DHH News Roundup 20th - 26th November 2023
Chris Frost
The first of five publication days this week, we're kicking off this week's news roundup with the Chris McDonald's chiller thriller, The Killer's Christmas List (HarperNorth)!
All they want for Christmas is you...
In the picturesque village of Kibblesworth, DI Tom Stonem is dreaming of a quiet Christmas alone.
But in the shadow of the Angel of the North, a body lies waiting. The dead man is posed with a child’s Christmas list in his pocket, and the first mysterious item – 1. No angel – is crossed off.
When a second body is found – a woman, stabbed in the abdomen after her work Christmas do – Stonem is convinced there’s a grim connection between the crime scenes and the seemingly innocent list. 2. Red partee dress. Could this be a murderer’s twisted code?
As a blizzard rages in the Tyne & Wear countryside, the body count is snowballing. Can Stonem stop the killer before they get everyone on their Christmas list?
Taslin Pollock
We were delighted to welcome new client Taslin Pollock to the Agency this week. Taslin, who is an alumni of the 2023 All Stories Mentorship Programme and the 2022 HarperCollins Author and Design Academy and resides in Central Scotland, joins Abi Fellows' list, to work on her debut novel.
Talia Samuels
Also out last week was Talia Samuels' debut, The Christmas Swap (Penguin Michael Joseph), available now in paperback, eBook and audiobook. A Hallmark movie with a twist, this is bound to warm your heart this festive season.
It's the perfect Christmas love story.
Margot Murray is a newly single, high-flying businesswoman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance.
Ben Gibson is an unlucky-in-love sweetheart in need of a woman to bring home for the holidays.
Together, they make a pact: Margot gets a blissful week away from London in a picture-perfect manor, in exchange for posing as Ben's girlfriend.
The story can only go one way. Margot is sure to fall in love for real.
And she does.
With Ben's sister, Ellie.
What could possibly go wrong?
Phillipa Ashley
Huge congratulations to client Phillipa Ashley - over the past weekend, her latest book, Four Weddings and a Christmas (Avon) soared into the Sunday Times top ten paperbacks at no.9!
An absolutely phenomenal achievement and we couldn't be prouder of our brilliant client!
Anna Jacobs
Next up for publication days is the latest from multi-million copy bestseller, Anna Jacobs, Hawthorn Close (Allison & Busby), the second in her her 'Larch Tree Lane' series.
Rob Carswell has recently relocated to the Wiltshire village of Essington St Mary, although the reality is proving to be less peaceful than he had expected. For one thing, there's a nuisance of a dog to deal with but then he discovers the plight of neighbour Ilsa. Illness has taken its toll and she is also dealing with the machinations of a bullying builder intent on destroying the character of the street and the surrounding valley.
Amy Hatherall is feeling a little adrift following the death of her mother, but a final, handwritten letter leads her in an unexpected direction to a great-aunt she never knew she had in Wiltshire.
As the line of old hawthorn trees begin to blossom, they watch over as romance and new beginnings begin to bloom for the residents of the close.
Jon Ransom
Congratulations this past week must also go to Jon Ransom, whose debut novel The Whale Tattoo* (Muswell Press, March 2023), who won the Polari First Book Prize 2023 at last week's award ceremony.
The award explores all facets of the LGBTQ experience and we at DHH are proud to be a sponsor.
*The deal for the book was negotiated by Abi Fellows while she was at The Good Literary Agency
Natalie Marlow
The paperback for Natalie Marlow's debut, and the first in her 'William Garrett' series, Needless Alley (Baskerville) was published in paperback last week. The book was previously selected by The Financial Times as a one of their best summer thrillers of 2023.
BIRMINGHAM, 1933.
Private enquiry agent William Garrett facilitates divorces for the city's male elite. With the help of his best friend - charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton - William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job.
William's life changes when he meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client - a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. Soon, what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly.
Femi Kayode
Our final publication day celebrations come in the form of Femi Kayode's second Philip Taiwo mystery, Gaslight, which was published in the US last week (Mulholland Books).
And in more excellent Femi news, he has signed a further two-book deal with current UK publishers, Bloomsbury Raven.
Publishing director Alison Hennessey acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Harry Illingworth. Josh Kendall at Mullholland (Hachette) has acquired the US rights to the two books and will publish alongside the UK.