Three David Young thrillers to Bonnier Zaffre for six figures

Bonnier Zaffre has acquired three new crime thrillers from David Young.

Joel Richardson, publishing director, bought World English Language Rights from Adam Gauntlett at PFD in a six-figure deal. 

Young's debut Stasi Child was one of the launch titles of the Bonnier Zaffre list, and was published in 2016. 

Stasi Child was awarded the Endeavour Historical Award for best historical crime novel at the Crime Writer’s Association (CWA) Dagger Awards. It was also longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and rights have sold in nine territories. The Dagger judges called it “an unflinching account of a dark period of our history, lightened by a great humanity”.

Young’s second novel in the Karin Müller series, Stasi Wolf, will publish in mass-market paperback on February 17th.

Richardson said: “We’re all delighted by the brilliant success Stasi Child has had as one of the biggest crime debuts of 2016, and are hugely excited to continue publishing the Karin Müller series. David has a rare gift for combining eerie Cold War atmosphere with strong and fast-paced plotting, and Karin Müller is a character I can’t wait to spend more time with.”

Young said: "I was both humbled and thrilled with the Historical Dagger win, against a very strong field. The news that I'm going to be able to continue my relationship with Bonnier Zaffre and Joel Richardson is the icing on the cake. Bonnier made sure Stasi Child was a success, and I'm sure they'll give equally strong backing to Stasi Wolf and the next books in the series."