Zaffre, the flagship commercial fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has today announced a major new recontract with Sunday Times bestseller Lynda La Plante. World All Language rights were acquired by Sarah Benton, Managing Director, and Ben Willis, Publisher, from Nigel Stoneman of LaPlante Global, and the seven-figure deal includes four frontlist titles, two backlist reissues and an audio original. Two of the frontlist titles are the start of a new series which we will see next summer. 

Crucified, a new Detective Jack Warr thriller, is the first book in this new deal. It will be published by Zaffre in spring 2025. Detective Jack Warr is haunted by the gruesome legacy of serial killer Rodney Middleton and reeling from a series of events that has left him deep in depression. Refusing the Met-offered counselling service, Jack instead finds solace instead through renewing a dangerous friendship with the artist and master forger, Adam Bolder. When a body is discovered nailed to a giant cross in a framer’s shop, Jack feels a connection to the case even though it is not in his jurisdiction. But is his involvement that of a detective or witness?

As Lynda says, “Jack Warr is a character I love to write and in          , his morally grey approach to the law may now be catching up with him. I’m delighted to have signed a new contract with Bonnier, they are a terrific publisher, and every department is brimming with talented people.  I look forward to many more years of working with them.”

Sarah Benton said: “Lynda La Plante is a true icon of crime and it remains our greatest honour to be her publisher. This year, and this new deal, shows she is still absolutely at the top of her game: innovating the genre, pushing boundaries and continuing to blaze a trail for the rest of us. She inspires us every day, and we can’t wait for more readers to keep discovering her books.”

2024 was a huge year for Lynda: she was awarded both the CWA Diamond Dagger and the Thalia Proctor Lifetime Achievement Award at Capital Crime. July saw the publication of Whole Life Sentence – the final Tennison thriller – and marked the closure of an iconic series depicting the personal and professional journey of the young Jane Tennison. And September saw the publication of La Plante’s memoir, Getting Away With Murder. She now returns to her heartland of writing crime.

Lynda La Plante CBE is unique, the only UK female crime writer to have adapted and produced TV series, based on her novels.   Her own experience as an actor gave her the knowledge and experience to write and cast many of her television series, most notably in Prime Suspect she cast Helen Mirren as Detective Jane Tennison, a series which ran for 7 seasons, won numerous awards and was distributed to 196 territories globally. She was awarded the Diamond Dagger, the highest accolade in crime writing, earlier this year. This recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.