Black Spring Press launches new crime imprint with author Veste

Independent publisher Black Spring Press is launching a new imprint, Black Spring Crime, following the hire of consultant crime editor Luca Veste.

The new imprint will publish one crime title a month for the first year beginning with Zephaniah Sole’s A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands, a novel "dripping with rich reality" and fantastical elements.

Sole is the pseudonym for a working FBI agent and their novel has been described as "’Silence of the Lambs’ fused with Grimm’s Fairy Tales". Black Spring Crime holds worldwide rights, acquired directly from the author.

Sole’s novel will be followed by Rob McClure’s "hard-hitting" detective novel The Scotsman this month, J K Nottingham’s Jasper’s Brood, publishing in September 2023 and Clare Grant’s historical crime novel The Winter of Shadows, publishing in November 2023. 

Press director Dr Todd Swift commented: "Black Spring has been publishing darkly twisted and genius writers since the 1980s and I think we can put a fascinating spin on the crime genre with our upcoming slate of titles."

Veste, author of Dead Gone (HarperCollins) and The Bone Keeper (Simon & Schuster), said: "Working with the team at Black Spring Press in the creation of this new imprint has been a dream so far. After reading A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands, I knew I had to work with this press and couldn’t be more delighted to be a part of what promises to be a crime publisher and imprint like no other.

"Originality is what we’re looking for and with our soon-to-be-released titles, we believe crime fiction lovers will find new and fresh voices and stories they may not have experienced before. It’s an honour and a privilege to be a part of the Black Spring Crime team bringing this to life.”

The full list of Black Spring Crime’s publications:

• A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands by Zephaniah Sole.
• The Scotsman (July 2023) by Rob McClure.
• Creative Justice (August 2023) by Tristan Walker.
• Jasper’s Brood (September 2023) by J K Nottingham.
• The Winter of Shadows (October 2023) by Clare Grant.
• After Uyuni (November 2023) by C J Howell.
• Expiation (January 2024) by Steve Welsh.