Bonnier Zaffre acquires 'assassa-mum' debut

Bonnier Zaffre has acquired two women’s fiction titles from debut author Asia Mackay, who was a runner-up in the Richard & Judy "Search for a Bestseller" competition that it ran last year with W H Smith.

Mackay’s debut title, Killing It, is about a recently back-to-work mother who is also a government assassin.

Eleanor Dryden, publishing director, and Katherine Armstrong, editorial director, acquired world all language rights from Alice Lutyens at Curtis Brown.

Mackay is a mother of four and a Faber Academy alumnus. She said: "The idea for Killing It was formed one morning at 4am whilst crawling out of the baby’s room wishing I had some kind of covert operations training to help me succeed in escaping without waking him. I thought if anyone could succeed in the man's world of international espionage it would be a Mum – women to whom multi-tasking and hostile negotiations are already a part of everyday life. I am so excited to be working with Bonnier Zaffre on this novel; working with them has been nothing but exhilarating from the beginning."

Dryden and Armstrong commented: "We absolutely loved Asia’s take on back-to-work parenting. Lex’s voice is pitch-perfect as the 'assassa-mum' juggling a demanding job in a male-dominated workplace, whilst also trying to be the best mother she can be. Killing It is a clever, compelling and unconventional look at motherhood, full of black humour and incidents that every parent will recognise. This is James Bond meets Nikita for The Unmumsy Mum generation."

Killing it will be available in e-book in spring 2018 and in paperback in summer 2018.