole family can enjoy, never flags! In the face of a cost of living crisis her recipes are affordable and inspiring, and I’m so proud to represent her as she campaigns for better nutrition for everyone. MY FAMILY MEALS will be vital for every busy family kitchen.’

‘We adore working with Grace – she absolutely understands what it is to be a busy parent wanting to feed their child both quickly and well,’ added Louise McKeever. ‘Her recipes are exceptionally smart and delicious, and all are simple to make, easy to follow and use just 5 ingredients or fewer. Following the success of her first book, she has made sure that her brilliant recipes will feed everyone around the table this time, so the family can eat well and, happily, together.’

About Grace Mortimer

Grace Mortimer is mother to Harry, and 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.

Grace started an Instagram page, My First Meals, to share her quick, healthy recipes with parents and carers struggling for ideas during lockdown, and it has grown into a popular feed with a keen following. Her recipes all contain five or less ingredients, require very few steps and have been shared and cooked across the globe.

Her first cookbook, MY FIRST MEALS, was published in August 2022 by HQ. She has also contributed to Pippa Vosper’s BEYOND GRIEF.

Praise for MY FIRST MEALS

‘For parents or grandparents in need of a bit of inspiration, the debut book from Instagram sensation My First Meals (@_myfirstmeals) is packed with ideas for making scrumptious breakfasts, quick snacks, tasty lunches and hearty dinners using no more than five ingredients.’ – Great British Food Magazine

‘Whether you want to cook with young family members or just give them a gift, this colourful cookbook is perfect. Each recipe contains no more than five ingredients, keeping things simple. The author first started sharing her recipes online during the lockdown, helping other parents involve their kids in cookery and feed the family at the same time.’ – The People’s Friend

‘This book is a saviour for busy parents. It’s full of five-ingredient meals that even the fussiest kids will enjoy, and there are so many clever ways with hidden veg and baked beans. I tested the baked bean bobble patties on my veg-avoiding toddler, and he ate six!’ – Good Food

‘Cooking for little ones needn’t be tricky or intimidating after all. Using 5 ingredients or less, Grace Mortimer, creator of @_myfirstmeals, is your go-to for time-saving weaning recipes with maximum flavour and minimal fuss. From baby-friendly salads to pea and cream cheese pancakes, whipping up scrumptious breakfasts, quick snacks, tasty lunches and hearty dinners has never been easier with Grace on hand, even for those of us who rarely excel in the kitchen.’ – Zoella

Follow Grace on Instagram

Costa-winner Monique Roffey brings ‘electrifying’ new novel PASSIONTIDE to Harvill Secker

Credit: Marcus Bastel

Returning three years after the enormous international success of the Costa Book of the Year winner, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, we are thrilled to announce Monique Roffey’s new novel PASSIONTIDE, a timely and captivating women-led story about violence and revolution set in the Caribbean. Harvill Secker will launch the novel in the UK and Commonwealth in May 2024 with an “unmissable” marketing and publicity campaign, as part of the two-book deal agreed in 2021 between Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann and Vintage senior commissioning editor Alex Russell.

‘Written with much thought love and care, this is a book about women I’ve waited my whole life to write,’ says Monique. ‘It’s been a huge pleasure to work with a dream team at Harvill Secker.’

Speaking on behalf of Harvill Secker, Alex Russell said: ‘We are immensely proud to be publishing Monique’s new novel. It is an electrifying story about community and protest, courage and freedom, friendship and love. PASSIONTIDE speaks powerfully to our moment and brings us a remarkable cast of characters who live on in the mind. Monique is a vital, spellbinding storyteller and we look forward to sharing this major new book with her legions of fans.’

‘Monique Roffey writes with such insight about both tenderness and violence, an unforgettable depiction of a wounded community and the fierce belief in the possibility of creating a better future,’ added Isobel Dixon. ‘I am delighted that the exceptional Harvill Secker team are working with Monique on PASSIONTIDE.’

Set in the Caribbean, PASSIONTIDE follows four women as they spark a revolution in the aftermath of a shocking event. The synopsis reads: ‘Early one morning, at the close of St Colibri’s carnival, a young female steel pan player is found dead beneath a tree. It is a discovery that will transform the lives of everyone on this small island. Vivid and fiercely alive, PASSIONTIDE is a novel of women daring to imagine a different world.’

About Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian-born writer. She is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her novel HOUSE OF ASHES was shortlisted for the COSTA Fiction Award, as well as the OCM BOCAS Award. ARCHIPELAGO won the OCM BOCAS Award for Caribbean Literature in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Orion Award 2014. In 2010, her novel THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Encore Award.

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was shortlisted for the 2020 Goldsmiths Prize and the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize, and won both the Costa Novel Prize and the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020. The book was first published in the UK by Peepal Tree Press in 2020, before reaching a wider audience with a new edition published by Vintage in 2021, becoming one of the imprint’s first ‘Vintage Earth’ titles the following year. It was also published in the US and Canada by Knopf in 2022. Translation rights have been sold in fifteen countries, it was featured as a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and Film/TV rights were won (at auction) by Dorothy Street Pictures.

Praise for Monique Roffey

‘A unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers. I never know what to expect and I’m never disappointed.’ – Bernardine Evaristo        

‘A major contribution to the new wave of Caribbean writing… Roffey is a magical storyteller’ – Olive Senior, Commonwealth Prize-winner

‘Monique Roffey has established herself as a fearless writer with her choices of subject and her visceral style.’ – Kapka Kassabova, The Guardian

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

‘Roffey is a fantastic talent who, one hopes, will keep writing for years to come’ – Lisa Rohrbaugh, Literary Journal

‘One of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ – A.L. Kennedy

‘Monique Roffey has a sharp, original way of looking at the world.’ – Christina Hardyment, The Times

Visit Monique’s website

Follow Monique on Twitter