Mirror Books signs Russian crime series

Trinity Mirror’s publishing imprint Mirror Books has acquired a debut crime novel set in contemporary St Petersburg. Publishing director Paula Scott acquired world English rights to Motherland by Garry Abson from Kate Hordern at KHLA.

"Featuring the lovable and very human policewoman Natalya Ivanova, Motherland is high-end crime for the mass-market, ambitious in its conception and very well realised", said the publisher.

Scott said: “We were looking for something very special for our new fiction imprint and in Motherland we knew we'd found it. Garry's writing is dark, atmospheric and insightful and the book flows at a tremendous pace...it's a gripping read.”

Abson said: “I am delighted by the enthusiasm of Paula Scott and her team for Motherland and look forward to working with them to introduce Detective Natalya Ivanova to avid fans of crime fiction.  Set in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, an extraordinary country where things are rarely what they seem, Natalya finds her family at risk of being torn apart when an investigation takes a dark turn.”

Motherland will be published by Mirror Books in February 2018 in e-book and in May 2018 in paperback and audio, part of the launch of the imprint’s fiction list which also includes three titles in a new crime series by author and playwright Lynn Brittney.