Walking a Tightrope in Stilettos – The PI’s lot. by Marnie Riches

In her recent review of Tightrope, fellow author, Sarah Rhiannon Ward observed that my new thriller, featuring Private Investigator, Beverley Saunders, put her in mind of Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski novels. How amazing to be mentioned in the same breath as Paretsky! I was deeply flattered, I can tell you, especially since this debut outing for the fearless but flawed Bev is the first time I have told a story with a PI at the helm. 

Crime-thrillers with private sleuths or non-police officers as the main protagonists are among the most successful in the world. Patricia Cornwell has millions of fans for her Dr. Kay Scarpetta series, featuring a chief medical examiner. Elly Griffiths is doing brilliantly well with her forensic archaeologist, Dr. Ruth Galloway. My own criminologist heroine, Dr. George McKenzie (in my The Girl Who… series, set in South East London and Amsterdam) has done rather well with readers too. But back to the humble independent sleuth! In addition to Paretsky and Sue Grafton, JK Rowling has had incredible success as Robert Galbraith, writing about her PI, Cormoran Strike. On the small screen as well, the private gumshoe has captured imaginations across the globe. In the 80s, we adored Magnum PI with Tom Selleck. Back in the 1990s, the great British TV-watching public tuned in to get their weekly fix of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates…for four series! And yet, there certainly isn’t currently a proliferation of super-successful PIs in the broad church that is the British crime -fiction genre. They’re massively outnumbered by cops!

As I write this piece for Shots readers, I do have to ask why there is this disproportionate dominance of coppers in crime-fiction, when amateur or non-police sleuths have so much more freedom to investigate. As an author, you get far more mileage from a PI who plays fast and loose with the law than from a detective who is bound by hierarchy, protocol and legal idiosyncrasies. Bev Saunders turned out to be a tremendously fun protagonist for me. Initially, she starts digging for dirt on behalf of her client, Angela Fitzwilliam – the battered wife of Shadow Cabinet Minister, Jerry Fitzwilliam. On the surface, Angie has it all. She’s a wealthy, pampered housewife, living in Hale, Cheshire, where footballers rub shoulders with old money and millionaire entrepreneurs. But scratch the surface and Angie’s world is falling apart, thanks to her bullying, lying husband who puts on a convincing show for the media. 

As Bev is a recent divorcée herself, she’s persuaded to take on Angie’s plight and find strong evidence of grounds for divorce that will insure Angela against Jerry’s threat to deny her custody of or even access to their children and to withhold all her marital wealth. This is a powerful man who likes to play dirty, but because Bev is a lone wolf – apart from help in digital matters that she gets from her therapy-group friend and technology-whizz, Doc – Bev can play dirty too. By catfishing the Cabinet Minister and trying to honey-trap him, she becomes embroiled in a terrifying cat-and-mouse chase, where eventually, she is the one being investigated, nay, stalked. Unlike a detective, Bev Saunders is able to go the extra mile without worrying that she’ll be disciplined by a superior. In fact, she’s so naïve to the risks of the job, the pay is so poor and the stakes – if she fails in her self-employed venture – are personally so high, that Bev’s prepared to walk a very perilous tightrope indeed if she’s to bring her case to a satisfactory conclusion. She’s willing to hack, lie and literally flirt her way to the truth, allowing me to take the reader on a very gritty, at times seedy and thrilling journey.

Do you think 2019 is going to be the summer where Private Investigators get their time in the sun again thanks to a fictitious northern divorcee with sex- and origami-addictions? Will you read Tightrope and be glad that Bev is so driven, so unregulated and so unprofessional in her conduct? Might you just enjoy the danger that little bit more knowing you could easily do her job…if only you were brave and foolhardy enough? Why don’t you let me know?!

Tightrope by Marnie Riches (£7.99, Trapeze Books) Out Now

What happens when a private investigator ends up being the one uncovered?  Having lost everything after a failed marriage, Beverley Saunders now lodges in the basement flat of a house owned by her best friend Sophie and her husband, Tim. With Bev's former glittering marketing career in the gutter, she begins to do investigative work for other wronged women, gathering dirt on philanderers, bosses and exes.  But when Beverley takes on the case of Sophie's friend Angela, who is seeking to uncover grounds for divorce from her controlling husband, Jerry, the shadow Science Minister, she soon discovers that she isn't the only one doing the investigating... Beverley has a secret history she doesn't want coming out - but will she manage to stay hidden long enough to give Angela the freedom she deserves?

Crime - North of the UK border Plus One

 According to the Scotsman newspaper, Scotland’s most successful authors have global sales far exceeding the population of their homeland. Dozens of well-known fiction writers live in Scotland, but which occupy the best sellers’ lists more than others?

JK ROWLING (Estimated global sales: 400 million)

 The story of how a single mother living in Edinburgh began writing the children’s books which would become the biggest publishing phenomenon of modern times in two southside cafes has passed into legend. The Harry Potter series of fantasy novels came to an end in 2007, but the books continue to sell in huge numbers and inspire a generation of young readers. “We cannot sing the praises of Rowling high enough,” Charlie Griffiths, director of the National Literacy Association, told the Scotsman in 2003. “Anyone who can persuade children to read should be treasured and what she’s given us in Harry Potter is little short of miraculous. To see children queuing outside a store, not for concert tickets or computer games, but for a book, is brilliant.” Rowling has since published four novels aimed at adults, including three under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

 IAN RANKIN (30 million)

 The first Inspector Rebus novel, Knots and Crosses, was published in 1987 and the most recent, Even Dogs in the Wild, hit the shelves last week. Rankin (55) was raised in Cardenden, Fife, and was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh living in Marchmont when he first had the idea of writing a crime novel based in his adopted city.

 ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH (20 million)

 McCall Smith is Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and an authority on medical law and bioethics. Not content with reaching the top in one profession, he has since become a globally successful author. The first book in The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series was published in 1999 and was soon a best seller. Set in Gaborone, Botswana, it has been followed by 15 more books - a rate of one per year. McCall Smith has also written a number of children’s novels, as well as the 44 Scotland Street series, which was first published as short stories in the Scotsman.

VAL McDERMID (10 million)

 Kirkcaldy native McDermid began her working life as a journalist and published her first novel, Report for Murder, in 1987. She began writing fiction full-time in 1991 and is now one of the most successful crime writers of modern times. Her series of novels featuring psychological profiler Dr Tony Hill was adapted by ITV as the hit drama Wire in the Blood.

IRVINE WELSH (2 million)

 Welsh grew up in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, and worked in a variety of jobs before the publication of his first novel, Trainspotting, in 1993. That title has now sold more than one million copies in the UK alone, thanks in part to the success of the 1996 film adaptation by Danny Boyle. Welsh’s 10th full length novel, A Decent Ride, was published in April.

CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE (2 million)

 Brookmyre’s debut novel, Quite Ugly One Morning, introduced the world to investigative journalist Jack Parlabane in 1996 and was followed by the best seller Country of the Blind a year later. Brookmyre, who grew up in Barrhead, has since published 18 further works of fiction. He can call upon a variety of singular protagonists in his novels, which are known for their gripping narratives, black humour and social comment.

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/who-are-scotland-s-most-successful-living-authors-1-3951657#ixzz3s1Tupyld

 

TWENTY7 SIGNS DEBUT CRIME THRILLER SERIES

BY SCREENWRITER SIMON BOOKER

 Bonnier Publishing Fiction's new imprint Twenty7 has acquired two crime novels from screenwriter Simon Booker. Booker's TV credits include The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries for BBC1 and ITV thrillers The Blind Date and The Stepfather.

Without Trace is the first in a series of psychological thrillers featuring single mother Morgan Vine, an investigative journalist who specialises in miscarriages of justice. Without Trace will be published as an ebook in January 2016 and as a paperback in June.

 

Results of the CWA John Creasey, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger

The Crime Writers' Association have presented their final 2015 CWA Dagger Awards to authors Smith Henderson, Karin Slaughter and Michael Robotham.

At the CWA Dagger Awards reception, which took place at Malmaison, London on Tuesday evening, the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger was awarded to Smith Henderson for his novel Fourth of July Creek. This Dagger is awarded for the best crime novel by a first-time author. The judges said of the book, which is published by Random House/William Heinemann, "A powerful evocation of the rural America time has forgotten and the casualties in its wake. Both harrowing and life enhancing, a towering achievement and insight into a world many of us would rather ignore."

Barry Forshaw

Karin Slaughter was awarded the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for her novel, Cop Town. This Dagger is presented to the best thriller story of the year. Of Cop Town, published by Random House/Century, it was said, "The judges loved this fascinating story filled to the brim with rich and evocative period detail of Atlanta in 1974. The judges found the characters to be instantly real, engaging well-drawn and convincing helping the reader to be pulled through this dark and twisted story to the very end."

The CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger was won by Michael Robotham for Life or Death. This Dagger is awarded to the book considered to be the best crime novel of the year by our judges. They said of Life or Death, published by Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere, "When you start reading Life or Death, you'll want to stay curled up in an armchair with one of the best thrillers you'll read this year. This is a compelling and fascinating book."

Michael Robotham

The Dagger reception concluded the 2015 CWA Dagger Awards, which also saw the launch of new web initiative Dagger Reads (daggerreads.co.uk). "This has been a simply wonderful year for the crime fiction genre and our judges were incredibly impressed by the standard of the entries," says CWA chair Len Tyler. "We're delighted to have been able to showcase and explore these 18 books in Dagger Reads. Next year we're rolling this initiative out to encompass all our Daggers and give readers the chance to discover all our short-listed books. It's a true celebration of the best work in the crime genre."

The event was attended by a number of the short-listed authors including Michael Robotham, Paula Hawkins, Belinda Bauer, Mick Herron, Kate Hamer, Peter Swanson, Malcolm MacKay and Robert Galbraith. 

The CWA is now accepting entries to compete for the 2016 Dagger Awards. The Crime Writers' Association can be found online at www.thecwa.co.uk, on Facebook and Twitter.

Ayo & J K Rowling

For further information please contact Kate White head of press at pressoffice@thecwa.co.uk or telephone 07814791775.

CWA Dagger Longlists and Criminal Splatterings ...

CWA DAGGER LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED

The Crime Writers' Association is delighted to reveal the long listed authors for the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger, the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.
The results were revealed mid-way through National Crime Reading Month (www.crimereadingmonth.co.uk) and the shortlists will be unveiled at the Dagger Awards dinner on 30th June 2015. Tickets for the Dagger Awards - which will be held at Hotel Russell in London - are now on sale (http://thecwa.co.uk/event/dagger-award-dinner-2015/).  "Our judges have had a wonderful time reading all these brilliant books," says CWA chair Len Tyler. "What a year for crime fiction. These long lists are a great demonstration of how diverse and fascinating the genre is right now. No wonder it's the most popular type of fiction with UK readers." The CWA Goldsboro Gold, CWA John Creasy (New Blood) and CWA Ian Fleming Steel Daggers will be presented to the winners at a ceremony in the autumn. Full details will be announced in due course.

THE LONGLISTS

 

CWA GOLDSBORO GOLD DAGGER LONGLIST

The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer/Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press

The Rules of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake/Oldcastle Books/No Exit Press

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith/Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere

Missing by Sam HawkenProfile Books/Serpent's Tail

Mr Mercedes by  Stephen King/Hodder & Stoughton/Hodder & Stoughton

Pleasantville by Attica Locke/Profile Books/Serpent's Tail

The Bone Seeker by M.J. McGrath/Pan Macmillan/Mantle

The Serpentine Road by Paul Mendelson/Little, Brown Book Group/Constable

Life or Death by Michael Robotham/Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere

The Kind Worth by Peter Swanson/Faber and Faber/ at Bloomsbury House  

 

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER LONGLIST

The Abrupt Physics of Dying by Paul E Hardisty/Orenda Books

Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little/Vintage Publishing, Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker

Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman/Faber and Faber

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng/Little, Brown Book Group

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson/Random House/William Heinemann

The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer/Faber and Faber

The Killing of Bobbi Lomax by Cal Moriarty/Faber and Faber

The Well by Catherine Chanter/Canongate Books

You by Caroline Kepnes/Simon & Schuster  

 

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL LONGLIST

No Safe House by Linwood Barclay/Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction

The Defence by Steve Cavanagh/Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction

The Stranger by Harlan Coben/Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction

Missing by Sam Hawken/Profile Books/Serpent's Tail

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins/Transworld Publishers/Doubleday

Nobody Walks by Mick Herron/Soho Crime/ Soho Crime

The White Van by Patrick Hoffman/Atlantic Books Ltd/Grove Press

The Final Minute by Simon Kernick/Random House/Century

Runner by Patrick Lee/Penguin/Michael Joseph

The Night The Rich Men Burned by Malcolm Mackay/Pan Macmillan/Mantle

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter/Random House/Century

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson/Faber and Faber

Heartman by M.P. Wright/Black & White Publishing

Good luck to all!

 

Crime Writing Festival Noirwich

Returns for a second year this September, launching its programme with Lee Child, and announcing new partner Dead Good Books

After the success of last year's festival, Noirwich Crime Writing Festival is returning to the streets of Norwich from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 20 September to bring award winning authors to the UNESCO City of Literature.

In 2014, over 500 people attended the festival and this year plans to be even bigger with Lee Child announced as the headline act on Thursday 17 September at Jarrolds Department Store.

This year, festival goers can experience the breadth of crime writing, from exciting debuts to new author collaborations at the festival.

The full line-up, tickets and more information about Noirwich can be found on www.noirwich.co.uk

 

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith to be published October 2015

J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith have announced the publication dates for the upcoming Cormoran Strike crime novel, Career of Evil.

The book, which will be published by Little, Brown Book Group, is set to be released in US on 20th of October and in UK on 22nd of October

 

Orenda Books Signs New Amanda Jennings Thriller

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, is thrilled to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for bestselling author Amanda Jennings' In Her Wake, from Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency.

A dark, page-turning psychological thriller, In Her Wake is also a profoundly moving and dramatic story of one woman's self-discovery, when a family tragedy reveals shocking news that changes her life forever.

Karen says, “In Her Wake is a chilling, exquisitely written and evocative thriller that hinges on the abduction of a child, and the effect this crime has on everyone connected with it. It's also a compelling study of the nature of identity, with a series of interconnected, shocking discoveries driving a complex and deftly orchestrated plot set on the ruggedly beautiful, richly described Cornish coast. Amanda's reputation as a fine writer preceded her, and In Her Wake is undoubtedly her best yet, placing her firmly at the heart of contemporary crime fiction. I could not be more excited to publish Amanda, and know that In Her Wake is a perfect fit for the growing Orenda list.”

Amanda says, “I am over the moon to be joining Orenda. I am inspired by Karen's energy and passion, and it's wonderful to see how she champions her books and takes care of her authors. It's an exciting time for me and I very much look forward to working with her and the rest of the talented team.”

In Her Wake will be published in Spring 2016, by Orenda Books.

 

Cooking Classes with Agatha Christie

 

A unique cookery demonstration is to be held to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime. It will be in Christie’s own Devon kitchen, and guests are advised to treat samples with extreme caution.

 

The French writer Anne Martinetti will be recreating recipes from Christie’s books, singling out those particularly suitable for concealing poison as an extra ingredient. As any devotee of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot knows, the great detectives only have to show up for a morning coffee, light luncheon or afternoon tea party for one of the guests to topple over the table clutching their throat and turning blue.  Read more...

 

 

The Cuckoo's Calling to be televised!

JK Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels, written under her pen name of Robert Galbraith until she was unmasked as the author, are to be turned into a BBC crime series. Rowling published The Cuckoo’s Calling in April 2013 as Robert Galbraith. Three months later, it emerged that Galbraith and Rowling were one and the same.

The Cuckoo’s Calling will be the first book adapted for BBC One, with filming set to begin in the New Year. Rowling will collaborate on the project, also will include The Silkworm and casting for the lead role is under way.

The Casual Vacancy, has also been adapted for BBC One miniseries, in association with HBO and will be broadcast in February. The confirmed cast includes Michael Gambon, Keeley Hawes, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan, Julia McKenzie, and introduces Abigail Lawrie.

The BBC said it was a "coup" to secure the books.

The Cuckoo's Calling -----

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.

Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . .