​We’ll start this week’s (slightly later than scheduled) news roundup with some lovely deal news…
 
Fans of Paul Fraser Collard’s Jack Lark series - rejoice! You're getting another three books, as a further deal has been agreed, negotiated by David H Headley and Headline’s Frankie Edwards. This gripping historical war series began life in 2013 with The Scarlet Thief and the most recent, The Rebel Killer, was released in July 2018. The books have been hailed as “brilliant” by Bernard Cornwall.
 
Fantastic audiobook news now for Claire Dyer’s “heartrending” The Last Day, which has been acquired by Oakhill Publishing. The Dome Press published the book in February 2018 and it was met with overwhelmingly high praise from the likes of Julie Cohen (“tender, beautifully written”); Amanda Jennings (“exquisitely written”); Iona Grey (“utterly compelling”) and many more. 

​Two early 2019 releases arrived in the office this week: Puzzle Girl by Rachael Featherstone and Deadly Focus by R.C. Bridgestock. These two titles will be published by The Dome Press in January and we are completely head over heels for these covers!
 
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas round these parts, and Phillipa Ashley is making sure no one forgets it! Her Christmas on the Little Cornish Isles: the Driftwood Inn jumped in at No. 3 in The Bookseller’s Heatseekers’ Chart. The first in Phillipa’s new ‘Little Cornish Isles’ series, the book follows Maisie Samson who has just moved back to quiet Gull Island where she grew up, to help run the family inn. Curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, stick some fluffy socks on, and get that fire going. Thank us later (just FYI, we like Terry’s chocolate orange and bottles of fizz)!
 
Overjoyed for Mr. Stuart Turton as it was announced this week that his debut novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has been included on the Costa shortlist. Lithuanian rights for the book have also been sold to Baltos Lankos in a deal negotiated by Jemma McDonagh at the Marsh Agency on behalf of Harry Illingworth. Not a bad week for Stu, all in all!

Finally, we’re rounding everything off with an exciting cover reveal! Last week, @VictoriaGoldma2 unveiled the cover for Paul Hardisty’s new standalone book, Turbulent Wake (Orenda Books, March 2019). Paul is well-known for his action-packed Claymore Straker novels, but now for something a little different…
 
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Ethan Scofield returns to the place of his birth to bury his father. Hidden in one of the upstairs rooms of the old man’s house he finds a strange manuscript, a collection of stories that seems to cover the whole of his father’s turbulent life.

As his own life starts to unravel, Ethan works his way through the manuscript, trying to find answers to the mysteries that have plagued him since he was a child. What happened to his little brother? Why was his mother taken from him? And why, in the end, when there was no one else left, did his own father push him away?

Swinging from the coral cays of the Caribbean to the dangerous deserts of Yemen and the wild rivers of Africa, Turbulent Wake is a bewitching, powerful and deeply moving story of love and loss … of the indelible damage we do to those closest to us and, ultimately, of the power of redemption in a time of change.
 
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Intriguing, haunting and not without a dose of your much-needed thrills, this is one you won’t want to miss - and it’s available for pre-order now.
 
Paul also recently took part in an interview for The Big Thrill and spoke about his latest Claymore Straker book, Absolution. You can read the whole thing right here.

We're tickled pink this Friday, as Stuart Turton's debut novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has been selected for the Costa Awards First Novel shortlist!

The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. 

There are five categories:

• First Novel
• Novel
• Biography
• Poetry
• Children's Book

One of these five winners is also chosen as Book of the Year, announced at an awards ceremony in London in January. 

Launched in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards, they became the Whitbread Book Awards in 1985, with Costa taking over in 2006. 

Of the book, judges said: "Impossibly clever, genre-busting murder mystery that feels like a mash-up of Cluedo, Sherlock and Groundhog Day."

Follow Stuart Turton on Twitter.

​Hearty congratulations to Stuart Turton, whose debut novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has scooped the Books Are My Bag Novel Award 2018.
 
Fighting off stiff competition, Elisabeth’s Lists by Lulah Ellender has been listed as one of The Spectator’s Books of the Year. From shopping items, to possessions to be packed for a trip abroad, this beautifully woven non-fiction pieces together handwritten lists penned by Lulah’s own grandmother - Elisabeth and was published by Granta Books in March 2018. “A tender memoir… A moving evocative read. Five stars” (Sunday Express).
 
Luke Turner is in conversation with Olivia Laing (Crudo, The Lonley City) on Friday 18th January 2019 at the London Review Bookshop. Luke will be discussing his debut non-fiction book, Out of the Woods (published on the 24th January 2019 by Wiedenfeld & Nicolson), a fierce, poignant and highly original memoir about sexuality, shame and the lure of the trees. Buy tickets here.
 
Now for a couple of very cheering translation deals…
 
Anna Jacobs’ Beyond the Sunset and Destiny’s Path have been sold to French publishing house Editions l’Archipel and Clare Boyd’s debut psychological thriller Little Liar has been snapped up by Italy’s Newton Compton. 

​The winners were announced this week for the 2018 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. The contest, now in its fourth year, recognises visually appealing - and of course, amusing - photos of animals in their natural habitat.
​The Award, founded by Paul Joynson Hicks and boasting Tom Sullam as its Chair of Judges and Competition Director, was handed to Mary McGowan for ‘Caught In The Act’ (see photo). You can buy Volume II in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards series here and read more about the competition here.

​Finally, we’d like to extend a very warm welcome to new DHH client, Femi Kayode (represented by Harry Illingworth). Femi has spent the last two decades in advertising and also managed to create an impressive resume on prime-time television by creating, writing and developing several award-winning TV dramas.
            Femi recently completed an MA in Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where his novel Lightseeker won the Little Brown / UEA Crime Fiction Award. He lives in Namibia with his wife, two sons and two overly friendly dogs.

​We’re kicking off this weeks’ news roundup with a hearty congratulations to Abi Elphinstone, whose novel Sky Song has been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2019! This superb award is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The longlist will be announced in February 2019 and the shortlist in March 2019. Good luck, Abi!
 
The eBooks of both Sarah Simpson’s new book Who I Am and R.C. Bridgestock’s Deadly Focus were released this week. Who I Am follows best friends Andi and Camilla, but one of them is hiding a secret - a secret that someone is threatening to bring to light. This stunning psychological thriller will make you question whether we can ever really trust the ones we love.
 
Earlier this year, The Dome Press acquired the rights to the ‘DI Jack Dylan’ series with the aim of reissuing these gripping police procedurals set in Yorkshire, complete with a new edit and original cover art. Deadly Focus is the first in the popular series by husband and wife writing duo, R.C. Bridgestock. When the body of a young girl is found on a windswept moor, the town of Harrowfield is shocked and unsettled. As the murder investigation gets underway, another child is abducted, and another small body is found. The pressure mounts for DI Jack Dylan as he races to solve the case before a third child is snatched.
 
Staying with RC Bridgestock, the cover for Poetic Justice was revealed last week (thanks to @sarahhardy681) and what a corker it is! Poetic Justice is the prequel to all the DI Jack Dylan books written previously and could be the perfect place to start for those who are just acquainting themselves with the series - and we strongly recommend that you do…!
 
Congratulations to Stuart Turton and his debut novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which was shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association HWA Debut Crown Shortlist Award 2018. Though it didn’t quite make it in to the winner’s envelope, we are immensely proud of Stuart and this “mind-bending”, “gripping”, “original” “unique”, “mind-blowing” (we could go on…) book. 

​Christmas is just around the corner (seriously, where has 2018 gone??) and so now is the time to start thinking about gifts for your loved ones. We were delighted to see Stephen Moss’ The Wren (Spare Peg, October 2018) selected in Saga magazine’s Christmas Books feature under ‘Stocking Fillers’. This charming book takes you through a year in the life of the wren, complete with beautiful illustrations, and is the perfect gift for the nature lover in your family.
 
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton has been shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards in the category of New Writers. The winner will be announced in a ceremony hosted by Zoe Ball on Tuesday 20th November.
            We’d also like to remind you that voting closes at 11.59pm TONIGHT (Monday 5th November) for the Books Are My Bag Reader Awards and Seven Deaths is again nominated. If you’d like to cast your vote (hint, hint) then please click here.
            This superb debut is still impressing on the Sunday Times paperback bestseller charts, riding high at No. 11 this week.
 
Are you looking for something cosy and warm to snuggle up to this winter? Unfortunately, none of the office dogs are available, but Jo Thomas’ A Winter Beneath the Stars is - and for only 99p in eBook, only for the month of November! “A sparkling, heartwarming hug of a story” (Miranda Dickinson).
 
The blog tour continues for J.D. Fennell’s Sleeper: The Red Storm and we are blown away by the incredible feedback from bloggers. “Fennell’s style is sharp, purposeful and never allows the story to drag… fascinating twists and superb plotting” (@NorthernReader); “a compelling and fresh wartime espionage drama” (@karlou); “This second book is a fantastic instalment in the series, and I think that it will thrill fans” (@TheQuietKnitter); “With lots of thrilling events, shocking twists and turns my attention was fully focused on the pages of this book, I really couldn’t ask for much more!” (@rae_reads1).
            If you have yet to get your hands on a copy of this action-packed thrill ride by an author who has been described by Ragnar Jonasson as “truly the rising star of action thriller[s]”, then make sure you rectify that terrible oversight now. Sleeper: The Red Storm is available in eBook, hardback or paperback.
 
New to the DHH stable, our soon-to-be Doctor of Foghorns, Jennifer Lucy Allan, hosted BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction on the 30th and 31st October, celebrating songs by siblings. Catch up here. Jennifer is currently completing her manuscript on the social and cultural history of the foghorn, working on curatorial projects for concert series Kammer Klang and the Outlands touring network.
 
Luke Turner’s debut Out of the Woods (Wiedenfeld & Nicholson, January 2019) was endorsed by none other than Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, in a podcast he hosted for The Quietus. Fancy a listen? Look no further.
 
Saga and historical romance author Anna Jacobs was interviewed by Romance Australia this week in an article entitled The Tasting Table: A Romantic Degustation which gave a fascinating insight in to her life as a writer. Click here to read more.
 
Ane Riel’s Resin was favourable reviewed by Jeff Noon in The Spectator last week, and we’re pleased as punch! “Ane Riel offers an even darker version of family life in Resin… The story is told from several points of view, including that of Live’s mother, who never leaves her bed, growing fatter and weaker, her flesh turning to mush. Her letters to Liv are poignant and tender, the only traces of love, and hope. Riel asks this question: what do we do when the thing which attempts to save us from harm becomes the main instrument of harm?... Resin is brilliantly written and quite relentless in its search for monsters.”
 
On Monday 29th October, we closed our Pitch DHH: York submissions, and now we are busy reading all your submissions! We are aiming to get back to everyone by the 22nd November at the very latest. We were overwhelmed and thrilled with the response, so watch this space for a Pitch DHH event coming soon, to a town near you…

We would like to end this week’s roundup with a massive CONGRATULATIONS to client Faridah Àbíké Íyímídé, whose debut novel Ace of Spades has been bought by Usborne in a deal negotiated between Hannah Sheppard and Becky Walker of Usborne. Ace of Spades is an “explosive” high-school thriller that examines institutionalised racism and will publish in summer 2020. ​

Commissioning editor at Usborne, Becky Walker, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Àbíké Íyímídé’s debut novel, Ace of Spades, and a second novel, from Hannah Sheppard at DHH Literary Agency. 

Walker said: "Faridah is a truly remarkable new talent, and, with Ace of Spades, has announced her arrival on the UKYA scene. At once peeling back the layers that can mask the magnitude of systemic racism, while simultaneously weaving a nail-bitingly-plotted story that keeps you guessing from beginning to end, Faridah is nothing short of searingly exceptional. We know that Faridah has a glittering future ahead of her, and we couldn’t be more proud to be her publisher." 

According to the acquisition statement: 'Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Or were perfect. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is spreading secrets about two students – rivals Devon and Chiamaka. Secrets that no one should have known. But as Devon and Chiamaka investigate, what appeared to be a high-school prank is revealed as something much more sinister. Suddenly they find themselves at the centre of a disturbing and deadly game. But how can you play the game when the cards are stacked against you?' 

Àbíké Íyímídé describes the novel as "embodying themes that I am very passionate about, such as homophobia in the black community, institutional racism and the diversity of thought amongst black people. I am so grateful for this opportunity to share this story and have others see themselves for the first time in these characters." 

Sheppard said: "I woke up on a Saturday morning to Faridah's Ace of Spades submission and had called in the full by 9am. Her concept excited me but her skill with voice and sharp, witty writing kept me hooked. I couldn't have been more excited when she accepted my offer of representation and I'm delighted we've found such a passionate home for her at Usborne… I anticipate big things!" 

"I am so excited to be working with Usborne on my story Ace of Spades! So many of my favourite books have been published by Usborne and so working with Becky is truly a dream come true," said Àbíké Íyímídé. 
​
Àbíké Íyímídé is a writer from London, currently studying English and Chinese in the north-east of Scotland. The book is to be published in the summer of 2020.

For all translation rights, please contact Jemma McDonagh at The Marsh Agency. 

​For all US rights queries, please contact Hannah Sheppard.