Described by James Patterson as "one of the best thrillers of the year", Adam Hamdy's forthcoming second novel Pendulum has been snapped up by NBC Universal and Tom Hardy's production company Hardy Son & Baker, as a joint venture between the two. 

The US publication of Pendulum (Quercus) will take place next year - 3rd November for the UK and the rest of Europe - and Adam will adapt the book for screen. No stranger to adaptation, he wrote the screenplay for David Mitchell's number9dream. 

Tom Coan, Senior Vice President of Scripted Programming at NBC Universal International Studios said, "It was immediately clear to us that Pendulum's narrative would appeal to audiences internationally given the book is a thrilling, high-concept ride about the nature of our digitally connected society. We are thrilled to have Adam on board to adapt the book and look forward to taking the project to buyers."

Also giving us cause to celebrate here at DHH is the fact that L C Tyler's Elsie and Ethelred comic crime series has been bought by Bentley Productions, the same company that produces Midsomer Murders. The deal was brokered by Emily Hayward-Whitlock at the Artists Partnership and David Headley at DHH Literary Agency. 

Bentley said, "From the moment we read Len Tyler's wonderful novels we knew the wit and humour would be perfect for TV. We very much look forward to working with him on bringing The Herring Seller to the screen."

​Congratulations to both Adam and Len!

On Thursday 22nd September, Goldsboro Books held their annual event, Crime In the Court, an evening where crime fans have the opportunity to meet and have a drink with some of the best crime writers published today. 

2016 saw Goldsboro hold its fifth successive CITC, and boy was it a whopper! Around 200 hundred people attended, including this incredible list of authors. The amount of prep was immense and saw Orion Books' Ben Willis and Sam Eades arriving at 1pm to set up this very creepy installation to celebrate the highly anticipated release of Daniel Cole's forthcoming debut, Ragdoll, set to become one of 2017's biggest thrillers.

However before this, another delivery arrived in the form of cupcakes from baking company Crumbs and Doilies, making the Goldsboro team very happy indeed! These were no ordinary cupcakes - these were #WTFThatEnding cupcakes. If you're unfamiliar with that hashtag, we recommend you get on Twitter pronto!

Sarah Pinborough's new book, ​Behind Her Eyes will be released in January 2017, and the tagline is more than a little tempting: 'Don't trust this book. Don't trust this story. Don't trust yourself'. Proofs of this novel are scarce, but Goldsboro Books has been lucky enough to sneak a couple of copies and can confirm that this will blow your mind, crime / thriller fans!  

Just before the event started, the
team at Goldsboro were running
up and down stairs holding armfuls
of beautiful books, sourcing ice from
a far away land (Drury Lane, if
you must know) and putting together the window display, featuring
books from all the authors attending
on the night. As you can see from
the picture, we weren't short of a
writer or two, and what a list to have! 

There were so many authors coming,
it was hard to fit all the books in
the window - but once it had done,
it's never looked prettier, not
least because there was the un-
settling  torso of a mannequin
perched behind it (thanks Ben &
Sam!).

About an hour before kick off, the super-efficient and lovely teams from Transworld and Headline arrived to set up their respective tables, complete with drinks, advance reading copies, canapés and show boards!

In the blue corner, Transworld were there to promote Joseph Knox's Sirens (Jan 2017) and Belinda Bauer's new book The Beautiful Dead (Nov 17). For this, we had a staple cocktail, the Siren Sour, a gorgeous - if very strong - cognac based cocktail, and pesto and mozzarella pastries in the shape of beautiful little butterflies (thank you to Alison Barrow @ Transworld for those!). Also making an appearance in this display were show boards for Tammy Cohen's When She Was Bad and T. A. Cotterill's What Alice Knew (April 2017).

In the red corner, Headline were promoting Michelle Adams' My Sister (April 2017), and for these we had the ARCs, samplers and an entire bucket of JD & Coke!

Before night fell, it was time for Goldsboro Books' Harry Illingworth to deliver a speech to his "public". Ever the gent, he thanked David Headley, the team at Goldsboro, the publishers and the authors - and of course, the avid crime fans!

​Harry is also an agent here at D H H Literary Agency and recently had his first agented book published: Infernal​ by Mark de Jager. 

Now, for your delight and entertainment, below are some photos of the wonderful people we had attending the event:

Well, that's it for another year, crime fans! Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a wonderful evening for professionals and public alike. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for our events as we move in to the new year, and in the meantime - keeeeeeep reading!

Emily x

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights, including audio, to Ragnar Jónasson's forthcoming series, comprising of two books - the first of which is The Darkness (Dimma), due for release in Spring 2018. The deal was negotiated by David Headley at D H H Literary Agency.

The series will revolve around female detective inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir, who in the first book, is called to investigate when the body of a young woman, a Russian asylum seeker, is found. The second book, The Island (Drungi), deals with the investigation of two murders, ten years apart. 

MJ publishing director Maxine Hitchcock said of the acquisition, "Ragnar Jónasson has fast become one of the most respected authors of the crime genre and is one of the most talented. In this new series he promises even more. Hulda is a fantastic creation, a memorable, complex and emotionally engaging character, and one we are sure many readers in the UK and beyond will want to follow for many books to come."

Bookseller Article.