rightsguide2015

Jenny Brown Associates

Introduction Jenny Brown Associates is a literary agency based primarily in Edinburgh, and, with the help of scouts and sub-agents, from here we sell rights to publishers all over the world. We are particularly known for representing literary fiction, crime fiction, popular non fiction, sports writing, nature writing, women’s fiction and books for children. Here are some of our highlights over the past year.

o a Sunday Times bestseller with John Lydon’s memoir ANGER IS AN ENERGY (Simon & Schuster)

o two other non-fiction titles made the bestseller lists, and were

BBC Radio 4 Books of the Week – Gavin Francis’s ADVENTURES IN HUMAN BEING (Profile in UK, Basic Books in US, )and Malachy Tallack’s 60 DEGREES NORTH (Polygon in UK, Pegasus in US)

o two of our novels were Simon Mayo Radio 2 Book Club choices

- Gavin Extence’s MIRROR WORLD OF MELODY BLACK and Jackie Copleton’s A DICTIONARY OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

o David Solomon’s MY BROTHER IS A SUPERHERO (Nosy

Crow) is a top 10 children’s bestseller in the UK, a dozen foreign territories sold and TV rights sold

o Andy Jones’s THE TWO OF US (Simon & Schuster) has been

sold into 14 territories and over 70,000 copies sold in the UK

o Ann O’Loughlin’s debut novel THE BALLROOM CAFÉ (Black & White) has sold over 150,000 copies in four months, attracted 1000 reviews on Amazon, and is a Kindle Top 20 Bestseller in 2015. Rights sold in Germany to Goldmann Verlag

Jenny Brown Associates 31 Marchmont Road Edinburgh EH9 1HU Tel 0131 229 5334 E : info@jennybrownassociates.com

An Arrangement of Skin

Sandra Ireland

SUMMARY

An unsettling and compelling psychological thriller set in a taxidermy studio exploring the aftermath of trauma, and finding a way to overcome the past.

DESCRIPTION

Walt has returned from service in Afghanistan - he’s lost his best friend, his right foot and his peace of mind. Desperately trying to outrun his demons, he finds himself in Edinburgh, staring into the window of a taxidermist’s studio. Dead yellow eyes stare back at him; a taste of what lies in wait in Alys’s basement. Alys is the taxidermist; unsociable, damaged, enigmatic, a creature of dark spaces and inner visions. Against his better judgement, Walt accepts her job offer and finds himself at the centre of a strange dynamic between Alys, her sister Mouse and Mouse’s nervous young son, William. But it soon emerges that William’s anxiety is not ill-founded: there’s an unwelcome guest in the macabre household who creeps into rooms at night. Alys cannot acknowledge the interloper who harmed her as a child – but can Walt and Mouse save William before history repeats itself? Sandra Ireland’s unsettling and compelling psychological thriller explores the aftermath of trauma, and finding a way to overcome the past. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Sandra Low Ireland was born in England, lived for many years in Éire, and is now based in Angus, Scotland. She began her writing career as a correspondent on a local newspaper, but quickly realised that fiction is much more intriguing than fact. In 2013,she was awarded a Carnegie-Cameron Scholarship to study for an MLitt in Writing Practice and Study at the University of Dundee, graduating with a distinction in 2014. Her work has appeared in various publications and women’s magazines.

ON SUBMISSION

Autumn in Catalonia Jane Mackenzie

SUMMARY

The story of three generations of women, torn apart by the Spanish Civil War, and the love and hope which reunite them. SALES POINTS

Praise for Jane Mackenzie’s Daughter of Catalonia 'This is the perfect holiday read…. Absolutely riveting’ Booksmonthly 'You can almost feel the warmth of the Languedoc sunshine' French Property News ‘This debut novel from Jane MacKenzie superbly conjures up the beautiful scenery of this corner of France, a place she has called home for the last seven years, and is a riveting holiday read'. Living France Magazine 'Compelling and meticulously researched. An evocative multi-layered story' Random Things Through My Letterbox DESCRIPTION

It is 1963, and in her mansion in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Joana idles her days away, banished by her powerful husband and alienated from her family. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, her daughter Carla is impoverished and in trouble. Hating all her parents stand for, Carla has embraced the student movement against the Franco regime, but her father has been watching her, and, just before their wedding, her beloved fiancé is arrested. Pregnant Carla runs to grandmother Maria, terrified, powerless to help either Luc or herself. Maria shelters her, but they know their movements are still being followed. Why did her daughter Joana marry into the Franco regime and abandon her family? Maria has never understood. This is the story of three generations of women, torn apart by the Spanish Civil War, and by one determined man. It takes the arrival of an unknown cousin for them to start building bridges. Martin carries his own ghosts, but he has come looking for his family, and his belief in them helps them unite to face the enemy together, one autumn in Catalonia. This is a story in which love wins over evil, and belief brings hope, emerging victorious into the sunshine of the Catalonian landscape. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jane MacKenzie has lived and worked in many far flung corners of the world, including the Gambia and Switzerland. Having built her own business and enjoyed a spell working at CERN in Geneva, Jane realised her dream of writing. She splits her time between the Scottish Highlands and Roussillon in the South of France, the region which inspired this novel and her debut, Daughter of Catalonia, published in 2014.

UK Publication Pub date

Allison & Busby October2015

Binding Paperback Extent 320 pp Territorial Rights English Worldwide

Book Locale South of France Author born in England Author living in France & Scotland Audio rights Refer to publisher E-book rights Refer to publisher Serial rights Refer to publisher Translation rights Refer to Jenny Brown

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British Bulldog

Sara Sheridan

SUMMARY

The fourth in the best-selling Mirabelle Bevan series, stylish mysteries set in 1950s Brighton and featuring Mirabelle Bevan and her partner Vesta Churchhill. Rights to the series have recently been acquired by Constable Crime (Little,Brown) in the UK and Kensington in the States. Series optioned for television by STV PRAISE FOR THE MIRABELLE BEVAN SERIES

‘British Bulldog has all the elements you could possibly wish for - adventure, romance, mystery, murder and a great deal of suspense' - Scottish Home & Country ‘Mirabelle has a dogged tenacity to rival Poirot’ - Sunday Herald ‘Undeniably stylish, undeniably smart.’ - Daily Record ‘Plenty of colour and action, will engage the reader from the first page to the last. ‘Highly recommended’ - Book Bag

DESCRIPTION

1954, Brighton, London and Paris When Mirabelle receives a bequest from a lately deceased wartime acquaintance she is mystified - she hardly knew the man but it is not long before she realises that he certainly knew her. She is drawn back to re-examine her memories of WWII and is shocked to find that other people's experiences do not chime with her own and more importantly, with what she knows of her erstwhile lover, Jack Duggan. Following the trail to the threads of what's left of the resistance movement in Paris, Mirabelle is forced to face secrets she didn't even know that she had.

This is the fourth instalment in Sara Sheridan’s best-selling cosy crime noir series featuring heroine Mirabelle Bevan. The fifth, Operation Goodwood, will be published by Constable Crime in 2016

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Sara Sheridan writes fiction for adults and children. Previous recent novels include The Secret Mandarin (2009) and Secret of the Sands (2011), both published by HarperCollins. She studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin. Sara is very active on Facebook and Twitter – her website is www.sarasheridan.co.uk

UK Publisher UK Pub date

Polygon, Birlinn 2015

ISBN 9781846973253 Binding Hardback Territorial Rights Translation

English Worldwide Jenny Brown Associates

Book Locale Brighton/Paris Author born in Edinburgh Author living in Edinburgh

Publishing History From spring 2016, the Mirabelle Bevan series will be published in the UK by Constable Crime, imprint of Little, Brown. US rights to the series have been acquired by Kensington, and the first, Brighton Belle, will be published in the States in early 2016.

The Case of the Missing Madonna

Lin Anderson

SUMMARY

A shocking wartime secret is uncovered in the second of Lin Anderson’s stylish Cannes mysteries. SALES POINTS Praise for the Patrick de Courvoisier series

‘Courvoisier is a dashing, sophisticated hero, and with an action-packed plot, filled with violence and shocking twists, this page-turner will more than satisfy fans of jet-setting suspense’ Booklist ‘Fast and clever..Anderson’s appealing new series is just the ticket’ Library Journal DESCRIPTION

Private investigator Patrick de Courvoisier unearths a shocking wartime secret in this stylish Cannes-based mystery series. Brother Robert from the abbey on St Honorat, a picturesque island off the French coast, has requested Patrick de Courvoisier's help in locating a valuable painting which has disappeared from the monastery's vaults. At the same time, an old enemy from Patrick's past has arrived in Cannes in search of a different stolen painting. As it becomes increasingly clear that the two investigations are linked, Patrick's enquiries lead him to uncover a shocking wartime secret: a secret the British Royal family would prefer to keep hidden... .

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Lin Anderson is best known as the creator of the forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod series of crime thriller novels, and for her part in founding the annual 'Bloody Scotland' crime writing festival, dedicated to promoting Scotland's other great national export. Lin's Rhona MacLeod novel 'Paths of the Dead' was shortlisted for the 2015 Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The latest novel in the Rhona MacLeod series 'The Special Dead' was published in August 2015.

UK Publication Pub date

Severn House September 2015

Binding Hardback Extent 186 pp Territorial Rights English Worldwide

Book Locale London, Cannes Author born in Scotland Author living in Edinburgh, Cannes Audio rights Refer to publisher E-book rights Refer to publisher Serial rights Refer to publisher Translation rights Refer to Jenny Brown

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Double Tap

Hania Allen

SUMMARY

A fast-paced crime novel featuring highly likeable Von Volenti who juggles her private detective work with a chaotic domestic life, set in Edinburgh.

REVIEWS

'The plot is fast-moving, and ends with a satisfyingly suspense-filled double twist. I really loved the atmospheric use of the Edinburgh settings.' - Promoting Crime Fiction

‘Hania Allen’s second novel is a confident, darkly witty tale that made me lock the door and keep turning the pages. Her Edinburgh feels solid, with welcome details adding texture to the familiarity of Scotland’s capital … but it’s her characters who impress: Von is a realistic and fascinating take on the PI – a character and profession sorely under-looked in UK crime fiction, and presented here in an emotionally honest and utterly believable light. Double Tap is a pitch-perfect period piece combined with a clever mystery, but more than that, it’ a witty, tense crime novel written in a highly readable style, and with an authenticity of character, procedure and place that is rare and exciting to discover.’ Russel D McLeab, author of the J McNee detective series

DESCRIPTION

Second in the Von Valenti series, where the action moves to Edinburgh. A professional hit during an executive paintball game demands all of Von’s skills as a detective. Leaving the police and chasing her errant daughter, Von has relocated to Edinburgh where she’s set up as a Private Detective. She is asked to investigate a professional hit, an infamous ‘double tap’ that has occurred during an executive paint-ball game. As nothing is as it seems as Von must use all her intelligence, tenacity and skills to unravel the truth from a web of lies that surrounds the case.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Hania Allen was born in Liverpool of Polish parents. Her career in education culminated in information management at the University of St Andrews, a post which she left to write full time. Her first published crime novel was Jack in the Box, published in 2014.

UK Publisher Publication date

Freight Books 2015

Price £8.99 ISBN 9781910449004 Binding Paperback Format B Format 198 x129mm Extent 256 pp Territorial Rights English Worldwide Translation Jenny Brown Associates Book Locale Edinburgh Author born in Surrey, UK Author living in Fife, Scotland

Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy

Chitra Ramaswamy

SUMMARY

What is it like to grow a body within a body? Award-winning journalist Chitra Ramaswamy takes you on a physical, emotional, philosophical and artistic odyssey through pregnancy. The nine chapters of EXPECTING contain elements of narrative non fiction, memoir, travel and nature writing, biology, and literary and artistic analysis. This is not another ‘rough guide to pregnancy' that dominates the market but rather a book of intimate, strange, wild, and lyrical essays that pay tribute to this most extraordinary and ordinary of experiences. DESCRIPTION

When Chitra Ramaswamy became pregnant, she wanted to explore her own pregnant body, to excavate the myths and metaphors so she could take a long, hard look inside herself - both literally and figuratively - and watch her pregnancy unfurl like a rose. She was shocked at how little she knew about this 'condition', how little she knew about the body that had carried her thus far. She was 34 years old, a woman in a long-term relationship with another woman, and yet her body was a stranger. It was only when it contained another stranger that she realised this. And so it was to writers, thinkers, and artists whom she turned in order to illuminate this deep, dark experience, one that has touched every single one of us whether through giving birth or being born.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Chitra Ramaswamy was one of the Scotsman’s leading columnists and book reviewers, and now writes for The Guardian. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner and their one-year old son. This is her first book.

UK Publication Pub date

Saraband Spring 2016

Binding Paperback Format B Format 198 x129mm Extent 256 pp Territorial Rights English Worldwide

Book Locale UK Author born in UK Author living in Edinburgh, UK Audio rights Refer to publisher E-book rights Refer to publisher Serial rights Refer to publisher Translation rights Refer to Jenny Brown

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Goblin

Ever Dundas

SUMMARY

A devastating and magical debut which continues to haunt long after reading the final page. SALES POINTS

This arresting literary novel is set during Pet Massacre, a little-known episode in the second world war when Londoners voluntarily brought their dogs and cats to be put down, fearful of lack of food, and of bombing. It's estimated that around 750,000 pets were destroyed in one week. DESCRIPTION GOBLIN opens during the London Blitz and eleven year old Goblin is running amok over the bomb sites, dog at heel, with her ragged gang of friends. One day she witnesses an atrocity. A fervent animal lover, Goblin is appalled by the piled up mounds of dead pets, the pet massacre, and she takes photographs - but she also captures on film an incident more dreadful, a scene which leaves her traumatised. Goblin buries the camera in a cemetery and erases the episode from her mind. She's evacuated to the country and on her return finds her house standing but parents and beloved brother gone. She creates her own family from stray animals, and her imaginary friends, Queen Isabella, the Lizard Queen and Monsta who stay with her even into adulthood. She tells stories to herself (and anyone who will listen) to try to make sense of her chaotic world, she joins a circus, grows up and, wherever she goes, she searches for her missing brother. In 2011 London is again alight during the Riots, and by this time Goblin is an old woman, living in Edinburgh with her menagerie. Building work in London leads to the discovery of the camera, the photographs are developed and released to the press, and Britain is outraged to learn about the massacre of pets seventy years before. But the police also discover the last photograph, and the nation's shock changes to a murder investigation. The hunt is on for the adult who took those photographs as a child, the only one who can help police with enquiries. Should Goblin turn herself in and force herself to remember the event which changed her life forever? Only by writing down her memories can she come to terms with the past. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

The author, Ever Dundas, gained a Creative Writing Masters with Distinction from Edinburgh Napier University in 2011, and she has a First Class Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Queen Margaret University. She has had several short stories and dark fairy tales published and her work has been shortlisted for awards. She is currently working on her second novel.

On Submission

Book Locale UK Author born in UK Author living in Edinburgh, UK

Paris Kiss

Maggie Ritchie

SUMMARY

Scandal, love, art and bohemia in 19th century Paris Sumptuous historical fiction set in the studio of the legendary Rodin

REVIEWS

‘Flows from the page like a piece of art.' --Sunday Mirror 'A touching tale of friendship, love and betrayal set against a colourful backdrop of the Paris art world.' - France magazine 'Compelling and seductive… a rather lovely tale.' - Connexion magazine ‘Jessie’s adventures as a woman artist in 1880s Paris completely captivated me. A wonderful story’ - Carmen Reid DESCRIPTION

Bohemian Paris in the 1880s. Exotic, strange and exciting – especially to young English sculptress Jessie Lipscomb, who joins her friend Camille to become a protégée of the great Auguste Rodin. Jessie and Camille enjoy a passionate friendship and explore the demi-monde of the vibrant city, meeting artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and the boldly unconventional Rosa Bonheur. But when Rodin and Camille embark on a scandalous affair, Jessie is cast as their unwilling go-between and their friendship unravels. Years later she tracks her down to an insane asylum where Camille tells her an explosive secret – can their friendship survive the betrayal?

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

A highly promising author already attracting attention from awards panels, Maggie Ritchie is also a successful freelance journalist, writing for the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, Herald, Daily Record and Sunday Mail. She has an MLitt (Distinction) from the University of Glasgow and is currently working on her second novel

UK Publication date UK Publisher

2015 Saraband

Price £8.99 ISBN 9781908643780 Binding Paperback Format B Format 198

x129mm Extent 256 pp Territorial Rights Other rights

English, UK & Commonwealth Jenny Brown Associates

Book Locale Paris Author living in Glasgow, UK

The Silent Listeners

Juliet Conlin

SUMMARY

THE SILENT LISTENERS is Juliet Conlin's second novel and follows on from the strong psychological themes of her debut, The Fractured Man (Cargo, 2013). THE SILENT LISTENERS is a compelling psychological drama about a little examined phenomenon - voice hearing.

PRAISE FOR JULIET CONLIN’S WRITING

'An addictive thriller... deliciously dark and hypnotic, a psychological thriller fused with the spine-tingling atmosphere of a ghost story'

DESCRIPTION

Shortly before Christmas, 79-year-old Alfred Warner arrives at Berlin’s busy central train station, to meet his granddaughter Brynja for the first time. When Brynja fails to show up, however, Alfred is befriended by Julia, who quickly realises that there is something not quite right about Alfred: in fact, he claims he has six days left to live. He knows this because his voices have told him. Julia feels obliged to take in the seemingly confused old man over Christmas, after they make the shocking discovery that Alfred’s granddaughter is not only a voice-hearer herself, but that her voices have left her barely alive. Alfred knows that he must relate his story to Brynja, who lies comatose in a local hospital, in order to save her life. But his time is running out. Over the course of six days, Alfred tells his story to Julia – beginning with when he heard voices for the first time at the age of six, to his childhood at the Jewish orphanage in Berlin during the Nazi regime, his capture by British forces and subsequent detention as a prisoner of war in a Scottish village, up to the years living in the English Midlands, all the while accompanied by the mysterious voices of three sisters, whom only he can hear. When Alfred has finished telling his incredible story, his final task is complete and he dies. But Julia keeps her promise and relates the story to Brynja, who is given a second chance to embrace the voices and survive. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Juliet is a British-born writer who lives in Berlin. She worked in the field of cognitive psychology at the Max Planck Institute before concentrating on writing and translating.

UK Publication Word Count

On submission 110,000

Book Locale Berlin/UK Author born in England Author living in Berlin

Sixty Degrees North: - Around the World in Search of Home

Malachy Tallack

SUMMARY

A travel book exploring the 60th parallel, taking in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greenland, Alaska, Russia – and the author’s home on Shetland at the very top of the British Isles. A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week Guardian Book of the Week REVIEWS

"It’s a joy to read, its prose as clear as the light on the Greenland ice-cap." - The Telegraph ‘A promising travelogue with a traumatic backstory’ - The Guardian "Sixty Degrees North is a thoughtful and sophisticated blend of travelogue, nature writing, history and memoir" - Big Issue 'A five star read from start to finish, Malachy Tallack is definitely a name to look out for in the future.’ - Press & Journal ‘Essential reading’ - Scotland on Sunday ‘It is a brave book in its honesty and self-exposure, I think, and a beautiful book in terms of the subtlety of its thinking and the quality of its descriptive prose, that at times possesses the lucidity of the northern light in which so much of it is set.’ - Robert Macfarlane DESCRIPTION

'Sixty Degrees North is a story that we tell, both to ourselves and to others. It is a story about where – and perhaps also who – we are.’ The sixtieth parallel marks a kind of borderland. It wraps itself around the lower reaches of Finland, Sweden and Norway; it crosses the tip of Greenland and of Southcentral Alaska; it cuts the great spaces of Russia and Canada in half. The parallel also passes through Shetland, at the very top of the British Isles. In Sixty Degrees North, Malachy Tallack explores the places that share this latitude, beginning and ending in Shetland, where he has spent most of his life. The book focuses on the landscapes and natural environments of the parallel, and the way that people have interacted with those landscapes. It explores themes of wildness and community, of isolation and engagement, of exile and memory. Sixty Degrees North is also a deeply personal book, which begins with the author’s loss of his father and his troubled relationship with Shetland. Informed by the journeys described, it moves towards a kind of resolution: an acceptance of loss, and ultimately a love of the place Tallack calls ‘home’. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Malachy Tallack is a young writer and musician who has recently been awarded a New Writers Award by the Scottish Book Trust and an Artist’s Bursary by Creative Scotland. He is currently being mentored by John Burnside. He has worked as a reporter on the Shetland Times and his writing has appeared in the Guardian, the New Statesman and the Scottish Review of Books, and in magazines such as Irish Pages, PN Review, Waterlog and Earthlines. In 2013 he launched The Island Review, an online magazine featuring writing and visual arts from islands all over the world.

UK Publisher UK Publication US/Canada

Polygon (Birlinn) July 2015 Pegasus

Subject Non Fiction Travel/Memoir

Extent 240 pp Territorial Rights UK & Com (ex CAN) Book Locale 60th parallel Author living in Shetland

Audio rights Refer to publisher E-book rights Refer to publisher Serial rights Refer to publisher Translation rights Jenny Brown Associates

The Book Collector

Alice Thompson

SUMMARY

A dark, haunting Gothic tale by one of the UK’s most original writers.

PRAISE FOR ALICE THOMPSON’S WRITING

“Angela Carter crossed with the Scottish diffidence of Muriel Spark.” Ali Smith on Justine “A high-wire act of a novel. Try to resist it and you can’t.” Fay Weldon on Pandora’s Box “The Existential Detective is unsettling, unsettlingly erotic, and somehow sadly beautiful. Thompson is fast becoming one of the most original and formidable writers in the English language today.” Sunday Herald on The Existential Detective “Haunting, strange, Kafkaesque, poetic mystery.” Ian Rankin on The Existential Detective DESCRIBTION

The novel is a Gothic story of an Edwardian woman, Violet, who marries a book collector. She becomes obsessed by a book of fairy tales that her husband acquires; she develops delusions about harming her baby and is put in an asylum by her husband. After some time, she leaves the asylum and corpses of women are discovered in the surroundings of the village. Their skin has been removed and they are mutilated in ways that are suggestive of certain fairy tales. The husband employs a nanny; Violet suspects they have embarked on an affair. Violet starts seeing dead bodies and becomes convinced her husband is the murderer. He finally puts her back in the asylum, where she is given ECT. On Violet’s eventual release she decides to search for the provenance of the book of fairy tales, which leads her to a taxidermist who tells her that her husband has books bound in human skin. Violet discovers the murdered women have all been abducted from the asylum. The novel ends with the burning of the husband’s books.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Alice Thompson’s novels are surreal rewritings of various genres such as the detective story, the ghost story, the Romance and the Gothic. In the imagist tradition, they strongly depend on symbolism and ellipsis for their literary effect. She is a highly respected writer of six novels, one of which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Additionally, she has a PhD in English Literature and teaching experience in both Creative Writing and English Literature (with a special interest in nineteenth and twentieth-century American fiction and poetry) at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Over her career she has won a Creative Scotland award, three Scottish Arts Council Awards and a writer’s residency in Shetland.

UK Pub UK Pub date

Salt 5 November 2015

Territorial Rights US/Translation Previous publishers:

UK & C’wealth (ex CAN) Jenny Brown Associates

Canongate, Counterpoint (US) Serie Piper Munksgaard/Rosinante De Bezige Bij Zmora-Bitan, Israel/Hebrew Denoel France Ecco Press, (America) St Martins Press and Penguin (America) Yephar Nepyatka (Russia)

Book Locale United Kingdom Author born in Edinburgh Author living in Edinburgh

The House Between Tides

Sarah Maine

SUMMARY A compelling and sweeping debut novel set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. SALES POINTS ‘There is an echo of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca in Sarah Maine's appealing debut novel, when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of a derelict mansion on a Scottish island... a highly readable debut.’ – Independent 'I loved Sarah Maine’s Bhalla Strand, a historical mystery set on the Outer Hebrides; it is vivid and intriguing' - Scotsman Books of the Year 'A rewarding read and I cannot give it anything but enthusiastic praise. The characters, locations and plot were all absolutely perfect and it came as a great surprise to learn that this was the author’s debut novel. I predict great things for Sarah Maine.' - The Bookbag DESCRIPTION A beautiful debut novel set in the Outer Hebrides, Bhalla Strand combines archaeology and dark mystery. In the present day, Harriet Devereux returns to the family home of Bhalla House on a remote Hebridean island estate following the untimely death of her parents. Torn between selling the house and turning it into a hotel, Harriet undertakes urgent repairs, accidently uncovering human remains. Who has been lying beneath the floorboards for a century? Were they murdered? Through diaries and letters she finds, Harriet discovers that the house was occupied at the turn of the century by distant relative Beatrice Blake, a young aristocratic woman recently married to renowned naturalist and painter, Theodore Blake. With socialist and proto-environmentalist leanings Beatrice is soon in conflict with her autocratic new husband, who is distant, more interested in Cameron, a mysterious young man from the island. As Beatrice is also drawn to Cameron, a single kiss sets off a chain of events that will change all their lives, leaving Harriet to assemble the jigsaw of clues piece by piece one hundred years later, as she obsessively chases the truth. AUTHOR Sarah Maine was born in England but grew up partly in Canada, returning to the UK for university where she studied archaeology. This subject choice gave many opportunities for travel while working on excavations or carrying out research for her PhD. Vacations were spent lecturing for adventure travel companies in Europe and Canada, but her working life has been spent in York where she now lives with her family. She is currently finishing her second novel Wild Water.

Spring 2016 UK Pub Australia US/Canada Germany Holland Translation Extent

Freight Books Allen & Unwin Atria/Simon&Schuster Goldmann Bruna Jenny Brown Associates 105k words

Book Locale Outer Hebrides/Scotland

Author born England Author living York, UK Publishing History:

Originally published by Freight as Bhalla Strand in 2014. The US/Canadian rights were the subject of a major three-way auction.

Melting Point

Sara Sheridan

SUMMARY

Set against the intriguing, exotic and often dangerous world of the cocoa trade and the lives of chocolate smugglers, in MELTING POINT, the hot lush jungle of Brazil meets the grim two-faced streets of Georgian London.

PRAISE FOR SARA SHERIDAN

‘A truly sumptuous, action-packed Oriental adventure that might just be our favourite historical romance of the year.’ Daily Record ‘An enchanting story that draws you in… perfect for whiling away the hours on a rainy day.’ Closer ‘If you like mystery, history, love and adventure then this book is for you!’ Scottish Home & Country DESCRIPTION

Captain James Henderson, brought up a gentleman in Soho, through a set of family circumstances is now a chocolate smuggler in Brazil. When he meets recently widowed writer, explorer and scientist, Maria Graham, fresh from the jungle, he offers her passage home. Nostalgic for his lost life in England, he quickly falls in love with Maria, who despite her innate respectability, finds herself intrigued. Fighting emotions she is experiencing for the first time, Maria struggles against the urge to throw in the respected and privileged life she has fought hard to establish, while Henderson falls in with the youngest son of the Fry’s chocolate dynasty and they soon find themselves fighting for their lives against a tough and aristocratic London-based smuggling ring. Using his knowledge of Brazilian chocolate, can Henderson make enough money and learn enough manners on the way, to establish himself as a gentleman in the cut and thrust of Georgian London’s heyday? Will Maria be able to reconcile her passion for her London life, her confusion over the captain and maintain her place as a woman at the cutting edge of high society? AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Sara Sheridan has two strands to her writing – the first a series of stylish mysteries set in 1950s Brighton featuring Mirabelle Bevan (published in UK by Constable/Little,Brown and in US by Kensington). She also writes historical novels set in the 19th C featuring real historical figures - The Secret Mandarin and The Secret of the sands (both Avon/HarperCollins).

UK Publication On submission Book Locale Brazil, London Author born in Edinburgh Author living in Edinburgh Publishing History The Secret Mandarin was a bestseller in the UK, and sold into seven territories.

Wasp, Or, A Very Sweet Power

Ian Garbutt

SUMMARY

A gripping page-turner that exposes the dark, seedy underbelly of eighteenth-century society. SALES POINTS ‘Fans of Sarah Walters’ Fingersmith or Michel Faber’s Crimson Petal and the White will welcome Wasp with its lucid prose, clever mix of the beautiful and the sordid and a compelling storyline which keeps you guessing till the last few pages’. We Love This Book

DESCRIPTION

For a gentleman seeking more prestigious company amidst the bawdy houses of an eighteenth-century city, the House of Masques provides the perfect no-touch escorts. Girls, highly educated and socially trained, are geisha-like status symbols for politicians, bankers and royalty alike. Into this world comes Bethany Harris, a disgraced governess who has been rescued from a madhouse and transformed into the Masque named Wasp. She soon discovers that everyone in the House has a past, and personal horrors, coupled with dark ambition, are leading to a crisis that threatens to destroy the House of Masques and everyone in it. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Ian Garbutt has worked in journalism and publishing. He was awarded a Scottish Arts Council New Writer’s Bursary and attended Napier University in Edinburgh where he obtained a Master of Arts with Distinction in Creative Writing.

UK Publisher UK Publ date

Polygon (Birlinn) 19 March 2015

Price £12.99 ISBN 9781846973079 Binding Hardback Extent 368 pp Territorial Rights All other rights

English, UK & Commonwealth Jenny Brown Associates

Book Locale England Author living in Scotland Publishing History Translation rights sold to Atena (Finland) and Nieuw Amsterdam (Holland)

Audio rights US rights

Refer to publisher Jenny Brown Associates

Translation rights Jenny Brown Associates

Jenny Brown Associates