Breaking News! David Hewson's House of Dolls optioned for TV

The House of Dolls, the first book in David Hewson’s new Amsterdam-based crime series, has been optioned for a Dutch TV series by Eyeworks, the international TV group acquired by Warner Bros. Television Group earlier this year.

The crime thriller, the first in a series featuring detective Pieter Vos, is published by Pan Macmillan in English and Meulenhoff Boekerij in Dutch. Hewson’s most recent books, acclaimed adaptations of the Danish TV series The Killing, have been bestsellers around the world.

In The House of Dolls Anneliese Vos, sixteen-year-old daughter of Amsterdam detective Pieter Vos, disappeared three years ago under mysterious circumstances. Her distraught father's desperate search revealed nothing and resulted in his departure from the police force.

Vos now lives in a decrepit houseboat in the Jordaan, a colourful Amsterdam neighbourhood. Pressured by the young and awkward policewoman Laura Bakker, Vos finds himself drawn back to the police force, a life he thought he’d left behind. Hoping against hope to find a clue about the fate of Anneliese, the daughter he blames himself for losing . . .

Trisha Jackson, editorial director at Pan Macmillan, said: ‘The House of Dolls is an electrifying thriller with an intriguing and enigmatic central character in Pieter Vos. It captures the atmosphere of Amsterdam wonderfully well, and will make the perfect transition from page to screen.’

Rienk Tychon, thriller publisher at Meulenhoff Boekerij said: ‘David Hewson's sense of place and eye for detail are extraordinary. His view of our city will jolt our readers: he sees things we take for granted and makes us appreciate them anew. This mesmerising thriller with its exciting plot and strong characters is unlike any book ever written about Amsterdam. The House of Dolls is a story that we are very proud to publish. ’

David Hewson said: ‘It was a great compliment for The House of Dolls to be bought for publication in Dutch by Meulenhoff Boekerij, one of the leading publishers in the Netherlands. And doubly flattering that Eyeworks, whose Amsterdam headquarters are just a few hundred metres from Pieter Vos’s fictional houseboat on the Prinsengracht, are now taking the story to the screen.’

The sale was negotiated by Sheila David of the Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency on behalf of the author.

Contacts

Eyeworks: Judith Hees, judith.hees@eyeworks.tv

Meulenhoff Boekerij: Rienk Tychon, rtychon@meulenhoffboekerij.nl
Pan Macmillan: Publicist: Becky Plunkett, Becky.Plunkett@macmillan.co.uk
Editor: Trisha Jackson, t.jackson@macmillan.co.uk
Film and TV enquiries: Sheila David, Sheila@darleyanderson.com
Foreign Rights enquiries: Clare Wallace, Clare@darleyanderson.com
More information on David Hewson and The House of Dolls
www.davidhewson.com.