New James Bond trilogy featuring the next generation of Double O agents to be published

HarperCollins Publishers acquire licence to thrill with a fully authorised new James Bond trilogy from Kim Sherwood, featuring the next generation of Double O agents

HarperCollins Publishers have acquired the UK & Commonwealth and US & Canadian rights to three contemporary thrillers by Kim Sherwood set in the world of James Bond that feature a new raft of Double O agents for the 21st century. The deal was negotiated by Kathryn Cheshire in the UK and David Highfill at William Morrow in the US, with Jonny Geller and Viola Hayden of Curtis Brown, on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications Limited. Kim Sherwood is represented by Susan Armstrong at C&W Agency. 

James Bond is missing, presumed captured or even killed. All of Bond’s contemporaries are gone and a new generation of Double O agents has been recruited to replace them and battle a global threat. At the same time, M and Moneypenny are searching for a mole in MI6. Will the truth be uncovered in time – or is this the end of the Double O section?

Kathryn Cheshire says: “James Bond is one of the most recognisable names in the world, and I was so excited when the Double O project came across my desk. Kim is steeped in the world of James Bond, and this trilogy is fresh, contemporary, and thrill-a-minute, with a new generation of spies everyone will love. It’s going to be so much fun to publish, and I cannot wait for readers to be introduced to the new Double O world!”

David Highfill says: “Kim Sherwood has pulled off the seemingly impossible task of writing a new Bond novel that’s both respectful of Fleming’s original genius and yet refreshingly modern. The book is audacious, pacey, sexy and just irresistibly entertaining. People are going to be talking about this one.” 

Kim Sherwood says: “James Bond has been one of the enduring loves of my life since I first watched Pierce Brosnan dive from the dam in GoldenEye. I was soon hooked on Ian Fleming’s novels. As a teenager, I chose Fleming when my English teacher asked us to write about an author we admired – I still have the school report. Since then, I’ve dreamt of writing James Bond. It’s rare that dreams come true, and I am grateful to the Fleming family for this incredible opportunity. I feel honoured to be the first novelist to expand the Bond universe through the Double O sector, bringing new life to old favourites, and fresh characters to the canon. I couldn’t be more excited to introduce the world to my Double O agents.”

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, says: “In her first novel, Testament, Kim showed a rare gift for characterisation, time and place. She drew readers into a journey that unfolded in unexpected ways. These talents and her near lifelong passion for Fleming and Bond make her the perfect choice for this exciting new extension of the 007 universe. I can’t wait for readers to see what she’s created.”

Jonny Geller says: “We struck gold with this latest collaboration with Kim Sherwood as not only is she a fine novelist but a Fleming aficionado of the highest order. Her re-imagining of some of our favourite characters and world building will delight any fan of James Bond and Ian Fleming.” 

Crime Thrillers for Winter and Christmas by B.P.Walter

Winter and Christmas has been a time for mysteries and thrillers for many years, with readers seeking warmth from both pulse-racing, tension-driven stories or cosier, more leisurely whodunnits. I’ve always been drawn to crime fiction at this time of year – I think it’s the sense of comfort driven from order being made out of chaos. Pandemics aside, this time of year can be very hectic, thanks to bustling shops and Christmas gatherings, so there’s something intrinsically soothing about finding order and method on the page even if it sometimes alludes us in real life. My novel The Woman on the Pier isn’t detective-focused, but it does feature a central character setting off to solve a particular mystery and make the guilty (or person she perceives to be guilty) face up to their alleged crime. I’ve always found this structure compelling on the page and I hope readers find the book similarly enthralling if they choose to curl up with it by the fire on a cold winter’s night. And on the subject of curling up with a book (perhaps by the Christmas tree with a few mince pies), I’ve brought together below five of my favourite winter-based thrillers, both new and old, that would make for perfect seasonal reading.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

Fans of 2019 movie Knives Out should certainly turn to this Christie gem from 1938. That terrifically enjoyable film features a lot of nods to Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, with bickering families, mysterious outsiders, a bloody death of the family patriarch and an ingenious solution. Christie apparently wrote this because her brother-in-law complained that the murders in her books were ‘getting too refined’ and apparently wanted to read a story with ‘a good violent murder with lots of blood’. Well that’s certainly what she delivered here, with the bloody throat-cutting and nightmarish sounds happening at the top of an old manor house. Once you’ve finished the book, 1994 ITV adaptation of the novel starring David Suchet is also definitely worth a watch, especially for the superb casting, helping it skilfully handle certain tricky aspects of the plot that are hard to pull-off well onscreen. 

The Dark by Emma Haughton

Now moving to something bang up-to-date, Emma Haughton’s thriller The Dark is one of the most impressive books I’ve read all year. It’s an autumn tradition of mine to take myself off on a reading retreat (not an established one, I just book myself into a hotel and just read book after book after book). When you’re doing really sustained amounts of reading, it’s common to want breaks and do something else for a bit – however this did not occur with this utterly gripping novel of arctic-based murder. Playing out in a confined environment, this is essential reading for those who enjoy Agatha Christie’s more single-setting based novels (And Then There Were None of course comes to mind) and the recent (and similarly enthralling) hit BBC drama Vigil. 

Silent Night by Nell Pattison 

This is a novel so covered in a cold, chilly atmosphere (thanks to its superb scene-setting) the pages themselves practically crack with frost as you turn them. Following the investigation that unfolds after a death at a school trip for deaf students, Nell Pattison’s characters are very vividly drawn and the haunting terrain of the snowy woods is eerily evoked. 

Shiver by Allie Reynolds

One of those books you can’t help but fly through, Allie Reynold’s debut thriller Shiver is an excellent whodunnit that at times borders on suspense-horror. Like The Dark, it’s also a well-pitched examination of what happens when you group people together for a tense period in an extreme situation, with the secrets in their past steadily coming to the surface. 

The Lighthouse by P.D. James

This is the only of my five not specifically set in winter, but it still makes of absorbing reading on dark, chilly evenings. I think I also have a lot of associations with this book and Christmas, since it was the first of P.D. James’s novels I read, back when I was 13 years old and suffering from flu in December. It was the perfect medicine: James’s mysteries are so well-thought-through, and this one takes place within the confines of a wonderfully atmospheric location: a restful retreat for the rich on an island just off the Cornish coast. Expect brutal killings, pleasingly methodical crime-solving and a very tense final act. 

The Woman on the Pier by B P Walter (Published by Harper Collins) Out Now

Two strangers meet on the pier Only one walks away... Screenwriter Caroline Byrne is desperate to know why her daughter Jessica died, murdered in Stratford when she was supposed to be at a friend's in Somerset. When Caroline discovers the messages Jessica had been sending a boy named Michael, she realises it's because of him. Because he failed to meet her that day. He's the reason why her daughter is dead. And so she makes a choice. He's the one who's going to pay. That is her promise. Her price.

More information about B P Walter can be found on his website. You can also find him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @BarnabyWalter and on Instagram @bpwalterauthor. 

Reconstructing a Victorian Murder Mystery by Thomas Morris

 

In November 1856 George Little, the chief cashier of Dublin’s Broadstone railway terminus, was found dead, lying in a pool of blood underneath his desk. The door was locked, apparently from the inside, and thousands of pounds in gold and silver had been left untouched on his desk. Was this a robbery gone wrong? A revenge killing? Or even suicide?

It was as perplexing a mystery as anybody could remember, and it led to the longest and most complex murder inquiry in the history of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Over the next seven months, more than half a dozen suspects were interviewed and taken into custody before the detectives finally succeeded in pinning down the man they believed responsible for the senseless killing.

When I first came across a contemporary news report about this real-life murder mystery I knew straight away that I wanted to write a book about it. Both the immediate setting of a busy railway station, and the atmospheric surroundings of Victorian Dublin, were enticing. The crime itself was a genuine whodunit, and one that was not easily solved. There were twists worthy of an Agatha Christie novel, and dramatic sudden breakthroughs such as the recovery of a bundle of stolen money, just when the police investigation seemed to have ground to a halt. Then there was the surprise tip-off that led to the arrest of the prime suspect several months later, and a thrilling murder trial that gripped the nation. But perhaps the strangest episode in this tale is its unexpected epilogue, which features a scientist who believed that he could identify a murderer by analysing the shape of their skull.

The Dublin Railway Murder was a particularly lurid case in an era of sensational murders. No wonder, then, that every stage of the police investigation was followed eagerly by journalists on both sides of the Irish Sea. The detailed contemporary newspaper coverage provided me with invaluable source material, including verbatim accounts of the inquest and eventual trial. 

These articles also included colourful details: eyewitness reports of the discovery of the murder weapon, and first-hand descriptions of the significant characters and locations of this drama. I also came across a pamphlet written, and privately published, by somebody who had befriended the main suspect and made notes of their hours of conversations.

All this was more than enough raw material for a book. But then I paid a visit to the Irish national archives in Dublin, and made a discovery that transformed the whole story. In a dusty file, undisturbed for decades, lay hundreds of pages documenting the course of the police inquiry: transcripts of interviews with witnesses and suspects, letters between detectives and legal officials, and the minutes of confidential meetings. 

There were even surveillance reports filed by the undercover agents who were given the task of discreetly tailing various suspects around the city.

This new information was a goldmine. It gave a totally different perspective on the story, revealing details of the investigation that the police had deliberately kept secret. It made it possible to deduce the precise chronology of the investigation, working out who spoke to whom and when. And, crucially, it allowed me to reconstruct entire conversations using the actual words of the people concerned, so that we can hear the authentic voices of the labourers, domestic servants, clerks and railway engineers who helped the police with their inquiries.

I wanted to make The Dublin Railway Murder read like a crime novel, but almost everything in it is based closely on the historical record – not just what people said, but where they lived, what they did for a living, and how they spent their leisure hours. It was often these incidental details that were most fun to research: what shops there were in a specific street, the weather on a particular day, even the romantic history of one elderly judge. Of course it is impossible to be absolutely accurate, or to recover the unadulterated truth about such a story, particularly at a distance of more than a century and a half – but the exceptional nature of the source material offers what I believe to be a uniquely detailed portrait of a Victorian murder inquiry.

The Dublin Railway Murder by Thomas Morris (Harvill Secker) Out Now.

A thrilling and perplexing investigation of a true Victorian crime at a Dublin railway station. Dublin, November 1856: George Little, the chief cashier of the Broadstone railway terminus, is found dead, lying in a pool of blood beneath his desk. He has been savagely beaten, his head almost severed; there is no sign of a murder weapon, and the office door is locked, apparently from the inside. Thousands of pounds in gold and silver are left untouched at the scene of the crime. Augustus Guy, Ireland's most experienced detective, teams up with Dublin's leading lawyer to investigate the murder. But the mystery defies all explanation, and two celebrated sleuths sent by Scotland Yard soon return to London, baffled. Five suspects are arrested then released, with every step of the salacious case followed by the press, clamouring for answers. But then a local woman comes forward, claiming to know the murderer.... 

You can find more information on his website.  You can also follow him on Twitter @thomasngmorris

Women who fall for bad men.

 

Women who fall for bad men—Lisa Gray on the inspiration behind Lonely Hearts.

We all know about the allure of the bad boy.

From Gone With The Wind’s Rhett Butler to the original Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean, there’s nothing quite like a leather jacket and tattoos and a fast car and a bad attitude to get pulses racing and hearts pounding.

The kind of man you definitely wouldn’t want to take home to meet your mum.

Honestly? I can see the attraction. The first time I watched the movie Bridget Jones’s Diary, I definitely fancied the selfish, egotistical, two-timing Daniel Cleaver much more than nice guy Mark Darcy. Why? Because Darcy was a little too dull and safe, whereas bad boy Cleaver was sexy and fun and unpredictable.

But what happens when a fondness for bad men is about more than just a snarl and a string of rejected lovers? When the biggest turn on is someone who breaks the law, rather than just breaking hearts?

Hybristophilia is an attraction to those who commit crimes and is sometimes known as “Bonnie and Clyde syndrome.”

When Jeremy Meeks was arrested in 2014, his mugshot went viral. Dubbed ‘The World’s Hottest Felon’, women (and men) went crazy for his razor sharp cheekbones and full lips and bright blue eyes. A one-time gang member, Meeks has since carved out a successful career as a model following his release from prison and has 1.6million followers on Instagram. 

But, for some women, the fascination with those who commit crimes goes way beyond simply liking and sharing pics on social media.

Many high-profile criminals are sent fan mail while in jail in the same way Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling receive letters from adoring fans. But these are men who are famous for being rapists and murderers, rather than making movies. Some form relationships with the women who write to them and some even marry their pen pals.

Richard Ramirez—aka ‘The Night Stalker’—was a serial killer and rapist who was sentenced to death after murdering 13 people. Doreen Lioy began writing to him shortly after his incarceration and they were married in 1996 at San Quentin.

‘The Hillside Strangler’, who terrorized Los Angeles in the late ‘70s, actually turned out to be two people—cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. Bianchi went on to marry his pen pal Shirlee Joyce Book, while Bianchi got hitched to Christine Kizuka.

Book also reportedly tried her luck with Ted Bundy before tying the knot with Bianchi.

Bundy was another serial killer who wasn’t short of female attention or offers, despite later confessing to 30 homicides. He married Carole Ann Boon in a courtroom during the penalty phase of his trial in Florida.

It’s this phenomenon that I wanted to explore in my latest novel, Lonely Hearts—including the ‘why?’

Is it lack of self-esteem or a desire to be famous themselves that attracts women to men who are responsible for committing despicable acts? Do they actually feel ‘safer’ being in a relationship with a man who’s behind bars who can’t physically hurt them? Does the letter-writing and photo-swapping and restricted visitation all add to the fantasy and prevent the mundanity of everyday life creeping in? 

Lonely Hearts is centered around two women who both have a relationship with a famous, handsome, charismatic serial killer by the name of Travis Dean Ford. They both met him through ‘The Lonely Hearts Club,’ a pen pal service for women who want to write to men in prison. Veronica Lowe had a child with Ford and then disappeared. Jordana Ford married him before his execution and went on to become a well-known author and activist.

At the beginning of the book, Jordana is murdered in a similar way to Ford’s victims, and private investigator Jessica Shaw is hired to find the missing Veronica and her now-teenage daughter before they suffer the same fate.

It was only while watching a documentary about Bundy that I discovered he, too, fathered a child while in prison. I was intrigued by Rose Bundy. Where is she now? Does she know the truth about her father? What is known about her? The answer is very little.

In Lonely Hearts, the same questions are being asked about Mia Ford, the daughter of Veronica and Travis. In a strange twist of fate, the woman searching for Mia and her mother—Jessica Shaw—is the daughter of a murder victim and was once also a missing person herself.

Lonely Hearts by Lisa Gray (Out Now) Thomas & Mercer

A missing persons case should be pretty straightforward for private investigator Jessica Shaw. After all, it’s what she does best. But this latest case proves to be anything but straightforward. Christine Ryan is desperate to find her childhood friend Veronica Lowe. Veronica disappeared more than fifteen years ago, not long after having a child with a Death Row inmate, notorious serial killer Travis Dean Ford. When Ford’s widow, Jordana, is murdered in the same way as his victims, Christine fears Veronica and her daughter will be next. If they’re even still alive… Discovering that both Veronica and Jordana were members of the Lonely Hearts Club, a pen pal service for women who want to write to men in prison, Jessica realizes she needs to find Veronica before the killer does. But as Jessica follows the leads it begins to feel like someone is following her. Travis has been dead for years, so who is hunting the Lonely Hearts?

More information about Lisa Gray and her books can be found on her website. You can also find her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @lisagraywriter and find her on Instagram @lisagraywriter 

Quick Read Covers Revealed!

THE READING AGENCY REVEALS QUICK READS COVERS AND HOW THOUSANDS OF FREE ‘BUY ONE, GIFT ONE’ BOOKS ARE SPREADING THE JOY OF READING

The Reading Agency has unveiled the eye-catching covers for the Quick Reads stories publishing on 14 April 2022, written by M.W. Craven, Paula Hawkins, Ayisha Malik, Santa Montefiore, Kate Mosse, Graham Norton, Lemn Sissay and Alex Wheatle.

Forming part of the life-changing literacy programme tackling the UK’s adult literacy crisis by helping less confident readers start reading, these eight, new short books will also be included in the World Book Night 2022 list.

The Reading Agency has also shared the many ways in which the 36,000 copies of this year’s Quick Reads titles donated as part of the 15th anniversary ‘Buy One Gift One’ campaign have reached those who struggle with reading or have limited access to books.

From August to October, tens of thousands of free books were distributed to local authorities, libraries, prisons, adult learning organisations and community-based charities around the country. The ‘Quick Reads’ short stories by best-selling authors Louise Candlish, Katie Fforde, Peter James, Caitlin Moran, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Khurrum Rahman have been encouraging new readers at food banks, homeless shelters, literacy classes, refugee groups as well as those in prison, to find the pleasure and benefits that come from reading.

Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency, said: ‘Thanks to the support and generosity of our Quick Reads publishers and the close collaboration of our many partners, including the generous support of Jojo Moyes, tens of thousands of these transformative stories have been put directly into the hands of those who need them the most helping progress of our mission to break down barriers to reading, and spread the joy of books to new audiences.’

 ‘Buy One, Gift One’

This year's 'Buy One, Gift One' campaign helps The Reading Agency to get copies of these transformative books into the hands of those that need them most, particularly those who have experienced acute hardship throughout the pandemic. This year, thousands of free books are being distributed in partnership with libraries and other organisations who are providing frontline support, including homelessness charities, food banks, prisons, and Young Offender Institutions.

Libraries in Newham, an east London borough facing significant problems in poverty and inequality, are gifting books to services supporting young people experiencing mental health issues and running functional skills courses. These include local Youth Zones, Newham Youth Offending Team, Supported Living, Adult Learning Services, the Newham Food Alliance and Colleges of Further Education.

Councillor Charlene McLean, Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Resident Participation and Engagement, Newham Council said: ‘Here in Newham we are really excited to be gifting The Baby is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite, through our Adult Learning Service, Supported Living Schemes, Youth Zones and Youth Offending Teams. By gifting through these routes we aim to reach those adults and young people who would benefit most from a Quick Read, discovering, perhaps for the first time, a book that is accessible end engaging with no pressure to read it and no one judging their reading ability. We really hope that by gifting the right book, for the right person at the right time, our donations will help our selected residents to develop a love of reading and further improve their literacy skills.’

Krystal Vittles, Head of Service Delivery, Suffolk Libraries, said: ‘At Suffolk Libraries’ we decided to gift from our static libraries as well as through our prison libraries to ensure these fantastic books made an impact, and hopefully spread a little joy. We also worked with our partners at Suffolk County Council to gift these books through local foodbanks as a gift for people who are experiencing tough times. We believe that reading, literacy and access to books is a fundamental human right and so we’re always keen to be part of initiatives like this to spread the love of reading.’

Oldham Libraries have distributed copies to the Oldham Council Emerging Communities Team, the Local Authority Asylum Support Liaison Officers, the Oldham Lifelong Learning Centre – who deliver literacy skills courses – and the Oldham Street Angels, who provide food, clothing, shelter and support to Oldham’s homeless.

Jacqueline Widdowson, Senior Library Officer, Oldham Libraries, said: ‘We plan to work with our local homeless charity, The Street Angels. Many of Oldham's homeless people already use our libraries and are big readers. It will be nice to encourage both current and lapsed readers to enjoy the escapism and warmth of taking yourself outside of your current experience through reading.’

 

Burn, baby, burn! Creating serial arsonist characters by L.A. Larkin

Serial arsonists make great antagonists in crime fiction. There is something incredibly sinister about their modus operandi. The FBI defines serial arson as, “an offense committed by fire setters who set three or more fires with a significant cooling-off period between fires.” But what motivates arsonists? What are their personality traits? And how can authors use this information to create fascinating and terrifying characters? 

I began researching arsonists when I was writing The Safe Place in which a serial killer uses fire to cover up his crimes. The story is set in Washington in a small country town threatened by wildfires. Jessie Lewis witnesses the killer lighting a house fire, just before she is knocked unconscious. She becomes his next target. The mystery at the centre of the book is the identity of the serial arsonist. The suspects display one or more of the six personality traits that profilers and psychologists attribute to serial arsonists. One of the most frequently referenced reports on the motivations of serial arsonists and their typical offender characteristics was undertaken by the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI in 1980. They concluded that arsonists tend to crave power, adulation and even sexual thrills. They find fire beautiful and many love to watch it wreak its magnificent destruction. Often, they are loners who have been rejected by their community. But not always. Some of the most famous arsonists were popular, family men. The six generally recognised motivators are:

• Revenge
• Excitement/craving hero worship
• Crime concealment
• Vandalism
• Profit
• Extremism

Revenge

My central character, Jessie, is the main suspect. A former volunteer firefighter, she not only knows how to put out fires, she also knows how to start them and get away with it. Jessie is ostracised from her hometown and lives alone in the forest. Why she is ostracised has nothing to do with fire and everything to do with the domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her then boyfriend. This doesn’t matter to the local sheriff who regards Jessie as a liar with an axe to grind. Revenge-based arsonists are, according to experts, usually adult males in blue-collar jobs, which means that Jessie is an unusual candidate. Another character in my thriller, Bill Moran, is an old man who lives in the forest surrounded by junk cars. He likes to climb on the roof of his cabin and watch the wildfires in the distance as they burn through the national park. It turns out that he, and another character, have motives for revenge.

Excitement and craving hero worship

These arsonists are the thrill-seeker who light wildfires and/or burn down occupied structures because it empowers them and gives them a high. In this group are firefighter arsonists. They set the fires, watch them burn and then race in to put them out, heroically saving people’s lives. A well-known example of this was firefighter and arson investigator John Orr of California’s Glendale Fire Department. In The Safe Place, Marcus Harstad, the fire chief and Jessie’s abuser, is a narcissist who craves adulation. He has means, motive and opportunity. But he is not the only character in the book who craves adulation and recognition. 

Crime concealment

The fires are lit to destroy physical evidence, or the identity of a victim. In my thriller, the arsonist initially sets out to make the housefires look like accidents. Then he uses fire to conceal the fact that one of the victims was shot dead before the blaze consumed them. However, bullets can survive fire. The killer then goes on to set fires that deliberately implicate Jessie. Ironically, the middle-aged sheriff, who is investigating the crimes, fits the profile of the older and wiser serial arsonist. They are often regarded as the most dangerous fire starters because as their confidence and experience grows, they set bigger and more dangerous fires. 

Vandalism

These fires are usually lit by juveniles through boredom, rebellion, peer pressure, or are gang related. Children known to have started fires when they are young are likely to keep lighting them as adults. 

Profit

There are plenty of news stories about people who set fire to their homes, businesses, or cars for the insurance money or for other financial reasons. They are often ordinary people driven by desperation or greed, who did not intend to kill anyone. Such plans can go horribly wrong. And because of their lack of skill at starting fires, they are usually caught.

Extremism

Extremists set fires to further political, social, or religious causes and may use bombs. They are likely to have done a lot of preparation and may well be prepared to die in the conflagration of their own making. One of my characters, a former FBI agent, and Jessie’s only ally, was badly injured by a bomb blast and as a result she is terrified of fire.

Profiles of serial arsonists are full of inspiring details that can help authors create credible, complex, and creepy arsonist characters. Fire can add drama, ramp up the tension, conceal evidence, frighten witnesses, and keep a reader glued to your book.

The Safe Place by L A Larkin (Bookouture) Out Now.

Her heart pounds at the sound of footsteps outside her cabin in the woods. The snap of a twig tells her someone is close by. As she treads lightly towards the back door, she says a silent prayer—don’t let him find me… Ever since Jessie Lewis reported her boyfriend, fire chief and local hero, for beating her, she’s been an outcast from the small town of Eagle Falls. And when someone sets fire to a house in the woods, killing the entire Troyer family, the locals turn on her again, taking her very public argument with Paul Troyer as proof that she lit the match. Devastated that anyone could think her capable of murder, Jessie turns to Ruth. New in town, and an ex-FBI agent, Ruth could be the exact person Jessie needs to smoke out the murderer. But can she trust her with her life? Days later, another house linked to Jessie is set ablaze. Combing the ashes for answers, she catches sight of an inscription she hasn’t seen since her childhood—since she lost someone very close to her. Is the killer is coming for her next? As local wildfires take hold of the town and everyone is evacuated, Jessie knows she must put herself in unthinkable danger to catch the killer. And when she does, will she have the strength to take them down first?

More information about L A Larkin can be found on her website. You can also find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @lalarkinauthor and on Instagram.

 

Óskar Guðmundsson on A Story That Needed to Be Told

 

An encounter with a childhood friend after a gap of many years was the spark that behind Óskar Guðmundsson’s The Commandments, his first novel to appear in English, published by niche translated fiction outfit Corylus Books.

Powerful themes run through the book, which addresses the highly sensitive issue of the abuse of boys by a number of clergymen over many years.

“In Iceland this debate about abuse within the Church has always been a painful one, and it has been carefully largely kept out of sight,” Óskar said.

“This is the most challenging subject I have taken on so far and it didn’t take me long to realise how tough this was going to be.”

Meeting up with someone who had been part of the same youth group in their early teens was a shock, as this man had led a deeply troubled life, due in large part to having been abused by a priest who arranged and accompanied groups of young people on trips out of Reykjavík.

“I was fortunate to escape one of the bad apples of the Church. I must have sensed that something wasn’t right, and the priest’s approaches rang alarm bells in my head. I stopped taking part, but in spite of my warnings, my friend stayed. We lost touch and it was many years later that I met him again. By then he was a terribly damaged individual, and told me the whole story.”

That story formed the basis of The Commandments, and although the characters and events are from my imagination and the setting has been moved to the north of Iceland, his account of what happened to him is at the centre of the story.

“I’ve asked myself again and again if I could have done more back then to protest him from all this. I felt this was a story that needed to be told, with its themes of broken trust, forgiveness and hatred, and to describe how this abuse starts from small beginnings and grows to wreck lives.”

Early in the writing of the book, Óskar took the decision to locate the events in and around the town of Akureyri in northern Iceland, a place for which he has a great fondness. It’s not a big place by European or US standards, a community of just under 20,000 people, but it forms the largest settlement in the country outside the capital region of Reykjavík. Akureyri is also surrounded by smaller communities, such as the coastal village of Grenivík where the first brutal murder in the story comes to light.

When The Commandments was published in Iceland, it didn’t escape notice, not least because the Glerá Church at the centre of Akureyri is one of the key locations in the story.

“This is very sensitive subject matter in Iceland, and I had a request from the priest at the Glerá Church to pay him a visit, and it was very obvious that he and his colleague were extremely disturbed by the book and its themes. In particular they were concerned in case I had some particular person in mind connected to the church. We had a very long conversation and I was able to assure them that while the underlying themes are very real, the events and the persons portrayed in the book are drawn purely from my imagination,” he said.

“It has been a challenge to write this story, but this is a story I felt needed to be told.”

The Commandments by Óskar Guðmundsson Published by Corylus Books

On a Sunday morning in 1995, Anton, a nineteen year old boy, meets a priest in front of a church. The young man was never seen again. Twenty years later, under the midnight sun, a pastor is found brutally murdered in his church in a small fishing village north of the city of Akureyri, close to the Arctic Circle. When detective inspector Salka starts working on the case a deacon is found crucified in his home in Akureyri. The murderer leaves a message on both crime scenes and Salka realises that the killer is seeking revenge but she also fears that the lives of some other people in the church society are in danger. The two cases take an unexpected turn when Salka discovers a connection between the killings and events that took place two decades earlier.  Former police officer Salka Steinsdóttir finds herself pitched into the toughest investigation of her life, just as she is back in the tranquil north of Iceland to recover from a personal trauma. The victim is someone she had pursued earlier in her career – and had never been able to pin down. Now a killer has taken the law into their own hands and meted out brutal retribution for ancient crimes. Salka is faced with tracking down the murderer of a stalwart of the church and the community, a man whose dark reputation stretches deep into the past, and even into the police team tasked with solving the case. As the killer prepares to strike again, Salka and her team search for the band of old friends who could be either killers or victims – or both.

More information about the author can be found on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter @oskargudmunds.

2021 Petrona Award Winner Announced

 

Winner of 2021 Petrona Award announced – a first win for historical crime

 The winner of the 2021 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is:

TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, translated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner and published by MacLehose Press.

As well as a trophy, Mikael Niemi receives a pass to and a guaranteed panel at CrimeFest 2022. Mikael Niemi and Deborah Bragan-Turner will also receive a cash prize.

 The judges’ statement on TO COOK A BEAR:

The judges adored TO COOK A BEAR, a historical crime novel set in northernmost Sweden in 1852, and were unanimous in our decision to select it as the Petrona Award winner for 2021. We were particularly impressed with the novel’s use of historical detail, its fascinating reimagining of a figure from history, the sense of location and atmosphere, the rumination on religion versus the natural world, and the depiction of early forensics. TO COOK A BEAR’s superb characterisation of the main protagonists Læstadius and Jussi, which is tinged with sadness yet hope, also allows the author to explore the issues of literacy and class with sensitivity and compassion. The beautiful translation by Deborah Bragan-Turner lets the novel shine for English-language readers around the world.

TO COOK A BEAR is the first historical crime novel to win the Petrona Award.

Comments from the winning author, translator and publisher:

 Mikael Niemi (author):

I am very proud and happy to have received the Petrona Award and would like to thank my editor, Katharina Bielenberg, my translator Deborah Bragan-Turner, and my agency, Hedlund Literary Agency, who have made it possible for this novel to reach British readers. This happy news has brightened the growing winter darkness here in the very north of Scandinavia. I am sending my warmest thanks to all my British readers.

 Deborah Bragan-Turner (translator):

I am absolutely thrilled and very honoured to receive the Petrona Award. It’s a great privilege to be in the company of such accomplished authors and translators on the shortlist. Many congratulations to you all. Thank you to MacLehose Press for your support and editorial advice, and to the panel of judges for your championing of and enthusiasm for Scandinavian fiction in translation. And of course thank you most of all, Mikael Niemi, for bringing the story of Jussi and the pastor to us in TO COOK A BEAR, an inspired novel and a joy to translate.

 MacLehose Press: "We are delighted that Mikael Niemi’s novel has been recognised with the Petrona Award. TO COOK A BEAR is immersive and transporting, historical crime fiction at its best, and it has been thrilling to watch it find its readers in English. Powerfully vivid and lush in its descriptions of Sweden’s very far north, and brilliant on literacy and the power of language, it has been beautifully and imaginatively rendered in Deborah Bragan-Turner’s translation. Congratulations to them both!"

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his generous and continued support of the 2021 Petrona Award.

Hey! My Characters Have Hijacked my Book! by Joy Ellis

 

And I thought I was in charge... after all, they are only fictional people, creations born in my mind, and given life only in the pages of a book. Of course I should have known this wasn’t quite the case, when I woke one morning to hear a voice in my head saying, ‘I’m DI Nikki Galena, and it’s about time you got your arse into gear and wrote my story!’ Her words, not mine!

I grabbed my notebook and wrote down the name. Nothing else, just the name. Whatever I was working on at the time was put on the back burner, because Nikki had arrived, fully formed; an angry detective inspector, with one heck of a backstory. That was the beginning of the Fen Series. Book One, Crime on the Fens, and at the time I had no clue that nine years later, I would be writing Book Thirteen, and Nikki would still be digging me in the ribs, and telling me to type faster as she had a whole lot more to say.

This particular protagonist caused me to look at characters in general in a very different way. I also started to realise that no matter how carefully you described them, your readers ‘saw’ them in a very personal light, and that was often something completely opposite to your own vision of them. I had written several books before, and always tried to paint a clear picture of each character, but when it came to Nikki, I knew that I wanted her to belong the readers, and be whatever they wanted her to be. So I never described her at all. No hair colour, no colour of her eyes, nothing. The strangest thing was, although I knew everything about her; her history, background, childhood, what she liked to eat, things she hated, phobias, what she kept in the glove compartment of her car, and how she would react in any given situation... every single thing I knew was built around her emotions, her reactions and her attitude, but I never once saw her face. Thirteen books down the line, and I still haven’t seen her!

Nikki is an enigma, because I have two other series; the DI Jackman and DS Marie Evans series, and the Matt Ballard books, plus one stand-alone novel, twenty six books in all, and every character has a face, except for Nikki Galena. Just for fun, I asked my Facebook followers to ‘cast’ her, should she ever muscle in on the TV scene, and I received back the biggest eclectic mix of women that you could ever imagine. Out of hundreds of suggestions hardly two were the same. Oddly, if I were asked to cast her myself, again it would not be for her physical appearance, (although she would indeed fit very well), I would choose Rosie Marcel. She is one actor who could pull off Nikki’s personality perfectly. Her portrayal of Jac Naylor in Holby City proves that. I have rarely seen anyone do such a brilliant job of peeling back the layers of a desperately complex character.

And the high-jackers? Nikki is possibly the ring-leader, but when it comes to writing the books, all of my characters have the propensity for de-railing my plans. It seems to go like this... 1) I have an idea. 2) I decide which series it would suit best. 3) I write Chapter One, and set the scene. 4) I introduce the crime and sometimes the antagonist(s). 5) I begin to realise that the direction I was taking is veering slightly, as one or more of my characters are not responding to instruction. 6) I remonstrate, explain my reasoning, cajole, not quite but almost beg that they follow the plan. 7) They refuse, then Nikki, or Joseph, or Matt, or Jackman, or Marie, or the office cleaner, tells me exactly how the investigation should proceed. 8) I give up and let them write the damned story! 

There have been times, when at the end of a chapter, I think, where the devil did all that come from? It’s like a carefully planned journey, then up pops one of the characters waving a large Diversion sign, and suddenly you are off-road and heading in a completely different direction. 

I know that as an organic writer, or ‘pantser’ as we get affectionately termed, because we do fly by the seat of our pants, we are happy to let the story unfold as we go along. But, just sometimes I’d like it to be my story, not theirs. I can almost see them sitting there smiling smugly, because as usual, when I read it through... they were right!

The Night Thief by Joy Ellis (Out Now) Joffe Books

When everyone is sleeping, he comes into their houses. He takes one thing. A photo of their child. A sinister thief on a power trip or something even darker and more sinister? Detectives Jackman and Evans find themselves on the hunt for a highly unusual burglar who seemingly only steals photographs. But then, late one night, an elderly woman falls to her death after seeing someone in her home. Did she really fall, or was she murdered? And just how many mysterious intruders are there on the Fens? With the body count rising, Jackman and Evans have their work cut out for them to track down the night thief - before it’s too late.

Dagger Awards update!

Press Release

Dagger Awards to Carry Cash Prizes and 

Open to Authors to Self-Nominate 

The CWA Daggers – synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century – is set to again award cash prizes beginning in 2023, for titles published and nominated in 2022. Detail of the amounts will be announced next year. The CWA is delighted to reinstate this tradition, thanks to renewed support and sponsorship.

In the same year the CWA will accept Dagger nominations from authors themselves. Traditionally published authors who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to nominate their own titles for a Dagger, as will self-published authors who are members of the CWA.

The new eligibility criteria follow the change of rules earlier this year to allow self-published authors who successfully demonstrate professionalism to become CWA members for the first time in its 68-year history.

The move came after the CWA consulted its members, who voted with an 84% majority in favour to accept self-published authors.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The Daggers are assuredly the best and most accurate reflection of what's happening on the crime and mystery writing front. The time is right to reflect that prestige by again awarding a cash prize along with certain Daggers. It’s also true that the publishing landscape has changed in recent years. Self-publishing has become a route for professional writers, and indeed there are many trailblazers in this field. It’s important our awards recognise this, and of course if self-published authors can nominate their titles, then it’s important we extend that right to eligible authors who are traditionally published, too.”

The awards remain open as normal to traditional publishers of the genre who are invited to nominate their authors’ titles. A fifty per cent discount on the nomination fee applies to titles by CWA members, whether submitted by a publisher or author.

Maxim added: “We continue to be committed to quality. Successful self-publishing requires the same professional approach that publishers take. Our aim is to ensure the Daggers stay relevant, accessible and open to all talent.”

A thriving, growing community with a membership encompassing authors of all ages and at all stages of their careers, the CWA is UK-based, yet attracts many members from overseas.

It supports author members, as well as literary agents, publishers, bloggers and editors, through its own activities and through the Crime Readers’ Association (CRA). The CRA distributes a free digital monthly newsletter showcasing CWA authors and related news to around 12,000 subscribers, while the CRA website provides readers with news and features by CWA members, as does the bimonthly ezine, Case Files.

The CWA also supports unpublished writers, many of whom enter the Debut Dagger competition and the Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition.

For authors wishing to enter the Debut Dagger competition, sponsored by ProWritingAid, they mustn’t have had any fiction over 20,000 words of any genre traditionally published, or self-published in the last five years.

The CWA’s Dagger judging panels remain strictly independent and are refreshed every year.

The organisation also supports libraries and booksellers, with two Library Champions and a Booksellers Champion, Elly Griffiths, as well as promoting its annual National Crime Reading Month in June.

Eligibility restrictions apply on particular Dagger categories; entrants can check out the full guidelines on the CWA website.

Ian Fleming Publishing, ALCS and ProWritingAid are regular sponsors of the Daggers; the CWA is very grateful for their support.

 

Crime Fiction, Policing and Racial Injustice

 Crime Fiction, Policing and Racial Injustice

Wednesday 10 November

6pm UK; 1pm EST; 10am Pacific.

This session will run for around 1.5 hours.

ORGANISED BY THE CENTRE FOR THE AMERICAS, Queen’s University Belfast

@AmericasCentre

https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/cfta/events/UPCOMINGEVENTSandSEMINARS/

In this panel session, Frankie Bailey, a renowned criminal justice academic and crime novelist, Steph Cha, crime novelist and winner of the 2019 LA Book Prize, and academic and pop culture expert David Schmid discuss the capacities of crime fiction to critically reflect on the failures of policing in the US and the ongoing search for racial justice. The issue of whether a form or genre given over to the investigation of crime and that aims to give readers answers and resolutions can get to grips with the brokenness of the justice system will be discussed. As will the question of how to portray the police and policing in light of the killing of unarmed black men and women – and whether the traditional police procedural form is fit for purpose.

The roundtable discussion will last for about an hour. In the final 30 minutes, Steph Cha will read from her 2019 prize-winning novel Your House Will Pay and will answer questions about it.

Frankie Y Bailey (SUNY Albany)

Frankie is Professor of Criminal Justice in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs at SUNY Albany. As well as being a prolific academic whose work explores the intersections of crime, social history and popular culture, including Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters Crime and Detective Fiction (1991), she is the author of two separate crime fiction series, including a police procedural series featuring biracial police detective. Hannah McCabe, set in a near-future Albany: The Red Queen Dies (2013) and What the Fly Saw (2015). 

https://www.albany.edu/scj/faculty/frankie-bailey 

Steph Cha

Steph is the author of three crime novels featuring amateur sleuth and apprentice PI Juniper Song including Follow Her Home(2013). She is also the author of Your House Will Pay (2019), which examines the lasting consequences of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and shines a light at the contemporary injustices of policing and justice system. Your House Will Pay won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award. Steph is a critic whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she served as noir editor, and is the current series editor of the Best American Mystery & Suspense anthology. http://stephcha.com/ 

David Schmid (SUNY Buffalo)

David is Associate Professor of English at SUNY Buffalo and one of the foremost scholars of crime fiction and pop culture. His research focuses on Americans’ unusual fascination with murder and murderers and the development of the popular culture of true crime in the U.S. He is the author of the ground-breaking study Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture (U of Chicago Press 2005) as well as numerous edited books, anthologies and essays on crime fiction, violence, urban culture, horror and masculinity.

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/experts/david-schmid-faculty-expert-pop-culture.html

Chair: Andrew Pepper (Queen’s University Belfast, a.pepper@qub.ac.uk)

EVENTBRITE LINK: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crime-fiction-policing-and-racial-injustice-tickets-198842943597