We are delighted to be able to reveal the paperback cover for Brian McGilloway's Sunday Times bestseller, ​The Empty Room (Constable Books, March 2022):

HarperCollins' One More Chapter has acquired world all language rights to Under Contract by Cassie Connor, 'a hilarious and sexy romcom that taps perfectly into the BookTok appreciation for romance alongside authors such as Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey.' Publishing director Charlotte Ledger acquired rights from Broo Doherty at DHH Literary in a two-book deal.

According to the acquisition statement: 'Under Contract follows hotshot lawyer Becca who is dreading the annual family Thanksgiving break where the question on everyone’s lips will be "why are you still single?". So when she has a one night stand with a gorgeous stranger she meets in a bar, Becca decides to do what she does best: make a deal with Mr One Night to be her Mr Right…just for the holidays!

'With an iron-clad contract setting out the terms for their fake relationship, Becca has one important point. Clause 1.a. No kissing, no sex (as mind-blowing as it was), and absolutely no emotional attachment! But five thousand miles from home and spending every waking moment in the company of a man who makes her feel things she’s never felt before, just how easy will it be for Becca to stick to her own rules…

'Cassie Connor loves capsule wardrobes, packs light, enjoys weekending in Nice and takes her own champagne flute wherever she goes. She’s also got a history degree and has never finished War and Peace. When it comes to dating, her motto is CBA – Can’t Be Arsed – and has resorted to writing and inventing her own men because fictional heroes are always so much better. Hudson in her debut novel, Under Contract, proves the point perfectly.'

Connor said: "I’m absolute thrilled that my novel Under Contract has found a home at One More Chapter. I’ve always loved reading American romance and I despaired that a UK publisher would be willing to take on a British version but Charlotte Ledger has understood the vision for the book from the very first day it was pitched to her."
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Ledger said: "This book is SPICY and the whole team love it! As more and more of us in the industry proudly embrace romance thanks to the amazing appetite of our readers for stories with happy ever afters, not to mention the huge light Tiktok has shone on the genre, publishing a book this funny, this sexy and this romantic is a sheer delight. I know readers around the world will love it as much as I do."

​From the BookBrunch article

What better way to start the month with a plethora of fantastic eBook deals to see you through...

Simply click on the book cover below to take you straight to the promo!

To go along with the news, Tom wrote a piece for the Waterstones blog, on his favourite crime mysteries taking place "on the move".

Clearly a man of great taste, the list includes fellow DHH stablemate Stuart Turton's second novel, The Devil and the Dark Water.

​To read the full blog, click here.

The paperback of the second book from The Lost Ones author, Anita Frank - The Return - was published last week. 

A breathtaking WW2 love story, The Times said of it: "​An engaging story of secrets, sacrifice and the persistence of love."

The cover for Julie Caplin's (also known as Jules Wake) new 'Romantic Escapes' novel, The Christmas Castle in Scotland​ (October 2022, One More Chapter), has been revealed: 

Bestselling author, Phillipa Ashley, will be appearing at the Sandon Literature Festival in September, and tickets are available now. 

Having created its very own literature festival to take over the Hall, all Sandon's profits will be donated to the Staffordshire Women's Aid. 

Phillipa will be in conversation with fellow author, Katie Fforde, about keeping the romance of summer alive in their gorgeous 'getaway' novels. 

To celebrate the publication of her most recent novel, Retreat to the Spanish Sun, Jo Thomas wrote a piece for MyWeekly on finding inspiration in travel; something that is key to her trademark novels, designed to whisk you away for a few hours. 

To read the full article, click here.

Congratulations to client Lucy Fulford, who last week sold her non-fiction book, The Exiled: Empire, Immigration and How Ugandan Asians Changed Britain, to Hodder & Stoughton imprint, Coronet. The book is a narrative history of the Asian population of Uganda who were expelled by President Idi Amin in 1972.

Joelle Owusu-Sekyere, commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights including audio from Broo Doherty at D H H Literary Agency. It will be published in hardback, e-book and audio on 3rd August 2023. 

​Century fiction publishing director Emily Griffin acquired World Rights including audio to THE MURDER GAME and an untitled novel by Tom Hindle from Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary Agency.

THE MURDER GAME is a contemporary locked-room crime novel centred around a killing which takes place at a murder mystery party in a crumbling country hotel on the Devon coast.  






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In the seaside town of Hamlet Wick, guests assemble for a New Year’s Eve party to remember. It’s a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play. But the game has barely begun when one of the guests is found dead – killed by a fatal injury to the head. With no phone signal and no way out of the house, the guests are trapped with a killer amongst them. Someone is playing by their own rules. Can the guests unmask the culprit before they strike again?

Tom Hindle is originally from Yorkshire and now lives in Oxfordshire, where he writes full time. THE MURDER GAME follows hot on the heels of his debut novel, A FATAL CROSSING, which launches today as Waterstones Thriller of the Month for August supported by a major campaign.  

Tom Hindle says: ‘Seeing readers give A FATAL CROSSING such a warm reception has been nothing short of incredible. I wrote this book as a passion project at my kitchen table, hardly daring to think that I’d finish it, let alone that folks might one day want to read it – to be announcing today that it’s featuring as Waterstones Thriller of the Month is beyond anything I could have imagined. Looking to the future, I’m proud to be teaming up with the brilliant team at Century on two more novels. I’ve been working hard to cook up a pair of mysteries just as thrilling as A FATAL CROSSING, and I can’t wait to see what readers make of A MURDER GAME when it hits shelves in February.’

Emily Griffin says: ‘The reader response to A FATAL CROSSING has been incredible and Tom Hindle has outdone himself with this follow-up – which is three murder mysteries in one! With its stand-out concept, immersive setting, a cast of characters that leap from the page and fiendishly plotted twists, I have no doubt that readers will devour this in droves. This publication will be a major focus for Century in 2023 as we build on the exciting momentum ignited by Tom’s debut.’
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Century will publish THE MURDER GAME in hardback in February 2023, with the paperback edition following later on in the year.

​From The Bookseller article | Ruth Comerford

The paperback for Tom Hindle's debut, A Fatal Crossing, was published last week:

November 1924. The Endeavour sets sail from Southampton carrying 2,000 passengers and crew on a week-long voyage to New York.

When an elderly gentleman is found dead at the foot of a staircase, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare it a tragic accident. But James Temple, a strong-minded Scotland Yard inspector, is certain there is more to this misfortune than meets the eye.


​Birch agrees to investigate, and the trail quickly leads to the theft of a priceless painting. Its very existence is known only to its owner . . . and the dead man.

With just days remaining until they reach New York, and even Temple's purpose on board the Endeavour proving increasingly suspicious, Birch's search for the culprit is fraught with danger.

And all the while, the passengers continue to roam the ship with a killer in their midst...

Additionally, up on Unseen Histories, was an excerpt with an exclusive foreword from the author himself!

​Click here to see more.

To celebrate her 100th book being published, SeeSaw, Western Australia's art magazine, ran a piece interviewing Anna Jacobs about this enormous accomplishment. You can read the full interview here.

Anna's 100th book, A Valley Wedding, was published in May 2022.

Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books has acquired the World English Language rights to the new book by Essie Fox, The Fascination, which will publish in June 2023. The deal was brokered by David Headley. The Fascination ​is set in Victorian London and follows twins Keziah and Tilly Lovell and Theo, an orphan raised by a wealthy family. To read the full press release, click here.

Lily Cooper at Hodder & Stoughton pre-empted a two-book deal with Emily Glenister. Louise Swanson (a new direction for established author Louise Beech) will see End of Story published in January 2023, and is a twisty high-concept thriller, with a twist that no one will see coming ... To read the full press release, click here.

Orenda Books has landed Essie Fox’s "glittering" gothic novel, The Fascination.

Publisher Karen Sullivan acquired world English rights from David Headley at D H H Literary Agency for hardback publication in June 2023. 

"Well-known to the publishing industry, Orenda Books is an absolute powerhouse, so when Karen said she wanted to work with Essie on her new book, it just made perfect sense," said Headley. "It is a privilege to represent Essie and her writing, which only goes from strength to strength. I know that The Fascination has found its perfect home." 


The Fascination is set in Victorian London and follows twins Keziah and Tilly Lovell and Theo, an orphan raised by a wealthy family. The publisher wrote: "Coerced into promoting their father’s quack elixir, the girls are eventually sold to a mysterious Italian, known only as ‘Captain’. In a second strand we meet Theo, an orphan raised by his wealthy—and resentful—grandfather in an opulent country home. When his grandfather remarries, Theo is forced to leave his home without a penny to his name and takes on work as an assistant in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy. And it is here that the lives of the two sisters and Theo collide, with devastating effect." 

​Of the acquisition Sullivan said: "The Fascination is a glorious, glittering evocation of Victorian London and its obsession with ‘deformo-mania’; it’s sumptuous, visceral and exquisitely written, populated by superbly drawn, often unscrupulous characters, and powered by an unexpected, brooding tension and multiple layers of intrigue and deception. At its heart are universal themes of love and loss and, perhaps most powerfully, an examination of what it means to be unique, to fall outside the physical norm, to be excluded and exploited,and yet retain a fierce and independent spirit. Essie Fox is renowned for her atmospheric, bewitching explorations of Victoriana and this extraordinary, evocative novel showcases a writer at the height of her powers." 
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Fox added: "The Fascination  has been my passion for the last few years. It’s a story that was forming even while I was writing other novels, something bursting to get out. It was an absolute delight for me when Karen at Orenda shared my enthusiasm and had such vision for the project. I hope that readers will now take as much pleasure from the story as I felt when writing it."

Hodder & Stoughton has pre-empted a “twisty, unputdownable” high-concept thriller from Louise Swanson in a two-book deal. 

Lily Cooper, commissioning editor, bought UK and Commonwealth rights to End of Story from Emily Glenister at D H H Literary Agency. It will publish in hardback, e-book and audio in March 2023. "Louise Swanson", a pseudonym for Louise Beech, marks the beginning of a new direction for her as a high-concept thriller writer. 

End of Story is set in a near future, where fiction has been banned and writing is a crime. Once a bestselling author, Fern is now a cleaner in a hospital. Yet despite increasingly sinister visits from government officials, Fern is scrawling her secrets in a notepad she hides under her bed—her work on a phone line, reading bedtime stories to children, a young boy she meets who feels familiar, objects that keep disappearing and reappearing in her house, the resistance network she is part of. But when she has spent her life writing fiction, can she be trusted to tell the whole truth? 

​Beech has  published seven novels with Orenda Books. The Lion Tamer Who Lost (2018) was longlisted for the Polari Prize while Call Me Stargirl (2019) and The Mountain in My Shoe (2016) were both longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize. 

Beech said: “End of Story came from a unique and difficult place. I wrote it during the last lockdown, when writing was my saviour more than it ever had been before. It has been a rollercoaster ride. Emily Glenister and Lily Cooper just got the book and their support of and passion for it has been a joy.” 
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Cooper added: “Tense, imaginative and with a gasp-out-loud twist that will leave you dying to discuss with everyone around you, End of Story is fiction-writing at its most potent and thrilling. Louise is a unique talent and I am delighted to welcome her to Hodder in a deal that marks an exciting new chapter in her career.”  

​From The Bookseller article | Sian Bayley