Constable lands three-book deal with debut crime writer Watson

Constable has landed a three-book deal with debut crime fiction author Katy Watson, who also writes romance books under the name Sophie Pembroke.

Publishing director Krystyna Green acquired world rights from Gemma Cooper at The Bent Agency. The first book, The Three Dahlias, will publish in hardback in July 2022 as one of the publisher's priority titles, with a "substantial" marketing and publicity campaign planned. The mass market paperback will follow in the spring of 2023, with more Three Dahlia adventures planned for later that year.

The first book introduces readers to three rival actresses, all of whom have played fictional detective Dahlia Lively at some point in their career. The trio team up to solve a murder at the stately home of the author who made them famous, only to discover the solution to the crime lies within the author’s stories themselves.

Green said: "I absolutely adored this when it came in and I read it in one sitting. It’s whip-smart and crime fiction fans will love this as Katy takes all the popular crime writing tropes and has turned them into a contemporary Golden Age country house murder mystery, which sparkles with wit, while the Dahlia Lively books-within-the-book are all stories I want to read."

Watson added: "I’m so thrilled to have found a home for my Dahlias at Constable. The Constable list is filled with authors and stories I’ve long admired, and it’s so exciting to be a part of that. Krystyna and her team really get the book, and I know that they’re absolutely the right people to help me share the story with crime readers everywhere."