Alan Parks joins Baskerville with new World War Two thriller trilogy GUNNER

Image: Euan Robertson

We are delighted to announce that Alan Parks, the award-winning author of the Harry McCoy series, has joined Baskerville, the literary crime and thriller imprint of John Murray, with his new World War II-set thriller trilogy GUNNER. Yassine Belkacemi, Editorial Director at John Murray and Baskerville, acquired UK and Commonwealth Rights (excluding Canada) from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.  Following his international acclaim for McCoy, publishers have also secured translation rights for the first book, GUNNER, in France (Editions Payot & Rivages) and Italy (Bompiani), while all three books in the series have been sold in Spain (Tusquets).

Joseph Gunner, an ex-cop of Swedish heritage, arrives back in Glasgow after being wounded in combat. His old boss persuades him to help investigate a body found in the wreckage of a bombed-out building. But when the body turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner finds himself embroiled in a high level conspiracy that may well cost him his life. Partly inspired by the true story of Rudolph Hess’ secret mission to broker appeasement with Britain during WWII, GUNNER is a thrilling and compelling novel.

Alan Parks said: ‘I’m delighted to be embarking on this new series with Yassine and all at John Murray. Gunner has found a great home.’

On behalf of John Murray, Yassine Belkacemi added: ‘I’ve been a huge admirer of Alan’s work for a number of years and I’m buzzing that he has entrusted his brilliant new series to us at Baskerville. GUNNER is a riveting and extremely stylish work and Alan’s latest creation, Joseph Gunner, shows a great depth of humanity and complexity. I can’t wait for readers to meet him. The whole Baskerville and JMP team are delighted to welcome Alan and we can’t wait to launch the first book in this fantastic trilogy.’

‘Alan has so many ardent fans for his McCoy series – of which more in the future too – and it’s wonderful to see Alan’s new hero Joseph Gunner winning publishing admirers around the world already,’ said Isobel Dixon. ‘We are so thrilled that the GUNNER trilogy has found such a fine home with Yassine and Baskerville – a perfect match.’

About Alan Parks

Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before turning to crime writing.

His debut BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, the Prix Mystère de la Critique in the foreign fiction category, and was shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The fifth Harry McCoy book, MAY GOD FORGIVE, was published in April 2022 and won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Most recently, TO DIE IN JUNE, the sixth entry in the series, was published by Canongate in 2023. The Harry McCoy series is optioned for television.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city as well as spending time in London.

Praise for Alan Parks

‘One of the great Scottish crime writers’ – The Times

‘Tipped to become an enduring classic of tartan noir.’ – Sunday Post

‘The Harry McCoy books by the bold Alan Parks just get better and better… If you’re not already reading these books, get onto them now.’ – Liam McIlvanney

‘Noir has long been the dominant colour in the palette of such Scottish writers as Ian Rankin and Denise Mina, but Parks manages to find a deeper shade of black… A must for those who take their noir straight, no chaser.’ – Bill Ott, Booklist

‘The birth of a new kind of intuitive old detective; rogue, stubborn, and Scottish... the new smash hit of Scottish noir.’ –Laura Fernández, El País

Visit Alan’s website

Follow Alan on Twitter

Another Irish No.1 bestseller for Sheila O’Flanagan

We are delighted that THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR by Sheila O’Flanagan is No.1 in the Irish Original Fiction bestseller chart! Another chart-topper to add to an impressive list – most recently, Sheila’s two previous two novels, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE and WHAT EDEN DID NEXT, were both Irish No.1 bestsellers, with the latter spending a total of nine weeks in the Top Ten.

Published by Headline in the UK and Ireland on 9th May 2024, THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR follows an unlikely trio – Izzy, Charles and Ariel – whose coming together has some unexpected consequences…

Izzy is in the Caribbean on the honeymoon-that-isn’t after her fiancé broke her heart. She’s not looking for someone new. But when she meets Charles Miller, a successful writer holidaying alone, the electricity is undeniable. And what does she have to lose?

In Ireland, Charles’s ex-wife and agent Ariel flits from party to party, glamorous and poised. She’s in constant contact with Charles. They’re very close. Ariel wonders if they should get back together. She’s an independent woman, but she liked being part of a power couple. And she’s sure she only has to say, and they’ll pick up where they left off.

No matter how in control of life you think you are, it can shock and surprise you. As Izzy, Ariel and Charles are about to find out...

Sheila will be a headline guest at this year’s (already sold-out) Prima Rooftop Book Event in July alongside Kristen Perrin, Laura Kay and Blake Friedmann’s own Norie Clarke. Books Editor Nina Pottell will host the event.

You can listen to Sheila talk about THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR on Ireland AM here.

Photo credit: Bill Waters

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Most of her novels have been immediate and long-lasting No 1s in Ireland, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers and Kindle Bestsellers, and she is published in more than twenty languages around the world. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award.

 Praise for THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR

An Irish Times ‘Fiction to look out for in 2024’ pick

A Belfast Telegraph ‘Here’s everything to get excited about in 2024’ pick

An i newspaper ‘Best new books to read in May 2024’ pick

‘A glitzy, glamorous rollercoaster of a romance – hugely entertaining escapism and so satisfying. Sheila O’Flanagan at her sparkling best’ – Veronica Henry

‘Once again, Sheila O’Flanagan delivers a riveting story, strong characters, great settings and a satisfying dose of romantic adventure, while managing all the while to fly the flag for independent women.’ – Roisin Meaney

‘What a fascinating book, set in the world of publishing. I loved it!’ – Sue Moorcroft

‘Compelling in its intricacy, and the main characters, Izzy and Ariel, will get under your skin.’ – Vicki Notaro, The Sunday Times

Visit Sheila’s website.

Follow Sheila on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR by Sheila O’Flanagan is an immediate Irish bestseller

THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR by Sheila O’Flanagan has hit No.4 on the Irish charts after only three days on sale.

Published by Headline in the UK and Ireland on 9th May 2024, THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR has already proved a hit among readers, with one fan describing it as ‘fabulous’ and another saying they ‘definitely didn’t want to put this book down.’

THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR follows an unlikely trio – Izzy, Charles and Ariel – whose coming together has some unexpected consequences…

Izzy is in the Caribbean on the honeymoon-that-isn’t after her fiancé broke her heart. She’s not looking for someone new. But when she meets Charles Miller, a successful writer holidaying alone, the electricity is undeniable. And what does she have to lose?

 In Ireland, Charles’s ex-wife and agent Ariel flits from party to party, glamorous and poised. She’s in constant contact with Charles. They’re very close. Ariel wonders if they should get back together. She’s an independent woman, but she liked being part of a power couple. And she’s sure she only has to say, and they’ll pick up where they left off.

No matter how in control of life you think you are, it can shock and surprise you. As Izzy, Ariel and Charles are about to find out...

Sheila celebrated publication in Dublin with her Headline editor Marion Donaldson, the Hachette Ireland teams, agent Isobel Dixon and a group of Irish booksellers.

Sheila’s previous two novels, THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE and WHAT EDEN DID NEXT, were both Irish No.1 bestsellers, with the latter spending a total of nine weeks in the Top Ten. WHAT EDEN DID NEXT was also shortlisted for Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2022.

Sheila will be a headline guest at this year’s (already sold-out) Prima Rooftop Book Event in July alongside Kristen Perrin, Laura Kay and Blake Friedmann’s own Norie Clarke. Books Editor Nina Pottell will host the event.

Photo credit: Isobel Dixon

About Sheila O’Flanagan

Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Most of her novels have been immediate and long-lasting No 1s in Ireland, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers and Kindle Bestsellers, and she is published in more than twenty languages around the world. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award.

Praise for THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR

An Irish Times ‘Fiction to look out for in 2024’ pick

A Belfast Telegraph ‘Here’s everything to get excited about in 2024’ pick

An i newspaper ‘Best new books to read in May 2024’ pick

‘A glitzy, glamorous rollercoaster of a romance – hugely entertaining escapism and so satisfying Sheila O’Flanagan at her sparkling best’ – Veronica Henry

‘Once again, Sheila O’Flanagan delivers a riveting story, strong characters, great settings and a satisfying dose of romantic adventure, while managing all the while to fly the flag for independent women.’ – Roisin Meaney

‘What a fascinating book, set in the world of publishing. I loved it!’ – Sue Moorcroft

 Visit Sheila’s website.

 Follow Sheila on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

Double Top Ten bestsellers for Peter James with THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD and STOP THEM DEAD

THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD by Peter James has jumped straight to Number One in the UK Bestsellers list after only three days on sale in hardback. It joins the paperback edition of the nineteenth instalment of the Roy Grace series, STOP THEM DEAD, which spends its third week in the Top Ten.

Published by Pan Macmillan, THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD: Sandy’s Story is the much-anticipated standalone novel revealing the astonishing reasons behind Sandy Grace’s disappearance. Set in a parallel timeline to the main Roy Grace series, THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD sheds light on the mystery of why Sandy disappeared, her reasons for leaving Roy, and what happened to her next. Readers join her as she travels down an increasingly dark path, trying to keep one step ahead of her enemies.

To celebrate publication of THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD, Peter has carried out book signings across the UK as well as Q&A events in Brighton, Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells. Peter also hosted a special afternoon tea for book influencers at The Grand, Brighton which you can see more of here. This week the Jersey launch will take place, followed by appearances at multiple festivals later in the year including Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, Bloody Scotland, Chiltern Kills and Fatal Shore.

Peter was featured in the Daily Express this week with Matt Nixson describing THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD as ‘a brilliantly fast-paced thriller with more twists and turns than a Tour de France descent. No doubt it’ll be eagerly read by fans.’ Waterstones describe the book as ‘an absolute must-read’ while Janet Gordon of the Bishop’s Stortford Independent found the book ‘completely compelling… staying up all night just to find out exactly how, what and when.’

About Peter James
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, repeatedly occupying the Number One slot on the Sunday Times bestseller charts in both hardback and paperback. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series, now adapted for ITV by screenwriter and ENDEAVOUR creator, Russell Lewis. The opening episode of GRACE, based on the first Roy Grace novel, DEAD SIMPLE, was broadcast in March 2021 with John Simm starring in the lead role as the tenacious detective. It was a TV Pick of the Day across all the major UK newspapers, appeared on ITV 1’s prime Sunday night slot and viewing figures quickly reached more than 8.8 million, with glowing reviews. The fourth series is due to air in Autumn 2024 and the fifth series of GRACE began filming in April 2024.

Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-one million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 19 consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award and in 2024 he won four Silver Nielsen Bestseller Awards. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015,) NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017), THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019), LOOKING GOOD DEAD (2021) and WISH YOU WERE DEAD (2023) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. His stage shows to date have grossed over £17 million at the box office. Several of his works are optioned for film.

Peter took part in the launch podcast of the Queen’s Reading Room in January 2024, having had the Grace series featured on the Royal Reading Room previously.

Praise for Peter James
‘If you have never read Peter James’ crime thriller series about the Sussex detective Roy Grace, I would highly recommend you give it a try.’ – Queen Camilla, Press and Journal

‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters.’ – The Daily Mail

‘Roy Grace ... is fast becoming one of the more memorable coppers in modern crime fiction ... A first class police procedural.’ – The Times

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

‘In uncertain times, I always tend to fall back on old, familiar favourites, so I’ll be reading Peter James’ Roy Grace series. They are thrillers with enough drama to keep you guessing. Reading a well-crafted mystery gives me a sense of accomplishment – almost as if I’ve solved everything myself!’ – Emma Shacklock, Books Editor, Women & Home Magazine

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Lee Child

‘A master plotter.’ – The Bookseller

‘James has been compared with Stephen King, but in many ways he's better’ – Daily Express

‘I cannot remember when I last read a novel I enjoyed so much’ – Sunday Telegraph

Visit Peter’s website.
Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Six Blake Friedmann titles make the illustrious New York Times ‘Best Books since 2000’ list

Six Blake Friedmann titles have been included in The New York Times ‘Best Books since 2000’ list.

A compilation of their annual ‘Best Books’ lists from every year since 2000, the ‘Best Books since 2000’ list comprises of 3,228 titles and celebrates the best books (according to the New York Times) regardless of genre, form or subject matter. It is noteworthy how many titles highlighted in these annual lists have gone on to be international bestsellers and / or achieve classic status.

We are delighted that the following Blake Friedmann authors and titles have made the selection.

Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Booker-longlisted novel CASE STUDY made the 2022 list and WINTERTON BLUE by Trezza Azzopardi was included in 2007. Zakes Mda has two titles on the list – his memoir SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID (2012) and THE HEART OF REDNESS (2002) – while VINDICATION: A LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT by Lyndall Gordon appeared in the 2005 list and the million-copy bestseller STAR OF THE SEA by Joseph O’Connor was highlighted for 2003.

WINTERTON BLUE by Booker-shortlisted author Trezza Azzopardi was first published in 2007 by Picador in the UK and by Grove Atlantic in the US. It was longlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award and is at once a powerful love story and an intricately plotted mystery that explores the staying power of family and memory, and the pull of unlikely but destined romance. ‘Azzopardi uses her visual imagination to conjure scenes of humor as well as heartbreak.’

CASE STUDY by Graeme Macrae Burnet was published in 2021 by Saraband Books in the UK, and listed for  prizes including the 2023 Dublin Literary Award and the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize. To date, rights have been sold in 18 countries, with Text publishing in Australia and Biblioasis in North America. Through a series of notebooks, the novel follows the story of a young woman who, convinced that the psychotherapist Arthur Collins Braithwaite is responsible for her sister’s suicide, assumes a fake identity and presents herself to him as a patient so she can find out the truth about her sister. Saraband, Biblioasis and Text are set to publish Graeme’s next novel, A CASE OF MATRICIDE, in October 2024, concluding his popular Inspector Gorski trilogy.

Lyndall Gordon’s VINDICATION: A LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT explores the life of a woman often criticised by biographers, historians and feminists alike. Gordon challenges such opinions, and portrays instead the genius of this extraordinary woman. A New York Times bestseller, VINDICATION: A LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT is published by Virago in the UK and by HarperCollins in the US, and made the longlist for the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.

Zakes Mda’s SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID and THE HEART OF REDNESS were published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in the US. The latter is often cited as one of South Africa’s Top Ten classics and is a novel of great scope and deep human feeling, of passion and reconciliation, bringing together the story of South African village life with a notorious episode from the country's past. Zakes Mda’s acclaimed memoir SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID is often disarmingly candid. It weaves together past and present to give an intensely personal story of his development in life, love, learning and literature, and the events and people who shaped him.

Joseph O’Connor’s international bestseller STAR OF THE SEA is set on a ship fleeing the aftermath of the Irish Famine. It was published by Harvill Secker in the UK and by Harcourt Brace in the US, and has been translated into 38 languages. It won France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Nielsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. Joseph is currently working on his next novel, THE GHOSTS OF ROME, the sequel to MY FATHER’S HOUSE, due to be published by Harvill Secker in the UK and Europa in the US in early 2025.

Photo credit: Rosie Johnson

About Trezza Azzopardi

Trezza Azzopardi was born and grew up in Cardiff. She has an MA in Film Studies from The University of Derby, and in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she now teaches.

Trezza has written four novels: her first, THE HIDING PLACE, won the 2001 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; REMEMBER ME (2004) and WINTERTON BLUE (2007), were both listed for the Wales Book of the Year. Her latest novel, THE SONG HOUSE, was serialised on BBC Radio 4. Her novella THE TIP OF MY TONGUE, based on one of the tales from The Mabinogion, was published in October 2013.

She also writes short stories, which have been widely anthologized, essays, and occasional pieces for radio. Her work has been translated into twenty languages.

 Praise for WINTERTON BLUE

‘This is an astute book by a precise writer who knows how to entertain while grappling with love and loss.’ – The Sunday Times

‘Beguiling… a novel marked by poetic delicacy.’ – The Times Literary Supplement

Follow Trezza on X (previously Twitter).

Photo credit: Euan Anderson

About Graeme Macrae Burnet

Graeme Macrae Burnet was brought up in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire and now lives in Glasgow. He has also lived in the Czech Republic, France, Portugal and London and has appeared at festivals and events all over the world. His first novel, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ADÈLE BEDEAU (Saraband, 2014), received a New Writer’s Award from the Scottish Book Trust and was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. HIS BLOODY PROJECT (Saraband, 2015) won the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the LA Times Book Awards. A second Inspector Gorski novel, THE ACCIDENT ON THE A35, was published in 2017 and the third in the series, A CASE OF MATRICIDE is due to be published later this year.

 Praise for CASE STUDY

‘Burnet’s triumph is that it’s a page-turning blast, funny, sinister and perfectly plotted so as to reveal – or withhold – its secrets in a consistently satisfying way. It also does a fine job of keeping our sympathies shifting, and of conjuring up a lost cultural era. Rarely has being constantly wrong-footed been so much fun.’ – James Walton, The Times

‘A novel of mind-bending brilliance. Graeme Macrae Burnet is a master of muddying the waters, of troubling ideas of truth and identity, fiction and documentary, and CASE STUDY shows him at the height of his powers.’ – Hannah Kent

Visit Graeme’s website.

Follow Graeme on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

Photo credit: Nina Hollington

About Lyndall Gordon

A much-celebrated biographer, Lyndall Gordon lives in Oxford. Her ability to make the subjects of her biographies come vividly to life has won her many literary awards, including the Cheltenham Prize and the James Tait Black prize. She has also been longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and the Comisso Prize.

Praise for VINDICATION: A LIFE OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

‘A riveting page-turner… The reader is drawn directly into Mary Wollstonecraft’s struggle… From this beautifully written book, Wollstonecraft emerges as a triumphant success, despite all adversity and slights of fate… Lyndall Gordon’s biographical method is exciting.’ – Ruth Scurr, The Times

‘Wonderful and deeply sobering… Lyndall Gordon relates Wollstonecraft’s story with the same potent mixture of passion and reason her subject personified.’ – New York Times Book Review

Visit Lyndall’s website.

Photo credit: Sal Idriss

About Zakes Mda

Zakes Mda is an acclaimed novelist, playwright and painter. He divides his time between South Africa and his work as Professor of Creative Writing at Ohio University. He has been the recipient of major awards including the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and South African Silver Order of Ikhamanga for Excellence in Arts and Culture.

Praise for SOMETIMES THERE IS A VOID and THE HEART OF REDNESS

‘Brilliant... A new kind of novel: one that combines Gabriel García Márquez's magic realism and political astuteness with satire, social realism and a critical re-examination of the South African past.’  – The New York Times Book Review

‘Mda’s electric honesty is a live current through his remarkably gorgeous, urgent, poetic, matter-of-fact memoir. But don’t get lulled into thinking this is just the book of one bravely truthful man’s journey into self-expression. Mda has shaken off calcification, identity, ego and walked us all into sovereignty and selfhood. Read this, and be prepared to examine your own soul as never before.’ – Alexandra Fuller, The Guardian

Follow Zakes on X (previously Twitter)

Photo credit: Urszula Soltys

About Joseph O’Connor

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. His books include the novels COWBOYS AND INDIANS, DESPERADOES, THE SALESMAN, SHADOWPLAY and most recently, MY FATHER’S HOUSE. He has also published biography, short stories and has written several successful plays. He is the inaugural Frank McCourt Chair in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

Praise for STAR OF THE SEA

‘Spectacular… A vibrant, picaresque novel that tackles a vast, perilous subject with such aplomb that it raises the bar not just for O’Connor but for contemporary Irish fiction in general. The book is a triumph.’ – The Sunday Times

‘This is O’Connor’s best book. It is shocking, hilarious, beautifully written, and very, very clever.’ – Roddy Doyle

Visit Joseph’s website.