​Publisher Stef Bierwerth has pre-empted with a significant six-figure offer UK & Commonwealth rights to Truly, Darkly, Deeply, the new standalone thriller by Victoria Selman via David Headley at DHH Literary Agency.

Truly, Darkly, Deeply tells the story of 12-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, who move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.

When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murders, questions remain as to his guilt – questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free – or bury her deeper?

Stef Bierwerth says, ‘I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Victoria Selman to Quercus. Truly, Darkly, Deeply is one of those thrillers that are very hard not to finish in one sitting. Brilliantly written from Sophie’s perspective and mainly set in 80s London, it’s a serial killer thriller of a very different kind that really gets under your skin. It’s an incredibly filmic novel that reminded me of watching TV series like Mindhunter and Matty Melgren is a character that is guaranteed to captivate readers. We will launch Truly, Darkly, Deeply as a flagship publication on our thriller list next summer.’

Victoria Selman says, ‘I’m hugely excited to be working with Stefanie Bierwerth and the Quercus team who have such enthusiasm for this book and an innate understanding of what I want to achieve with it. Truly, Darkly, Deeply has found the perfect home!’

Victoria Selman is the author of the critically acclaimed Ziba MacKenzie series and has been previously published by Thomas & Mercer. Her debut novel, Blood for Blood, was shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Debut Dagger Award and an Amazon Charts #1 bestseller for five weeks, selling over half a million copies. Victoria Selman writes for the Independent and co-hosts Crime Time FM with Barry Forshaw and Paul Burke.
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Quercus is launching Truly, Darkly, Deeply in its first formats in July 2022.

Congratulations to our clients Clare Whitfield and Stuart Turton, who have both been longlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2021, for their novels, People of Abandoned Character and The Devil and the Dark Water, respectively.

Congratulations to Brian McGilloway, whose standalone, The Last Crossing, has been shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021. 

Happy Publication Day to these fabulous book, and their equally fabulous authors. All are available to buy now, and to find out more about each title, simply click on the book cover below.

• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
• The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson
• The Crackledawn Dragon by Abi Elphinstone
• The Righteous by David Wragg

Ragnar Jónasson's was interviewed by The Times​' Debra Craine, and talks about how the moody, Nordic landscape has inspired both his work - and countless others. 

Last week, we received the incredible news that M. W. Craven's fourth Washington Poe book, Dead Ground, had gone into the No.7 spot in the Sunday Times ​bestseller list - after just one week of publication!

Not only that, but Swedish rights for this, and the third in the series, The Curator have gone to Modernista; The Curator has also sold to Roca Editorial in Spain; and Czech rights Dead Ground have gone to the home of the first three books, Dobrovsky. 

​An incredible week - congratulations, Mike!

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's debut, The Creak on the Stairs, has sold to Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Germany.

In addition, the second in the series, Girls Who Lie, has also sold to Kiepenheuer & Witsch as well as Lesa Press in Israel, for rights in the Hebrew language.

We're kicking off this week's DHH News Roundup with a couple of lovely Kindle Monthly Deals for June. Simply click on the image below to take you straight to the deal:

We are delighted to welcome Lizzie Enfield to the Agency, who joins Broo Doherty's list. 

​​Lizzie Enfield is a journalist and regular contributor to national newspapers, magazines and radio. She began her career as a reporter and producer for BBC radio and continued to report after going freelance.

She has written five novels (the latest two as Elizabeth) one non-fiction title and had short stories broadcast on Radio Four and published in various magazines and anthologies. She also teaches creative writing and journalism.

The cover for Anna Jacobs' forthcoming wintry wonderland of a book, A Very Special Christmas​, was revealed last week:

The fourth in M. W. Craven's much-loved Washington Poe series, Dead Ground, was published last week in hardback and eBook. 

​Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused - he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp - but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken...

​Order your copy here. 

Finally, we were delighted to see Ragnar Jónasson's forthcoming The Girl Who Died selected by The Times as one of their 'Best Books of 2021'.

Published this Thursday 10th June from Michael Joseph. Pre-order your copy here. 

We are beginning this week's DHH News Roundup with the absolutely FANTASTIC news that Darren Charlton's YA debut, Wranglestone, has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2021!

Also published this week was the first in Erin Green's gorgeous, new, feel-good Shetland-based series, From Shetland, With Love. 

"Thoroughly entertaining. The characters are warm and well-drawn. I thoroughly recommend this book if you are looking for a light-hearted read. 5 stars." Sue Roberts

If you love Lucy Diamond, Phillipa Ashley, Sue Moorcroft and Holly Martin, you will LOVE Erin Green's novels of love, life and laughter!

Not too long ago, we announced the exciting news that client Sarah Bonner would have her debut thriller, Her Perfect Twin, published by Hodder Studio in January 2022. 

While the pandemic has, without a doubt, stifled a lot of creative ability, Metro ran a fantastic piece about holding on to - or recovering - that inspiration and we were delighted to see Sarah contribute to it. 

​You can catch up on the article here. 

At the tail-end of last week, an eye-catchingly lovely cover reveal took place...

The Meeting Point, the next book from Someday In Paris author Olivia Lara, will be published in eBook (September '21) and paperback (December '21), from Aria. 

Finally, we are very happy to be welcoming Caroline Lamond to the Agency. 

Caroline joins Emily Glenister's list and is working on her book club, accessible lit-fic novel, The Sewing Circle (think Hollywood 1920s glamour, scandal & some of the most incredible women you've never heard of).

To read more about Caroline, click here. 

The debut YA novel from Darren Charlton, Wranglestone, has been shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2021 (Older Readers' Shortlist). 

The award helps discover and champion the very best that children's publishing has to offer today. 

​To follow along for more news on the prize and see the full shortlist, click here. 

​In addition, the book got a fantastic facelift to mark the occasion - check it out below!

We were delighted to see a host of DHH clients shortlisted for this year's CWA Dagger Awards.

• Robert Scragg and Victoria Selman are shortlisted for the Short Story Dagger for their contributions to the anthology, Afraid of the Christmas Lights - 'A Dog Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas' and 'Hunted', respectively​
• The Creak on the Stairs, the debut Icelandic noir from Eva Björg Ægisdóttir is shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
• Stuart Turton's The Devil and the Dark Water is shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

​Congratulations to all!

To discuss the recent publication of her book, Magnificent Women and Their Revolutionary Machines, Henrietta Heald appeared on The 150 Show last week, and you can catch up on YouTube here.

The Reading Agency have released their May booklist, with the theme 'Back In Time', tying in with local and community history month, and we were very happy indeed to see Clare Whitfield's stonking debut, People of Abandoned Character, included in the list. 

The eagerly-anticipated standalone from Ragnar Jónasson, The Girl Who Died (June 2021, Michael Joseph), has received a lovely review from US paper, the Dayton Daily News:

"Ragnar Jónasson's impeccable plotting is really a wonder of the crime genre."

We're welcoming new client Jon Watts to the agency this week, who joins David Headley's list.

A chef by trade, during the 2020 pandemic, Jon began sharing some of his recipes online and they became extremely popular, boosting his social media platforms. 

In 2021 Jon made his live television debut cooking on ITV’s This Morning. Outside of cooking, Jon has spent time mentoring young people, as well as giving talks in schools and prisons.
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His newest business venture is a restaurant that will focus on training young people who may be in similar situations to the one Jon was in almost 15 years ago.

An exciting cover reveal took place this week: Erin Green's From Shetland, With Love at Christmas:

A number of fabulous books were published from the Agency this week, congratulations to our clients:

Finally, we are very excited to be able to finally reveal this brilliant acquisition:

Pavilion Books is to publish designer and shop owner Eleanor Tattersfield’s Lockdown Secrets, a book based on a collection of anonymous postcards sent to her during lockdown. 

In the thick of the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, Tattersfield put out a call on Instagram, saying: "I'll send you a postcard, you send me a secret".

World English Rights were bought by Pavilion Books from David Headley. To read more, click here.

Pavilion Books is to publish designer and shop owner Eleanor Tattersfield’s Lockdown Secrets, a book based on a collection of anonymous postcards sent to her during lockdown.

In the thick of the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, Tattersfield put out a call on Instagram, saying: "I'll send you a postcard, you send me a secret".  The synopsis explains: "Lockdown Secrets is an astonishing record of what happened next. The book will offer a compelling collection of anonymous postcards sent during lockdown, revealing hilarious, salacious, relatable and sometimes heartbreaking secret confessions. Postcards poured in, some beautifully decorated, some simply handwritten, but each one anonymously sharing a very personal confession. They came from people of all ages and all walks of life, even including some celebrities. This book brings together the best of the postcards and all human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy homeschooling schedule, rediscovered marital bliss and, occasionally, poignant moments of sadness and despair." 

Tina Persaud, publishing director of Batsford at Pavilion Books, acquired World English Language rights from David Headley at DHH Literary Agency. The publisher will release as a gift book for Christmas 2021.

Persaud said: “We’re delighted to be working with Eleanor. Her Lockdown Secrets campaign reveals extraordinary confessions that vary from the hilarious to the heartbreaking. The beautiful postcards are a real insight into lockdown Britain.”

Tattersfield is the proprietor of Marby & Elm, a print workshop and stationery store on Exmouth Market, London, where she designs and hand-makes stationery. The shop started in her garden shed and grew into a family business.

She said: “I’m thrilled to be working with the team at Batsford, as they get how exciting and important to the history of lockdown this project is and will pull out all the stops, like me, to get this beautiful book under every Christmas tree this year!”

​From The Bookseller article | Ruth Comerford

Kicking off this week's news roundup with the very exciting cover reveal for R. C. Bridgestock's forthcoming Persecution​, the next in the DI Charley Mann series. 

Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Award last week, Brian McGilloway talks to Joe Haddow about his book, The Last Crossing, his writing inspiration and career to date - and everything in between.

​Catch up with the interview here.

Another cover reveal - this time for the second in Adrian Magson's Gonzales & Vaslik series, reissued by Canelo later this month, The Drone (originally published as The Bid). 

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The prisoner who wakes up in a box miles from anywhere.

The jailer who doesn't question his job.

The shipment of drones stolen from a cargo hub.

The terrorists planning a devastating attack on US soil.

When drone expert James Chadwick disappears without a trace, Cruxys Solutions investigators Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik are assigned to track his last movements.

With few clues to go on, the hunt moves from London to New York, gathering speed as they close in on a horrifying plan to kill the US president and inflict total damage on an Air Force base.

The countdown to a new era of destruction has begun. Gonzalez and Vaslik are the only ones who can stop it.

​Pre-order your copy here.

If you're a budding writer - or indeed a fully established writer - struggling with procrastination (something that seems to be far more prevalent this last year, one wonders why...) then this article by client Clare Whitfield might just help. 

Clare, author of People of Abandoned Character, has written a piece for Writer's Digest with her tips on how to try & overcome it. 

​You can read the full article here. 

We've got a few publication days to celebrate now - congratulations to our clients. 

A Valley Dream, the first in Anna Jacobs' new Backshaw Moss series, and the paperbacks for both Anna Stephens' fantasy epic, The Stone Knife and Paul Fraser Collard's ninth Jack Lark book, Fugitive​. 

Finally, we are very happy to be welcoming Becca Day to the Agency.

Becca joins Emily Glenister's list and is currently working on her debut psychological thriller, The Girl at the Gate​. To read more about Becca and follow her on social media, visit her author page here.