Category: News

Posted on by

Five detective dramas that influenced how we think about crime fiction… by R.C. Bridgestock

People often ask us which detective dramas we recommend. After almost fifty years in and around policing, we probably watch them rather differently from most people. We are less interested in the cleverest twist than in the people behind the investigations.

George Dixon reminded us that policing begins with service. The world has changed beyond recognition since Dixon of Dock Green first appeared on our screens, but integrity, kindness and knowing your community never go out of fashion.

This series reflected how policing evolved. Jane Tennison challenged assumptions about who could lead a major investigation and reminded us that the best policing comes from ability, integrity and empathy, not stereotypes.

We also have a particular affection for A Touch of Frost. David Jason’s appearance as Jack Frost was inspired by Jerry Dickinson, a detective in the West Yorkshire Police drugs squad. We knew Jerry well, and the resemblance really is uncanny. More importantly, Frost reminded us of the best detectives we worked alongside. They weren’t memorable because they had chaotic personal lives. They were memorable because they cared deeply about victims, their colleagues and doing the right thing. That’s one of the reasons Jack Dylan is the detective he is.

Morse taught us that good detectives listen. They observe. They think. Evidence tells you what happened. Understanding people helps you discover why.

We couldn’t finish this list without Happy Valley. We were privileged to work with Sally Wainwright from the very beginning, helping to guide and direct the policing and the storylines – and even naming the series. Much of the first series drew on Bob’s experiences as a detective, and watching it being filmed in the police station where we both worked was surreal. Bob’s former office became Inspector Mike Taylor’s office, while the office where I spent most of my seventeen years became Catherine Cawood’s. More than anything, though, Happy Valley succeeded because it never lost sight of the people. That’s what Sally understood from the start, and it’s what we’ve always believed too.

Looking back, these dramas probably influenced and affected us more than we realised. Not because they always reflected policing exactly as we knew it, but because each, in its own way, understood something we’ve always believed. Every investigation begins and ends with people. That’s the philosophy behind every novel we write. We don’t write about crime. We write about people whose lives have been changed by it – on both sides of the law.

Perhaps that’s why these dramas have stayed with us for so many years. The crimes drew us in, but it was always the people who made us care.

R.C. Bridgestock’s Split Second, first in the explosive new Dylan & Mann series, is published by Orenda Books on 27th August 2026. Exclusive signed hardbacks are available from Goldsboro Books; paperbacks available from all good bookshops.

Posted on by

Six Must-Read Scottish Books by Doug Johnstone

Any selection of essential Scottish novels is obviously personal and arbitrary, and I would pick a different six on another day. But here are six books I love, books that speak to the diversity and range of Scottish fiction.

In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes

This literary science fiction novel is wildly ambitious, beautifully written and utterly compelling. Set in the near future, the story revolves around Dutch marine biologist Leigh who eventually winds up in space, part of a crew investigating an anomalous object passing through the solar system. But things are not what Leigh or the reader might expect, in a mind-bending and elusive narrative. Blending a fierce emotional core with huge ideas, this is science fiction at its very best. 

The Cutting Room, by Louise Welsh

A scintillating crime fiction debut in 2002, this is now widely regarded as a modern classic of Scottish literature. Rilke is an acerbic gay auctioneer in Glasgow who discovers some disturbing photographs amongst someone’s possessions. This leads to a journey through the dark and deviant side of the great city in a narrative as thoughtful as it is propulsive. To my mind, Welsh is one of the most underrated writers in the country.

The Cry, by Helen FitzGerald

I love all Helen FitzGerald’s work, but this is an absolute gut-punch of a novel. After a traumatic long-haul flight from Scotland to Australia, a couple’s baby goes missing on a remote rural road in the Outback. This is a hard book to talk about without spoilers, but it’s the darkest of dark thrillers that goes to almost unimaginable places, and takes the reader along for the ride. Unflinching and brutally honest writing.

Thirsty Animals, by Rachelle Atalla

Set in a near future where water is extremely scarce, this gripping story follows Aida, on her farm in the Scottish borders, defending their supply against incomers and strangers. The key to this novel’s success is the blend of everyday details with the scarily believable consequences of environmental change on our doorstep. Visceral in its depiction of tough times and how that changes attitudes, this is climate fiction at its very best.

Under the Skin, by Michel Faber

This is part literary thriller, part horror story, part science fiction romp. Set in the Scottish Highlands, the story focuses on Isserley, who spends her time driving up and down the A9 picking up young, male hitchhikers. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this goes to places you would never dream of from that set-up. This is deeply disturbing, clear-eyed and with lots of social commentary. A perfect mash-up of genres.

The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks

This book changed my life as a teenager. Before I read it, I thought all books were written by dead Oxbridge guys. This ferocious debut is set in rural east coast Scotland near where I grew up, and tells of the insanely dysfunctional family of Frank and his older brother Eric, who has escaped from a psychiatric institution. Violent and subversive, The Wasp Factory is also very funny. Bold, challenging stuff that launched the career of a true great of Scottish literature.

Doug Johnstone’s Ghost Notes, book seven in bestselling The Skelfs series, is published on 13th August 2026 by Orenda Books.

Posted on by

Five Sympathetic Killers by Trevor Wood

Lily Kintner in The Kind Worth Killing, by Peter Swanson

Charming, devious, cunning and (of course) beautiful, Lily Kintner is the beating, dark heart of this brilliantly twisty thriller, full of morally dubious characters who probably deserve everything that Lily sends their way. Arguably the most ‘fatale’ of all the femme fatales.

‘Truthfully, I don’t think murder is necessarily as bad as people make it out to be. Everyone dies. What difference does it make if a few bad apples get pushed along a little sooner than God intended?’

Dexter Morgan in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay

It’s a familiar trope to have your killer only take out bad people but Dexter Morgan is the leader of the pack where vigilante killers are concerned, hunting down other serial killers. The novel’s version of Dexter is a touch darker than the TV one, still mordantly funny but also more of an unapologetic sociopath.

‘Dogs were always a problem. They don’t like me and they quite often disapprove of what I do to their masters, especially since I don’t share the good pieces.’

Jack Reacher in Killing Floor, by Lee Child

Surely the most prolific of the sympathetic killers? Estimates vary but the body count appears to be heading towards two hundred. Reacher, like Caine, the wandering hero of the Kung Fu TV series, is another classic taciturn hero, helping those who need him in every town he visits before moving on (leaving the town’s population a little lower than it was).

‘If you step half an inch out of line, I’ll kill you and walk away and I’ll never think about you again and I’ll sleep like a baby the whole rest of my life.’

Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)

Lisbeth is another avenging angel, but you can’t question her justification for the many kills she initiates – she’s suffered through a litany of abusive relationships, many of which involved her extended family. Whilst not always directly responsible for the deaths she’s a near genius at leaving her abusers vulnerable to other psychopaths, not least, in a later book in the series, when she nails her brother’s feet to the floor to leave him at the mercy of a murderous motorcycle gang  

‘There is nothing to talk about. I’m just a freak that’s all.’

Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

An unlikely selection given the way Alex gleefully narrates his way through a series of murders, rapes and violent assaults, but it’s not his undoubted charisma that gains your sympathy, it’s the way he’s used as a poster boy for a torture technique, introduced by a totalitarian government desperately wanting to subdue its citizens.

Reduced to a cringing puppet with no free will, a reformed Alex is rolled out for public approbation before being dumped back into a vicious world with his defences removed.

‘They have turned you into something other than a human being. You have no power of choice any longer. You are committed to socially acceptable acts, a little machine capable only of good.’

Trevor Wood’s The Angel of Death, book three in the DCI Jack Parker series, is published by Orenda Books on 16th July 2026.

Posted on by

Kate Rhodes’s Five Favourite Crime Novels

Brighton Rock, Graham Greene.

Brighton Rock remains my all-time favourite crime novel. I started out as a poet, so its precise and visual writing style really appeals to me. Then there’s the marvellous depiction of Brighton, with all its seedy charm, during the inter-war years. Greene really makes the town live and breathe, until it feels like you’re walking down the promenade on a blistering hot day, trying to evade a vicious killer. It’s a chilling depiction of human evil too, in the form of a damaged teenager, taking revenge on the world for letting him down.

Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris

I read the book long before watching the film. For me, the novel is infinitely more powerful and subtle, because it leaves so much to the reader’s imagination. I found it far more chilling to imagine Hannibal Lecter’s depravity than to watch him cannibalising his prison guards. I also love the immaculate way Harris plays with the mind of Clarice, the young police officer sent to find out who could be copying Lecter’s crimes, while he festers in a high security psychiatric prison. From reading Silence of the Lambs I realised that the relationship between hunter and hunted didn’t have to be about pure terror. It could be intimate, and almost tender at times.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie

No list of favourite crime novels would be complete without at least one Agatha Christie! This book was written in 1926, exactly a hundred years ago, yet it remains a genre-defining classic. Christie’s plotting was so audacious and imaginative, it put her far ahead of her time. I debated whether to include And Then There Were None as well, because it’s a book I often reread. The concept is deceptively simple: ten strangers arrive on an island, only to be murdered, one by one. I adore Golden Age crime writing, and Christie remains the queen of her era.

Blue Monday, Nicci French

Blue Monday was the first book I read in the Frieda Klein series. It held me from the very first page. I found Frieda entirely convincing as a complex, thoughtful psychotherapist, with a strong ethical drive when treating her patients. Maybe the confident writing comes from the fact that Nicci Gerrard is herself a psychotherapist, and her co-writer husband Sean French is a journalist. There’s an authenticity in every book in this brilliant series that rings with truth, and I always love learning something new when reading a crime novel. Each book in this series has taught me more about human psychology, as well as being a love letter to the city of London, which is beautifully depicted.

Tideline, Penny Hancock

This book kept me spellbound! It takes the trope of an evil depraved man abducting a young girl and turns it on his head. It’s a nuanced, compelling story about a lonely woman who invites a young boy into her home, then refuses to let him go. Hancock’s writing style is lyrical, and she moves through the tale with absolute verve, increasing the psychological pressure with every page. A real masterclass in plotting and character depiction, as well as a chilling and horribly believable story.

Kate Rhodes’ The Mermaid’s Cry, book nine in the bestselling Isles of Scilly series, is published by Orenda Books on 16th July 2026.

Posted on by

Christine Lucas returns: Orenda Books signs S.J. Watson’s Before I Sleep Forever, the long-awaited sequel to Before I Go to Sleep

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, is thrilled to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for S.J. Watson’s Before I Sleep Forever, in a deal negotiated with Ariella Feiner at United Agents.

Before I Go to Sleep was more than a bestseller – it was a publishing phenomenon. Selling over six million copies worldwide, translated into more than forty languages and adapted into a major film starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, it became an instant international sensation, reaching number seven on the New York Times bestseller list – the highest position achieved for a debut novel by a British author since J.K. Rowling – and establishing S.J. Watson as one of the most successful and important voices in psychological suspense.

Karen says, ‘The influence of Before I Go to Sleep extends far beyond sales and awards; it was instrumental in defining the modern psychological thriller. Christine Lucas became one of the genre’s most iconic unreliable narrators, and the novel’s shocking central twist, claustrophobic tension and domestic setting created a blueprint that countless novels would follow. Long before ‘domestic noir’ became an established genre, Before I Go to Sleep set the standard.

‘And Christine Lucas returns in Before I Sleep Forever. Years after escaping the man who attacked her and stole her life, she is living under an assumed name, hidden away in an isolated cottage, terrified that the past will find her. Meanwhile, her attacker, Mike Lynford, has reinvented himself as a public figure with millions of followers, rewriting history and presenting himself as the victim. When strange things begin happening around Christine – objects moved, memories missing, disturbing reminders of the attack she survived – she becomes convinced that her amnesia is returning. But if her memory is not failing, then someone is trying to make her believe that it is…

‘Before I Sleep Forever delivers everything readers loved about the original novel: the mounting paranoia, the creeping uncertainty, the ingenious plotting and the sense that danger lies hidden just beneath the surface of an ordinary life. But it is also something very rare: a sequel that not only justifies its existence, but expands and enriches the story that came before it. Smart, unsettling and completely addictive, this is the return of one of the most memorable characters in contemporary crime fiction, from the writer who helped to create and then redefine an entire genre.

‘We are honoured to be publishing Before I Sleep Forever as a major publishing event, with an ambitious, high-profile, multi-platform marketing and PR campaign, launching with an exclusive sampler, a cinematic big-screen teaser and an author interview at Capital Crime Festival in London. We are also very much looking forward to introducing Christine’s stories to a new generation of readers, who will be stunned by the intricate plotting and yet another breathtaking twist.’

S.J. Watson says, ‘I never wanted to return to Christine’s story unless I was certain I could take it somewhere new, surprising and worthy of the first book. That moment has finally arrived, and I’m thrilled to be bringing it into the world with Orenda. Moving to an independent publisher feels like the boldest, most exciting thing I could do with this story. Orenda’s fearlessness and love of a proper page-turner make them the perfect partner. It’s a strange and wonderful thing to be revisiting Christine on the page with the stage production of Before I Go to Sleep about to tour. It feels like the best possible moment to ask what happened next, and Before I Sleep Forever will have the answers.’

Before I Sleep Forever, by S.J. Watson, will be published in hardback on 6th May 2027, by Orenda Books. For more information, please contact Karen Sullivan: Karen@orendabooks.co.uk.

Posted on by

Five of my Favorite Psychological Thrillers by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

As a crime writer, I’m often asked which books have influenced me and it’s always the hardest question to answer. The answer changes depending on when you ask, but there are certain books that have never really left. While writing my own novels I read widely, both within and outside the crime genre, but I have always been particularly drawn to psychological thrillers with a kind of quiet dread. I love stories that get under your skin and stay there long after you’ve turned the final page. The books I love most aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest twists (although a well-executed twist is always satisfying). They’re the ones that create a feeling of unease, make me question what I think I know, and explore the darker corners of human behaviour.

As both a reader and a writer, I’m fascinated by what people hide from each other – and from themselves. The following five books all do that brilliantly. They create atmosphere, are driven by complex characters and leave you with the sense that something isn’t quite right, even before you understand why.

So here are five psychological thrillers that have stayed with me.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

When people talk about Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl is often the first book that comes to mind, but Sharp Objects is the one that has always stayed with me. It’s Gillian Flynn’s first book and it’s about much more than the case it begins with. The novel follows journalist Camille Preaker as she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls. Although the book begins as a crime investigation quickly becomes something much darker and more personal.

What I love most about this book is its atmosphere. There’s a sense of discomfort from the very first page. The prose is lyrical at times but also haunting, with Flynn describing unsettling details that linger in your mind. The relationships between the women in the story are as compelling as the mystery itself, as are the dynamics of the small town in which it unfolds. It’s a brilliant example of how psychological suspense can be far more disturbing than physical violence.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

This is one of the strangest and most unsettling books I’ve ever read – and I only read it recently. The reviews were mixed, but I loved it! The premise seems simple: a young woman is travelling with her boyfriend to meet his parents, all while considering ending the relationship. But very quickly something starts to feel so wrong.

I won’t say much more because part of the experience is discovering the story for yourself. What impressed me most was how effectively Reid creates tension through uncertainty. The feeling that something is off never leaves you, and the book becomes increasingly unsettling with every chapter. It’s beautifully written and I was hooked from the first pages. It’s the kind of novel that lingers in your mind long after the final page is turned.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

A Flicker in the Dark is a debut novel that immediately grabbed my attention. The story centres on Chloe Davis, whose father was convicted of murdering six teenage girls when she was a child. Twenty years later, as Chloe tries to move on with her life, girls begin disappearing once again.

What makes this book so effective is the way it explores the long-term effects of violence and suspicion. Chloe is never entirely sure whom she can trust and that uncertainty drives the story forward. It’s a gripping thriller with immense emotional depth and a protagonist I genuinely cared about.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

I love all of Lisa Jewell’s books. She has an incredible ability to combine emotional storytelling with suspense. I have several favourites, including None of This Is True, The Night She Disappeared and Then She Was Gone. The latter is a particular favourite.

The story begins ten years after fifteen-year-old Ellie Mack disappeared without a trace. Her mother, Laurel, has spent years trying to come to terms with what happened. Then she meets a man whose young daughter bears a striking resemblance to Ellie.

The novel is heartbreaking, suspenseful and incredibly human. It’s as much about grief as it is about the mystery of Ellie Mack’s disappearance. What I admire most is Jewell’s ability to explore themes of loss and longing while still delivering a compelling mystery. The emotional impact of the story is every bit as powerful as the suspense.

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Hidden Pictures is one of those books that took me completely by surprise. The novel follows Mallory, a young woman in recovery who takes a job looking after a five-year-old boy. When the child’s drawings (and the drawings in the book are very creepy) begin to depict increasingly disturbing scenes, Mallory becomes convinced that something sinister is happening.

What I enjoyed most was the book’s originality. It combines psychological suspense with supernatural elements in a way that feels fresh and engaging. It’s creepy, entertaining and impossible to put down.

Why these books?

These five books may seem very different on the surface, but they share something important: none of them rely solely on plot twists. Instead, they create atmosphere, develop complex characters and explore difficult emotions. They make readers feel uncertain, uncomfortable and curious all at the same time. As both a reader and a writer, that’s what I admire most. A great psychological thriller doesn’t just make you wonder what will happen next. It makes you question the people on the page, and sometimes even yourself.

When I’m writing, that’s the feeling I hope to create. Not simply surprise, but unease. The sense that something isn’t quite right, even if you can’t yet explain why. Those are the stories that stay with me the longest, and they’re the ones I find myself returning to again and again.

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s multi-award-winning psychological thriller, Home Before Dark, translated by Victoria Cribb, is published by Orenda Books and out in paperback today.

Posted on by

Orenda Books signs prominent Norwegian artist’s vibrant, unforgettable debut novel, The Princes of Pauper’s Pond

Karen Sullivan, Publisher of Orenda Books, is thrilled to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for Norwegian artist and author Lars Elling’s extraordinary, devastatingly beautiful, brutal debut novel The Princes of Pauper’s Pond from Henrik Francke at Oslo Literary Agency, in a two-book deal.

Karen says, ‘Spanning generations, The Princes of Pauper’s Pond is a vivid, magical and deeply affecting novel set in the wild forests of Northern Norway, and it is one of those novels, those truly unforgettable pieces of fiction, that both takes us by surprise and leaves an indelible mark. It opens in 1985, when we meet nineteen-year-old Filip, who spends his days playing football, listening to music on his Walkman and drawing, searching for something he cannot quite name. He lives in a large family house shared with his grandparents, where an old rift between his grandfather Arnstein and Arnstein’s brother Truls still governs the atmosphere. The cause appears trivial, an apple tree dropping fruit across a boundary fence, but the bitterness between the brothers speaks of something far older and deeper.

‘The story then shifts to 1912. With Europe on the brink of upheaval, Arnstein and Truls – aged seven and eleven – are sent into the forest for the summer by their stern father, determined that his sons should learn to endure hardship, to learn to survive. Left to fend for themselves among travellers, log drivers and Forest Finns, the brothers live from the land, fishing, hunting and roaming the vast woodland. Cold and hungry, yet bound together by fierce loyalty and affection, they crown themselves the Princes of Pauper’s Pond, rulers of a world defined by freedom, imagination and shared struggle. Until, back home, their father makes a shocking decision that will change everything…’

‘This is a remarkable, compelling bildungsroman about brotherhood and belonging, about finding joy and love in the nature, and about those single moments that can seal a family’s fate and future. The writing is elegant, vibrant – as evocative, luminous and multi-layered as one of the author’s paintings – and the story is simultaneously cruel, enchanting and immensely memorable. I can honestly guarantee that readers will never forget it. We are honoured to publish this sumptuous work of fiction, based on the true story of the author’s own grandfather.’

Lars Elling says, ‘The Princes of Pauper’s Pond is slowly but steadily making its way across the language barriers – from Icelandic to Arabic, and now FINALLY to English! I’m very excited about this and so looking forward to working with the great team at Orenda.’

Henrik says, ‘We’re thrilled to be working with Orenda Books on the English‑language publication of Lars Elling’s wonderful, bestselling debut novel. Orenda’s commitment to distinctive literary voices and brilliant storytelling makes them a perfect match, and it’s a real joy to see the book find its English home here.’

The Princes of Pauper’s Pond is translated by Don Bartlett, and will be published in hardback in September 2026 by Orenda Books, with a second book published in 2028. For more information, please contact Karen@orendabooks.co.uk.

Posted on by

The Difficult Second Novel by Jenny Lund Madsen

In Under the Blazing Sun, disgruntled literary author Hannah struggles to overcome writer’s block and write her crime sequel. In some ways, Hannah’s problem mirrored my own when writing my sequel about Hannah, except I didn’t suffer from lack of inspiration, nor did I find myself suddenly wrapped up in a murder mystery. I was simply too busy as a screenwriter and caught up in family life. But, in many ways, I used Hannah’s problems as inspiration for writing Under the Blazing Sun. I asked myself: What would be the most exciting way for her to get out of her deadlock? To go to an exotic place, of course, stumble upon another murder and meet a new love interest, while also being drawn by the old one.

The great thing about writing fiction is that you can send your main character on a far more interesting and dangerous journey than you could ever experience yourself. So, imagining Hannah traveling to Sicily, solving yet another murder mystery while trying to get her book done and also being tempted by other romantic interests was the fuel for my own writing of the ‘difficult second novel’. Also, I really wanted to go to Sicily to do research.

What I knew right from the outset was that I wanted Hannah to get even more personally involved in the murder case, even to become a suspect. I wanted to raise the stakes and let her come up against forces way stronger than her. Although ‘only’ an author, and not an official detective, Hannah has become more experienced as an investigator in Under the Blazing Sun. She still lacks the resources of the police, but she now knows more about how to solve a crime. She has also changed as a person since the first book.

In Under the Blazing Sun Hannah has become a bit softer around the edges, more human. However, she still has a low tolerance for amateurs and people with bad taste and she’s definitely not a pleaser. Hannah will continue to step on people’s toes to solve the crime and reach her goals. In that sense, she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but her critical thinking and bluntness is also what makes her able to solve the mystery.

On a more general note, I think there are still some double standards for men and women – in fiction as well as in real life – when it comes to being ‘likeable’. I could easily mention ten examples of grumpy, middle-aged men in crime fiction that everyone loves exactly because they are grumpy old men. I would love if we could embrace female characters who are a bit rougher around the edges because, in the end, this is also how things are in the real world: We are all humans with good days and bad days, and, like Hannah, we all just want to be recognised and loved.

After writing my debut novel Thirty Days of Darkness, a lot of people asked me whether my own personality resembles Hannah’s. This question was often following comments like ‘Hannah is so annoying and unlikeable’, which just made me smile. Hopefully people around me don’t think I’m a horrible person, but I kind of like the fact that Hannah doesn’t really care what other people think of her. I hope that her skills as an amateur investigator, her curiousity as well as her snappy, direct tone will make her intriguing and fun for readers to be around.  And I hope that you will all enjoy going on yet another murder-solving journey with Hannah, this time in Sicily. 

Jenny Lund Madsen’s Under the Blazing Sun, translated from Danish by Paul Russell Garrett, is the sequel to Thirty Days of Darkness, and second in the Murder by the Book Series, published by Orenda Books on 21st May 2026.

Posted on by

Living on a Schedule by Katrín Júlíusdóttir

I have a secret. From the outside, most people would think that I must be quite an organised writer – in the same way I am on top of everything in both my professional and in personal lives. I love a good spreadsheet and project-management tools. And I have been coordinating everything in my life through a calendar system, ever since the Filofax was a thing. If something needs to be arranged, call me and my life literally lights up at the thought of being part of strategising and planning something. Even better if someone throws a good case of chaos in my lap – it will be cleaned up with organising tools in no time.

Being systematic is the only way I could have kept my life in order, with a household of six, a small importing business, political campaigns and, of course, a position in the Icelandic government.

Writing, however, gives me the freedom to be ‘in the flow’ – not sticking to rigid schedules, but giving characters room to grow. First the characters start to dance around in my head or in conversations with my husband. I start feeling their energy, if they were walking into a café, and I hear how their voices sound if they are angry or hurt, for example. From there, the story starts taking shape, as if a movie was coming to life in my head. Then the writing begins, and it is just one chapter after another – without the spreadsheets or project-management tools. Even bad habits are allowed in this part of my life, like pulling a few all-nighters writing, eating caramels, and drinking can after can of Coke Zero. No limits, no restraints, just letting loose on my own fairly strict rules for a bit.

That is what writing has brought to my life. It is a part where I am not a middle-aged PTA mum with a big job, a husband and four kids in the suburbs, and a pretty stressful job. Instead, I am a free spirit where all the rules I have created around my life take a back seat and my wilder side takes over when my family sleeps. That’s how I wrote both Dead Sweet and Stop Dead, in the silence of the night, in a hoodie, with my headphones on. Writing keeps me young in spirit and opens up spaces in my brain that need to be aired. And that eventually makes everything else in my life so much more fun.

Katrín Júlíusdóttir’s Stop Dead, translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer, is the sequel to her award-winning Dead Sweet, and second in the Iceland Mysteries series published by Orenda Books on 21st May 2026.

Posted on by

Orenda Books picks up Trevor Wood’s gripping, moving DCI Jack Parker series in a three-book deal

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, is delighted to announce the acquisition of World English Language rights for Trevor Wood’s The Angel of Death, book three in the DCI Jack Parker series, in a three-book deal negotiated with Oli Munson at AM Heath.

The book opens with a chilling murder – or is it a mercy killing, or someone exercising their own right to die? – and it becomes clear that death is stalking the streets of Newcastle, with signs that these deaths may not be isolated. An anonymous killer is offering the terminally ill a dignified escape. Mercy to some. Murder to others. DCI Jack Parker doesn’t want the case. He has a secret of his own – a diagnosis of early-onset dementia he’s desperate to conceal. But the signs are becoming impossible to ignore. As his mind begins to betray him, the city faces its own moral reckoning. While politicians debate a contentious new law and the self-styled Angel of Death selects another victim, Jack’s world is shaken when the killings are traced to a carers’ support group – one his wife, Helen, has been attending in secret. Yet his deepest fear is also his darkest temptation. Because when his disease becomes unbearable, Jack can’t escape one haunting question: Could the Angel of Death be the saviour he’s been waiting for?

Karen says, ‘I have been following Trevor’s career closely since publication of his superb, award-winning debut, The Man on the Street, and I have avidly read everything he has written since that time. When the opportunity to continue the series arose, I didn’t think twice. Not only is this series whip-smart, tense and utterly authentic, but Trevor tackles an immensely topical issue with great insight, warmth and heart. Jack’s discovery of his own early onset dementia, his confusion, fury, apprehension and determination to protect his family and to do his job despite growing symptoms, is both eye-opening and deeply moving, underpinning a complex investigation that, in The Angel of Death, feeds directly into his own fears.

With his trademark wit and compelling characters, Trevor creates high-stakes scenarios, ticking-clock, character-driven plots and, perhaps most importantly, explores a growing social issue that impacts so many lives, in this case, a police officer and family man who is witness both to his own symptoms and decline, but also the impact it has on his team and his family – and a case that reaches beyond the immediate investigation into the wider community.

This is a riveting, immaculate and intensely thought-provoking thriller, a gripping whodunnit, and The Angel of Death does what all good crime fiction should do: it asks questions, probes societal issues, addresses personal impact and fall out, all delivered in the form of pure, page-turning entertainment. The Angel of Death is Trevor’s best yet, with Jack’s decline and the personal and professional consequences of this profoundly echoed in a shocking case, as a ruthless killer stalks the streets of Newcastle, and it becomes clear that there is more at play than anyone could have imagined, with the assisted dying debate right at its heart. Trevor – and this series – are the most perfect fit for our growing list of superb crime fiction, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the team.

Trevor Wood says, ‘I’m absolutely delighted to have joined Team Orenda! I’ve long admired their professionalism, unbridled enthusiasm and support for their writers and their absolute dedication to producing high-quality writing. Their list is like a who’s who of my favourite writers and it’s an honour to now stand alongside them.’

Oli Munson says, ‘I’m so pleased that Orenda will be publishing Trevor and this gripping and timely series.’

The Angel of Death, by Trevor Wood, will be published on 16th July 2026, by Orenda Books, with book four and five in the DCI Jack Parker series published over the following two years. For more information, please contact Karen Sullivan: Karen@orendabooks.co.uk.