Steph McGovern’s debut crime novel announced

 

            

Steph McGovern’s debut crime novel to Pan Macmillan announced at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

Pan Macmillan have acquired the debut crime novel, Deadline, from award winning broadcaster and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year judging panel member Steph McGovern. The novel was announced at an event between Richard Osman and McGovern at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on Saturday 20th July. 

Publisher Francesca Pathak acquired world all language rights in two novels from Millie Hoskins on behalf of Matt Nicholls at United Agents.

McGovern’s first novel, Deadline, centres around Rose, a young broadcaster who is preparing to interview one of the most powerful men in the country. But as the live TV interview begins, she hears an unfamiliar voice in her earpiece telling her that her family have been kidnapped, and she must do exactly as the hijacker says in order to keep them safe.

Ann Cleeves has said of the novel: 'For years Steph has been supporting other crime writers at the festival. Now at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in her own right. She's written a pacy, witty, engaging thriller, entertaining and delightfully authentic, but hard-hitting and thought-provoking too.  I can't wait for you all to read it.'

Steph McGovern is an award-winning broadcaster who currently presents The Rest is Money podcast with Robert Preston. Steph has worked in journalism for over 20 years, 8 of which as part of the BBC Breakfast family. She went on to present her own BAFTA nominated live daily show, Steph’s Packed Lunch, on Channel 4 and is a regular ‘Have I Got News for You’ panellist and host. Steph is an avid crime reader and has interviewed countless authors including Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves, Hillary Clinton, Harlan Coben, Lee Child and Don Winslow, as well as judging the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival since 2019.

Pathak says ‘As soon as I read Deadline, I knew this was the novel Steph was born to write. We are thrown into a high stakes suspense thriller with an authenticity on the world of broadcasting and politics that only she knows. I cannot wait for readers to discover Steph’s writing and the world of Deadline.’

McGovern says ‘Deadline is a book idea I’ve had since my early days on breakfast TV. Writing it has given me the chance to spend the last few years secretly living in a parallel universe where the high-pressured, high profile environments I’ve worked in, and the colourful characters I’ve met along the way, have all fed into my own invented dark story of power, corruption and lies. I’m buzzing to be launching the book at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. I’ve been coming here to stalk my favourite authors for ten years. Now to be here as an author myself is mind blowing.’

Pan Fiction will publish in hardback in July 2025.