It is with great delight that I announce my debut novel, The Paper Cell, will be published by Contraband Books in June 2017 (launch details to be revealed soon). From the publisher of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project, The Paper Cell is the first in the new Pocket Crime Collection, an occasional series of quality […]
The funny thing about the Man Booker Prize is that it’s more often judged on the merits of its exclusions than its inclusions. Never diverse enough, “too readable” last year and “decidedly unstarry” this year, coverage is almost always skewed towards the negative, because “Six brilliant books nominated for prestigious prize” probably isn’t going to set […]
1869: 17-year-old Roderick ‘Roddy’ Macrae has just brutally murdered three people in the remote Scottish village of Culduie. He stands calmly in the road, covered in their blood, and informs his neighbours of what he has done. There is no question of his guilt. Roddy’s story unfolds amid the competing voices of his own prison memoir, court testimony, newspaper […]
It’s been said so often that publishers might as well tattoo it across their furrowed foreheads, and yet many writers continue to ignore the golden rule of MS submission: one must always read a publisher’s submission guidelines and follow them to the letter. That a busy publisher will quickly discard a submission which fails to follow basic instructions is not […]
Calling all Burkes, Marlowes, Bosches and Salanders – we have a treasure hunt to solve! To celebrate the publication of Jane Alexander’s debut novel, we’re taking part in a thrilling book-blog treasure hunt. The prize? Well, aside from the knowledge that you’re the savviest sleuth in town, there are two copies of the book up for grabs, while the […]
A Novel Bookblog 