category: Fiction

Reasonable People

REASONABLE PEOPLE is a sharp, funny and timely comedy-of-errors about a feuding family, published by Orion on 3rd August 2023.

CantBeArsed8: Am I the villain for being furious my partner’s father changed my daughter’s pirate party into a princess party?

After a kid’s party faux-pas, mother Janine anonymously vents about her father-in-law’s behaviour on internet forum Am I The Villain Here? When the community is invited to take sides the post goes viral, with mild-mannered Roy ending up in the national newspapers and sparking protests at his local library. REASONABLE PEOPLE explores how judging others reveals our deepest, most unreasonable selves.

Caroline Hulse lives in Manchester with her husband and a small controlling dog. She is the author of ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR, LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE and THE ADULTS. Her books have been published in fourteen languages and optioned for television.

She is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

Eye for an Eye

EYE FOR AN EYE is the gripping new thriller by Sunday Times bestseller, MJ Arlidge, published by Orion. A thought-provoking novel set in the world of the probationary services, EYE FOR AN EYE explores reform and empathy within our justice system, asking the question “Who deserves justice? And who gets to decide?”.

 

Some people deserve to die… But does anyone deserve to kill?

There are just six criminals in the UK who have been granted lifelong anonymity. This is because their crimes were either so heinous, or they were committed when they were children – or both. That means that once they are released, they are given new identities – new homes in new towns, with new jobs and new neighbours – and they cannot by law be named as who they are, or were…

This is a story about what happens if someone starts exposing their true identities, one by one, systematically leaking their names and addresses to the families of their victims who seek swift retribution – and even vigilante justice.

But what about the newly released prisoner, given a second chance at building a life? Or the mother, who has raised her son – the only thing she’s got right in her life – who is suddenly dragged back into the nightmare of her true past? Or the father who lost everything – and now has a chance to go down the rabbit hole of revenge that he’s fantasised about for years?

And the probation service officers on the frontline – broken people in a broken system – managing the biggest crisis in its history, while trying to find the source of the leak as their world falls apart?

Matthew Arlidge is a bestselling author whose previous books include the hit eleven-book ‘Detective Helen Grace’ series, which includes HIDE AND SEEK, LITTLE BOY BLUE, THE DOLL’S HOUSE and his debut EENY MEENY, which was a Richard and Judy pick and was sold in 29 countries. These are under option with Endor.

Matt is also a writer and creator of TV – he wrote and co-created the ITV series, INNOCENT, and has written on several other prime time TV series, as well as executive producing shows such as UNDENIABLE and MISTRESSES. He currently has several original screen projects in development.

His publishing agent is Hellie Ogden at WME.

Murder at Church Lodge

MURDER AT CHURCH LODGE is the first in Greg Mosse’s 4-book ‘Maisie Cooper Mystery Series’  set in 1970s Sussex. Published by Hodder, the second book, MURDER AT BUNTING MANOR, will be out in November 2023.

With shades of Agatha Raisin and Midsummer Murders and led by a smart and intriguing central female character, these books are perfectly suited to a returnable crime series set in rural England.

 

The Maisie Cooper mystery series is set in the Sussex countryside in the ’70s, where the villages are picturesque but secrets and murders abound.

In Murder at Church Lodge, Maisie Cooper returns to her childhood home to visit the brother she hasn’t seen in years, but when she arrives, she discovers he’s been murdered.

Determined not to leave all the investigating up to the incompetent police — and trying not to be distracted by the handsome lead detective — Maisie does some digging of her own and starts to uncover a sinister mystery at the heart of the perfect village.

And when another death rocks the community, Maisie must race to find the clues and solve the case before the killer strikes again.

 

Greg Mosse is a ‘writer and encourager of writers’, husband of international bestselling author, Kate Mosse. He has lived and worked in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Madrid as an interpreter and translator, but grew up in rural south-west Sussex. In 2014, he founded the Criterion New Writing playwriting programme in the heart of the West End and, since then, has produced more than 25 of his own plays and musicals. His creative writing workshops are highly sought after at festivals at home and abroad. His superbly reviewed future thriller, The Coming Darkness, was published by Moonflower in 2022.

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh

WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH is a blistering and gritty account of working-class female friendship, set in the schoolyards, nightclubs, and the alleyways of Doncaster. Chatto & Windus acquired the book at auction and will publish in the UK in Spring 2025, alongside Holt in the US.

Rach, Kel and Shaz bonded on the first day of big school, after Shaz lost a fight with older girls round the back of the skating rink. Since then, they shared everything from blagging their way into nightclubs, how to masturbate with an electric toothbrush and trips to the FP (Family Planning) when they’re late. Everything, except what happened to Shaz in the cornfield that one summer night.

So why, when Shaz and Rach bump into each other in town centre – late twenties, after the Brexit vote – are they strangers to each other? If they are ever to understand what happened to them as girls, Shaz must decide whether she has the courage to tell her secret, and risk destroying everything.

Colwill Brown was born and raised in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, though is now based in the US.  She holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a recipient of a James A. Michener Center Fellowship, and an MA in English literature from Boston College.  Her work has appeared in Granta, Prairie Schooner and elsewhere.  A proud Donny lass, she claims to have played bass guitar in every rock venue on South Yorkshire’s toilet circuit. Colwill is represented by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson and Lerner.

From Now Until Forever

FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER follows Ben Church, a man running out of time and trying to grab every bit of life he can, and Vita Ambrose, a widow trying to run down the clock – and asks the question: is it ever too late to fall in love? It is funny, charming, and has a wonderful compelling twist.

Vita Ambrose’s life looks glamorous from the outside, but she’s stopped trying to really live it. What use is a life when you have spent it losing those who are closest to you?

Ben Church has never done anything risky. He’s never been on an adventure. He’s never fallen in love. Now he wants to do it all – because Ben is running out of time.

Time seems to stop altogether when Ben and Vita meet. Brought together by their shared passion for the art and work of Leonardo da Vinci, their attraction is powerful and instantaneous. As they grow closer, life’s great joys suddenly feel within reach.

But Ben and Vita know they don’t have long together. Unless they can find a way to make their love last forever?

Rowan Coleman is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author and screenwriter of sixteen novels including THE MEMORY BOOK, THE SUMMER OF IMPOSSIBLE THINGS and THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW. A life-long Bronte fan, under the Bronte inspired pen name Bella Ellis, Rowan also writes the Bronte Mysteries – a carefully researched series of novels that imagine that before they were famous the Bronte Sisters were amateur detectives. Rowan is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

Jaded

Set in cut-throat, corporate London, JADED is a blistering account of consent, power, race, sexism and identity in a broken society. The novel follows the story of a mixed-race lawyer in London who, after a night of heavy drinking at a work event, has to piece together what happened. It is darkly humorous and bitingly honest, with a fantastic cast of characters and electrifying setting. It is reminiscent of INDSUTRY and I MAY DESTROY YOU, but with a refreshing and unique tone – exploring issues of consent, but at its core, the fallout of a relationship. It was pre-empted by Vintage in the major deal in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US, and will be published in February 2024. You can read more in The Bookseller here.

When mixed race lawyer Jade is preyed upon by her boss at a work event, she ends up drinking way too much, leaving her colleague Josh, her knight in shining armour, to come to the rescue. He insists on helping her home, the perfect gentleman – bundling them both into a cab and walking her to the door. But suddenly Josh is inviting himself in, slipping Jade’s shoes off, helping himself to wine, moving her to the bedroom. Everything after that is a blank.  

Jade wakes the next morning, naked and alone, with no memory of how she got home. Too afraid to talk to Josh or open up to long term boyfriend Alex, she throws herself into work, ignoring the office rumours, drinking to oblivion, and working 90-hour weeks. It’s only after a series of debilitating flashbacks that Jade starts to unravel the truth. But a woman’s indignity is so mass market and accused of “crying rape” by Josh, it’s a slippery slope. But Jade isn’t going down alone.

Ela Lee is a London-based author. She studied Law at the University of Oxford and previously practised as a City lawyer. During the pandemic, Ela decided to focus on her love of writing and began work on her debut novel. Ela is represented by Hellie Ogden at WME Agency.

In Her Defence

IN HER DEFENCE follows the libel trial of TV personality, household name and ceramics entrepreneur, Anna Finbow, whose daughter Mary has cut off all contact with the family. After Anna accuses her daughter’s therapist of being behind the split in her newspaper column, the publicity is overwhelming, and a legal summons swiftly follows.

Mary is adamant that her childhood was abusive, whereas Anna believes the therapist is a charlatan preying on her daughter’s trust fund. Watching it all is young sculptor Augusta (Gus), Anna’s dogwalker – who has her own reasons for inveigling her way into Anna’s life…

Moving between Stoke on Trent and Rome, this is a beautifully written, page-turning novel about identity, love, and obsession.

Philippa Malicka was born in Essex and lives in London after a stint in India working in publishing. She studied English at Oxford University and went on to complete the Prose Fiction MA at the University of East Anglia. The novel was longlisted for the Bridport First Novel Award. Her non-fiction has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and Grazia. Philippa is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.

Nearly All The Men In Lagos Are Mad

NEARLY ALL THE MEN IN LAGOS ARE MAD is a distinctive debut collection of stories by Nigerian based actress and writer, Damilare Kuku, which there is strong interest in. NEARLY ALL THE MEN IN LAGOS ARE MAD is a collection of twelve short stories featuring characters with unique voices and stories that represent the diverse class, gender and ethnic melting pot that is Lagos. It became a huge bestseller in Africa after its release in 2021, and the UK edition was published in July 2022 by Swift Press, with rights sold in the US to HarperVia and also in Germany. We think it would lend itself well to television adaptation in particular.

One night, you will calmly put a knife to your husband’s penis and promise to cut it off. It will scare him so much that the next day, he will call his family members for a meeting in the house. He will not call your family members, but you will not care.

Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad is a collection of twelve short stories featuring characters with unique voices and stories that represent the diverse class, gender and ethnic melting pot that is Lagos.

There’s a story of a young lady who tries to find her oyibo soulmate on the streets of Lagos; another of a pastor’s wife who defends her husband from an allegation of adultery; a wife takes a knife to her husband’s penis; a night of lust between a rising musician and his Instagram baddie takes an unexpected turn.

Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad underscores with wit, humour, wisdom and sensitivity, the perils of trying to find lasting love and companionship in Africa’s most notorious city.

Damilare Kuku has worked as a radio presenter, scriptwriter, film producer, actor and director. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in the arts, has lectured at universities on feminism and the art of storytelling through pictures, and has spoken at mentorship events organized by the United Nations for young girls in Lagos. Her debut novel, ONLY BIG BUMBUM MATTER TOMORROW, is forthcoming in Nigeria from Ouida Books, who also publish Ayobami Adebayo.

Damilare is represented by Charlotte Seymour at Johnson and Alcock.

Midnight

MIDNIGHT is a gripping, claustrophobic thriller set on an Antarctic cruise. With a boyfriend missing, a killer on board, and a crippling fear of the ocean to top it – MIDNIGHT is an utterly chilling and atmospheric novel, littered with twists and turns, and a compelling female protagonist at the centre. Amy’s love for adventure all started on a spontaneous solo voyage to Antarctica on the eve of her thirtieth birthday – the ice cliffs and spectacular skies described so lyrically in MIDNIGHT, are all inspired by Amy’s own travels. It is published on 22nd June by Michael Joseph.

With her life back in London falling apart, Olivia cannot believe her luck when she’s invited on a once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise with her boyfriend, Aaron.

Olivia has never been anywhere so spectacular: huge cliffs of ice loom high on the horizon, penguins dive through the sparkling sea, and above it all, the sun never sets in the eerie twilight sky.

Then Aaron disappears. And a body is discovered on board.

Surrounded by strangers, Olivia has no idea who she can trust.

If she can’t figure it out soon, she might not make it back alive . . .

Amy McCulloch is the Chinese-White author of BREATHLESS, her debut adult thriller – now an international bestseller. She has also written eight novels for children and young adults, including the #1 bestselling YA novel The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow. In September 2019, she became the youngest Canadian woman to climb Mt. Manaslu in Nepal — the world’s eighth highest mountain. She also summited the highest mountain in the Americas, Aconcagua, in -45C and 90kmph winds, and has visited all seven continents.

Amy is represented by Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.

The Hotel

THE HOTEL is a twisty, psychological thriller with a gothic feel (and a sprinkling of The Blair Witch Project) set in a rambling, deserted hotel on the Welsh coast. Louise’s writing feels really visual and creepy and the book brings together a great ensemble of characters.

Four of them went to the hotel

Only three of them came back

Ten years later, they return one last time

Four teenagers travel to Ravencliffe, an abandoned hotel perched on steep cliffs on the Welsh coast to create their own spooky Blair Witch-esque documentary. After a series of unexplained accidents, only three of them leave. The fourth, Leo, disappears, and is never seen again.

A decade on, the remaining three friends have lost contact but their film has reached cult status.

Oscar is fame-hungry, making public appearances and selling his story. Richard sank into alcoholism and is only just recovering. Bex just wants to forget.

But when a TV company approaches the trio to shoot a ‘making of’ documentary back at the hotel, Bex can’t resist the opportunity to find out what really happened to Leo that night. And so, the friends are reunited. But as soon as they and the TV crew get to the hotel things start going wrong again. Objects mysteriously disappear and reappear. Accidents happen. And Bex realises that her former friends know far more than they are letting on about the true events at Ravencliffe that night…

Louise grew up in Caerphilly, Wales. She studied English Literature at university and was an English teacher for fifteen years.

In the summer of 2019 Louise was discovered by her publisher at the Primadonna Festival.

Her debut book, SLEEPLESS, a “frighteningly inventive” speculative thriller inspired by her own experience of insomnia, was published by HQ in 2020, was the Karin Slaughter Asda Read for that year and leapt to the top of the Amazon pre-order charts. It was also optioned for TV by Insurrection Media.

Her second book, the psychological thriller, THE SAFE HOUSE, was published in 2022. THE HOTEL is her third and most recent book.

Louise is represented by Kate Shaw at The Shaw Agency