The Hulda Series

This book is currently under option.

“Ragnar Jonasson’s masterly trilogy is a landmark in modern crime fiction” – THE TIMES

The HULDA SERIES series revolves around female detective Hulda (literally meaning “hidden woman”) and is set in Reykjavik, the Icelandic highlands, in an isolated fjord and on one of Iceland’s most picturesque and inaccessible islands. The series also features, in book no. 4, inspector Helgi Reykdal.

DIMMA (“DARKNESS”) – BOOK 1 (2015, ICELAND) (2018, UK/US)

THE ISLAND – BOOK 2 (2016, ICELAND) (2019, UK/US)

THE MIST   – BOOK 3 (2017, ICELAND) (2020, UK/US)

The Dark Iceland Series

By Ragnar Jónasson

Currently Under Option

The series is set in and around Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik – with a past that he’s unable to leave behind.

SNOWBLIND: When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life. An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose. Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent, taking Nordic Noir to soaring new heights.

NIGHTBLIND: The peace of a close-knit Icelandic community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark Arctic waters closing in, it falls to Ari Thor to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik where someone is being held against their will…

BLACKOUT: On the shores of a tranquil fjord in Northern Iceland, a man is brutally beaten to death on a bright summer’s night. As the 24-hour light of the arctic summer is transformed into darkness by an ash cloud from a recent volcanic eruption, a young reporter leaves Reykajvik to investigate on her own, unaware that an innocent person’s life hangs in the balance. Ari Thor Arason and his colleagues on the tiny police force in Siglufjordur struggle with an increasingly perplexing case, while their own serious personal problems push them to the limit. What secrets does the dead man harbour, and what is the young reporter hiding? As silent, unspoken horrors from the past threaten them all, and the darkness deepens, it s a race against time to find the killer before someone else dies…

RUPTURE: 1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all… In nearby Siglufjörður, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He’s assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinsister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjörður in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.

Bollywood Wives

Zara Das is Bollywood’s hottest property, her every move watched by the eyes of the press. Riding high from the success of a string of blockbusters, she has the world at her feet, but the scandal from her latest film threatens to dethrone her as Bollywood’s reigning queen.

So when superstar director Raj Dillon stages a lavish retelling of Pride and Prejudice, moving the shoot from Mumbai’s soundstages to London, Zara knows this is the role that could put her back on top. Coming with them are the Bollywood Wives – Jackie, Sasha, and Rani – bringing their own off-screen drama.

But behind the diamonds, designer clothes and seven-star hotels lies the truth of how Zara reached the top. And when a dead body is found in her hotel room, it seems that someone is determined to take Zara down – and will stop at nothing to expose her darkest secrets.

Zara has spent years running from her past. But now it’s caught up with her…

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

After moving to the sleepy village of Little Wyverns, Felicity ‘Flick’ Hudson finds herself staring at an odd looking shop front on the high-street – Strangeworlds Travel Agency. The dirty and dusty shop-front demands her attention, though she isn’t able to say exactly why. What Flick doesn’t know yet is that Strangeworlds is unlike any other travel agency, and the many old suitcases stacked up inside it are not luggage, but ways to travel to different magical worlds.

Jonathan Mercator, the young man in charge of the travel agency, takes an interest in Flick when he discovers she can see magic. But Flick doesn’t believe in magic and has never even been abroad before, never mind to magical lands.

But when Jonathan shows Flick a multitude of strange places – a forest of crystals, a world with a trampoline-like surface to bounce on, and even an eerie lighthouse on a beach that leaves her shivering, Flick quickly believes that magic does exist. However, the trips to other worlds have a purpose as Jonathan is trying to trace his father who has disappeared.

But as the duo travel, they learn that things are not as they should be in these other magical worlds. There are vanished streets, changed weather patterns, and something seems to be causing a disturbance across the whole multiverse.

Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change

by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi

Currently under Option

As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. Recent Cambridge grads Chelsea and Ore experienced this first-hand, and wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change.

FOR BLACK GIRLS:

Understand that your journey is unique. Use this book as a guide. Our wish for you is that you read this and feel empowered, comforted and validated in every emotion you experience, or decision that you make.

FOR EVERYONE ELSE:

We can only hope that reading this helps you to be a better friend, parent, sibling or teacher to black girls living through what we did. It’s time we stepped away from seeing this as a problem that black people are charged with solving on their own.

It’s a collective effort.
And everyone has a role to play.

Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, Taking Up Space goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

By Holly Jackson

Currently Under Option

A 2019 WHSmith Thumping Good Read selection.

A debut YA crime thriller as addictive as Serial as compelling as Riverdale and as page-turning as One of Us Is Lying

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth . . . ?

Robin Hood Book 1: Hacking, Heists and Flaming Arrows

HACKING, HEISTS AND FLAMING ARROWS is book one in Robert Muchamore’s brand new four-book ROBIN HOOD series, which sets the classic legend smack-bang in the middle of the 2020s. This is Robert’s first series in six years, his CHERUB novels alone have sold over fifteen million copies in more than thirty countries, and been translated into twenty-four languages. This new adventure is another triumph – an exciting, modern reimagining of legendary British characters which include Marion Maid, Freya Tuck, Little John and Will Scarlock, in a story which promises to be thrilling, cheeky and relevant to its readership.

It’s spring 2020. Locksley City has been on a downward spiral since the last car plant closed. Schools and hospitals are falling apart, abandoned houses get trashed by vandals and the Police Department is controlled by local gangster, Guy Gisborne. When Robin Hood’s dad speaks out against corruption, he’s framed for a robbery and thrown in jail, and twelve-year-old Robin finds himself on the run.

The only place to hide is Sherwood Forest, which stretches hundreds of kilometers, from Lake Victoria to the Eastern Delta. It’s a dangerous place, where the bears and snakes are almost as scary as the human population of bandits, terrorists, cultists and biker gangs.

Robin wants revenge on the people who threw his dad in jail. But first, he must learn to survive in the forest.

Starfell

The most spellbinding new children’s fantasy series of 2019, in a stunning hardback edition with beautiful black-and-white inside illustrations by Sarah Warburton. Perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell and Nevermoor.

Willow Moss, the youngest and least powerful sister in a family of witches, has a magical ability for finding lost things – like keys, or socks, or wooden teeth. Useful, but not exactly exciting . . .

Then the most powerful witch in the world of Starfell turns up at Willow’s door and asks for her help. A whole day – last Tuesday to be precise – has gone missing. Completely. And, without it, the whole universe could unravel.

Now Willow holds the fate of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands . . . Can she save the day – by finding the lost one?

Step into Starfell, a world crackling with warmth, wit and magic, perfect for readers aged 8–12.

Are You Watching?

A page-turning new YA thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and One Of Us Is Lying.

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.

She was the first of his victims but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the killer once and for all.

The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

Last Lesson

This book is currently under option.

Last year, Ollie Morcombe was a star pupil, popular and a gifted musician.

Then, after the accident, everything changed. Now he’s an outcast, a prime target of the school bullies who have made his life a living hell.

Today – the last day of the school year – he’s brought those bullies a gift. A homemade pipe bomb.

What has driven a model student to plan an unspeakable revenge? And with the clock ticking down to home time, what can anybody do to stop him?