Zaffre, the flagship commercial fiction imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired six new crime novels to add to its award-winning crime and thriller list.
In a busy first few months since joining Zaffre, Commissioning Editor Kasim Mohammed has acquired world English rights from Annabel White at Curtis Brown for the Marrow Trilogy (Marrow, Reverse Turn and Seahorses) by Dean O’Loughlin; and both The Murdered Husband Returns, and I Killed Our School Teacher by Mina Sakurai. Kasim has also acquired world all-language rights from Sandra Sawicka at Marjacq for Melanie Golding’s The Spit.
Golding’s The Spit is a dual timeline, character-driven novel following Theo, whose friends went missing back in the 90s. When he returns to the island they disappeared from, another woman vanishes and he attempts to discover what happened to them all.
Published in English for the first time, Mina Sakurai’s The Murdered Husband Returns follows a woman who opens the door to her husband – a surprising development given that she killed him five years ago… While I Killed Our School Teacher sees a group of students uncover the circumstances surrounding their teacher’s suicide.
Meanwhile, Marrow, the first in a trilogy from Dean O’Loughlin, is a socially conscious thriller. When Anna’s adopted daughter, Isabel, is diagnosed with leukaemia, she learns Isabel isn’t white but black, making it difficult to find a donor. On a journey to find Isabel’s biological family, she discovers a world she doesn’t recognise: the hard streets of Birmingham.
Commissioning Editor Kasim Mohammed said: ‘I’m honoured to have acquired these three authors in my first few months at Bonnier Books UK, all of whom bring something different to the table. With Melanie, we have a beautifully written, tense, character-driven exploration of a small community. Mina has written two brilliantly-paced thrillers with weightier things on their minds. And Dean, who is from my very own Birmingham, is writing socially-conscious thrillers that are like nothing I’ve ever read before in this space. I’m thrilled to be publishing all three of these authors on our Zaffre list.’
Melanie Golding said: ‘I am so thrilled to get the chance to work with Kasim and the brilliant team at Bonnier Books UK. This new book represents a really exciting development in my writing career and I can’t wait to see what readers think.’
Dean O’Loughlin said: ‘It feels serendipitous that my Birmingham saga about the fictional Belmonte estate be brought by a fellow Brummie. I think the real story of Birmingham has only ever been touched on. With Kasim and Bonnier Books UK, I believe I have found the perfect publisher to tell it.’
Annabel White said: ‘We were struck from the first page by the unique urgency of Dean’s writing, and with Kasim’s passion and vision for his work, we truly believe Dean will be Birmingham’s next big crime writer. Mina Sakurai’s thrillers are intelligent, dark and disconcerting, the twist in The Murdered Husband Returns is like no other.’
Sandra Sawicka said: ‘I’m really delighted to be working on this new project with Mel, Kasim and the wider Bonnier team. There’s a sense of enthusiasm and genuine excitement that I have no doubt will make this book special and something the readers will love.’
