Macmillan's Thin Blue Spine

Late last year Literary Publicist Francesca Pearce had been busy contacting various literary commentators with an interest in the darkest edge of literature, Crime, Mystery and Thriller [namely Journalists, Reviewers, Bloggers, Editors, Writers, Booksellers and Literary Agents] - asking us to ‘save a date’ in our busy diaries. Many of us have known Francesca from her days with Penguin UK; as she had recently arrived at Macmillan Publishing;  and as Sherlock Holmes has once remarked to Dr John Watson M.D. ‘the games’ afoot’.

Macmillan [with its various publishing imprints] were planning their first Crime and Thriller Literary Party, one that would showcase some of their 2017 publication list., and also to highlight their web resource The Thin Blue Spine. The venue selected was somewhat apt, the Hunterian Museum within the London’s Royal College of Surgeons., adjacent to The London School of Economics.

Like any party host, as the time approaches one gets nervous as to attendance; for we all lead busy lives but the Macmillan team needn’t have worried for on arrival, it seemed the majority of London’s literary community had arrived. The Museum was decked out with advance copies of their 2017 output, promotional material, fine wine and canapes all in a convivial and surreal venue.

Macmillan’s Crime and Thriller List had grown to become one of the most intriguing, so it was of little surprise that the invited guests came in significant numbers. Many of Macmillan’s authors were present, and they mingled with the guests. It was good to meet up with Mandasue Heller, who had recently joined the Macmillan stable and had her novel RUN out on release. Mandasue and I laughed recalling the times we would bump into each other at Waterstones Deansgate, Manchester when Lee Child started publishing his Jack Reacher novels nearly two decades ago. It was also great to congratulate Ann Cleeves for her CWA Diamond Dagger that was to be awarded to her from the Crime Writers Association. For Macmillan, this would be the second consecutive year that one of their authors received the highest accolade in crime writing, as in 2016, the CWA Diamond Dagger was awarded to Peter James, a writer also at the top of his game after much hard work, developing his Roy Grace Thrillers. 

I chatted with Ann and was delighted that she would be recognised by her peers made even more wonderful after so many years of her championing the work of other writers. I reminded her that much of the fascination and popularity for Scandinavian and Nordic Crime Fiction in the UK was ignited during the inaugural Theakstons’ Crime-Writing Festival hosted in Harrogate in 2003; when she with colleagues showcased translated work. During that event her out-reach work with libraries was much applauded. I too share Ann’s enthusiasm for promoting libraries in this post-fact world.

I was also delighted to meet author Chris Morgan-Jones again as we first met at Crimefest Bristol when he debuted with An Agent of Deceit which he quickly followed up with this book. I told him that I enjoyed his latest novel The Searcher as had fellow writer David Edgerley Gates who I recently interviewed, and who was also a fan of his work.

So it was time to mingle again; and the canapes were excellent as was the wine selection which helped lubricate the proceedings. It was good to see Macmillan’s renowned senior team arrive, including Philippa McEwan, Maria Rejt, Wayne Brookes among many others.

I mentioned to Jeremy Trevathan of my unbridled enthusiasm for the new direction that Andrew Gross’ writing had taken upon joining Macmillan after many years with HarperCollins - with last year’s The One Man, and was looking forward with impatience for the follow-up.

It was soon time for Macmillan’s renowned publisher Jeremy Trevathan to welcome the assembled to the Party, which we have recorded for our readers here –

For more information about the upcoming work in 2017, click here and for The Thin Blue Spine click here

And here we present a selection of photos taken at Macmillan’s first Crime & Thriller Party -

Angela Clarke on Why I Dedicated My Book to Someone I’d Never Met

How do you decide who to dedicate your book to? Once you’ve done all the usual suspects: your parents, your lover, your children, siblings you are particularly fond of, and those you’re not, who else makes that hallowed page? As a writer that whole blank page they leave at the beginning is as inviting as fresh snow. (Though they forgot in my first published book, so the dedication is squished above all the legal stuff – thanks, guys). Sure, you’ve had a whole book to say what you want, but if it was fiction, that wasn’t really you, it was your character. My protagonists, twenty-four-year-old wannabe-journalist-come-big-mouth-world-saver Freddie Venton and her unshakable, reasoned ex-school mate, now police detective, pal DS Nasreen Cudmore, would credit completely different people than me. Nasreen, not keen on the limelight, would keep it clean, tight, uncompromising and predictable, she’d thank her family. Freddie would probably fill half the page with a diatribe, or a swipe at someone who’d wronged her in the past. Her dedication would be an eloquent two fingers up at someone who said she wouldn’t amount to much. There’d be a long list. And she’d be in glorious company. E E Cummings, famously dedicated his poetry collection No Thanks, repeating the title and lack of sentiment, with a list of every publisher that had rejected him on his first page. There are fourteen publishing houses listed, the defiant bitterness rammed home by each name being arranged into the shape of a funeral urn. The ashes of disappointment E E Cummings’ career would rise out of. Sock it to them, dude.

Joseph J. Rotman, dedicated An Introduction To Algebraic Topology: ‘To my wife Marganit and my children Ella Rose and Daniel Adam, without whom this book would have been completed two years earlier.’ A witty subversion from the norm. The dedication is an excellent showcase for the author’s character. I enjoyed Katerina Diamond’s dedication to her second crime thriller The Secret: ‘For my husband, without whom I would think about murder a lot less.’ And Gillian Flynn’s, Dark Places, which states: ‘What can I say about a man who knows how I think and still sleeps next to me with the lights off?’ Humorous and touching is a killer combination, giving a glimpse of the author behind the work. Jacqueline Susann dedicated Valley of the Dolls to her poodle. Because why not? You’re the author, you write the book, you get to dedicate it to who, whom, or what you wish. But those little words can reveal more than you might have intended. Charlotte Bronte triggered gossip when she dedicated the second edition of Jane Eyre to William Thackeray, after he enthusiastically reviewed the book. Problem was everyone thought William had worked his way between more than Lottie’s pages. Dedications are a minefield.

Which leads me back to my own opening page. Watch Me is the second in the Social Media Murder Series, and like the first, Follow Me, I undertook research while writing it. The story, among other things, concerns revenge porn, and specifically the anonymous online message boards where posters request and share stolen intimate and graphic images of their targets. The majority of victims in this area are girls aged 14- 25. They may be photos that have been instantly deleted, never shared, or sent to anyone else, but copies are still hacked and lifted from the cloud. These message boards are a grotty, dirty, depressing place to lurk and witness this violation, this humiliation, this horror of a modern crime. I wanted to bleach my keyboard, my computer, my eyes after seeing the grim reality and fallout of revenge porn. And then I spoke to Laura Higgins. Laura founded and runs the Revenge Porn Helpline in the UK. She sees this stuff every day. She speaks and meets with victims, fighting for them: legally, logistically, technically, and emotionally. Day in, day out, Laura and her team make a real difference to people’s lives. They are righting wrongs. They are educating, lobbying, and advocating against revenge porn. And I knew then that both Freddie and Nasreen would approve of my choice. Watch Me is dedicated to a woman I’ve never met. A group of people I’ve never met.  

It's for Laura Higgins and all those who work at www.RevengePornHelpline.org.uk. Proper, real life, crime fighting heroes.

Watch Me

YOU HAVE SIX SECONDS TO READ THIS MESSAGE…

The body of a 15-year-old is found hours after she sends a desperate message to her friends. It looks like suicide, until a second girl disappears.  This time, the message is sent directly to the Metropolitan Police – and an officer’s younger sister is missing.  DS Nasreen Cudmore and journalist Freddie Venton will stop at nothing to find her. But whoever’s behind the notes is playing a deadly game of hide and seek – and the clock is ticking.

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO SAVE THE GIRL’S LIFE.  MAKE THEM COUNT.

Angela Clarke’s latest book Watch Me (Avon, HarperCollins) is out now. 

You can find out more about Angela on www.AngelaClarke.co.uk. Follow her on Twitter @TheAngelaClarke. You can also find her on Facebook and on Instagram @TheAngelaClarke

The start of something beautiful? Spicer joins the CTU

As part of the #SpicerIsBack blog tour Chris Simms ponders whether it is the start of something beautiful with Detective Constable Spicer joining the CTU!

Lovable big lunk or stubborn old sod, you can’t miss Jon Spicer. At six feet four and over fifteen stone, he believes in making an impression – especially with those who break the law. The days of falling down police station stairs might be over, but Jon still knows ways to make scrotes suffer.

Unfortunately for him, this uncompromising attitude – so useful when confronting violent criminals – is less effective when dealing with fellow officers. And so, at the start of Death Games, we find Spicer has finally been thrown out of Greater Manchester Police’s Major Incident Team. With only the Counter Terrorism Unit prepared to take him in, Jon has had to accept a demotion in rank to Detective Constable and the humiliation of a probationary period.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. 

Having completed his training as a Specialist Firearms Officer, Jon gets to power round the city in an unmarked car with one major item in its boot: a weapons box. Inside are lots of shiny toys.

Weaponry isn’t the only thing that’s new to Jon. He also has to gain acceptance from a fresh set of colleagues, many much younger than him. His physical presence and fearsome reputation impresses a lot of them, but not all. Especially a particular female detective called Iona Khan.

I wrote DC Khan to be the polar opposite of DC Spicer. While Jon is tall, she is short (just over five feet tall). He likes to wade in without waiting; she likes to step back and assess. He enjoys sparring with his colleagues in the police station gym; she’s more likely to challenge them to chess.

And what they do have in common isn’t necessarily a recipe for friendship either: both are determined characters who hate to give up. Fine if they can agree on the best way forward...

Away from work, the two officers are very different. Married with kids, Jon is the father-figure of his family. Iona is the baby of hers. A career in the police isn’t something her academic parents approve of, especially not in the male-dominated, testosterone-fuelled CTU.

In Death Games, evidence has emerged that some kind of terror attack is about to be launched in the north-west. Spicer and Khan are part of the team trying to track an elusive figure that fled from the scene of a car crash. They soon realise it’s a chase where the price of losing will be the loss of life – including theirs.   

When it occurred to me that Spicer and Khan could make an interesting pair, part of me wondered why I hadn’t realised that before. Now their paths have crossed – and I hope you enjoy seeing how things work out.  

Death Games is by Chris Simms and is out now.

Death Games : Will your next move be your last?

Manchester: an injured survivor from a motorway pile-up flees the scene, leaving behind evidence that a terror attack is being planned… . Jon Spicer, newly trained as a Specialist Firearms Officer, has joined Manchester police’s Counter Terrorism Unit. Thrown out of his previous department and demoted to Detective Constable, he is being kept in the force only because he’ll take on the most dangerous of jobs.  Iona Khan is struggling to find respect and recognition in the male-dominated Counter Terrorism Unit. Her mind might be sharp, but many of her colleagues value physical strength above anything else.  As the investigation quickly snowballs, Spicer and Khan are thrown together. The two officers must learn to trust each other – and fast. Because in this chase, any wrong move could be your last. 

#SpicerIsBack

Chris Simms has worked in airports, nightclubs, post offices and telesales centres. He now lives in Marple, near Manchester, with his wife and four children. He still works as a freelance copywriter for advertising agencies in the city.  Along with nominations for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year award and Crime Writers’ Association Daggers (for his novels and short stories), Chris was selected by Waterstones as one of their ‘25 Authors For The Future’.  More info about Chris and his writing can be found at http://chrissimms.info/

 You can also find him on Facebook.

MICHAEL CONNELLY TO PUBLISH TWO NEW TITLES IN 2017

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR MICHAEL CONNELLY TO PUBLISH TWO NEW TITLES IN 2017 

– INCLUDING START OF A BRAND NEW SERIES

 

 

1st February 2017 – It was announced today that Michael Connelly, Sunday Times bestselling author of twenty-nine previous novels, including The Wrong Side of Goodbye and The Crossing, will publish two novels in 2017 including the start of a new series, with his longtime publisher Orion Publishing Group.

THE LATE SHOW, a new thriller introducing a driven young detective trying to prove herself in the LAPD, will publish in the UK in July 2017, and the next installment in the Bosch series (as-yet-UNTITLED) will publish in Autumn 2017.

Michael Connelly said: ‘I have been contemplating a new character like Renee Ballard for a long time and now seemed like the time to write the book. It’s been ten years since I introduced a new protagonist so I am very excited about this.’

In THE LATE SHOW, Renée Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none as each morning she turns her cases over to day shift detectives. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. But one night she catches two cases she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her own partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the cases entwine they pull her closer to her own demons - and the reason she won't give up her job no matter what the department throws at her.

Read more about Michael
MICHAEL CONNELLY: Grilled by Shots on The Scarecrow

Hold Fast: Harry Bosch finally makes it to the screen

Harrogate Crime Festive July 2005

Author Photo Credit: © Mark DeLong