Deaver moves to HarperCollins in a three-book deal

Crime writer Jeffery Deaver has signed a three-book deal with HarperCollins.

Julia Wisdom, publisher for crime and thrillers at HarperCollins, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in three thrillers by Deaver, a move from long-term publisher Hodder & Stoughton, which published his last Lincoln Rhyme thriller The Cutting Edge in May. The deal was negotiated by Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown.

The first thriller introduces a new protagonist, Colter Shaw, and will be published in summer 2019. The second thriller will again feature Colter Shaw and the third Lincoln Rhyme, his long-standing series character.

Wisdom described it as “a tremendously exciting acquisition for HarperCollins UK and for the fiction division”. 

“Jeffery Deaver has been a hero of mine for a long time and his books are superb,” she said. “The plotting is unparalleled, the characters always fascinating and original, the pacing perfect.  To be able to publish him is a dream come true, and to do so at the beginning of a new series is particularly thrilling for the whole team.”

Deaver said: “I have the wanderlust gene. It’s my goal to spend time in each of our 50 states (only four left to go). And while I’ll always continue to write my Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance novels, I thought it was time to introduce a new character—one with my itinerate inclinations. Colter Shaw, raised by a brilliant but troubled survivalist, travels the country on missions to find criminals and missing persons when the law can’t—or won’t.

"As the author of 40 novels and scores of short stories, I know that occasionally (not as often as writers would like) your character sits down next to you and dictates his story, while you hold on tight and go along for the ride—a nonstop ride, of course. That’s Colter Shaw.”

Many of Deaver's novels have been international bestsellers, including the 2011 James Bond novel Carte Blanche (Hodder & Stoughton) and he has sold 4.1 million books for £23.36m, according to Nielsen BookScan.

The award-winning Chicago-born author is best known for his Lincoln Rhyme thrillers, which include the number-one bestsellers The Vanished Man, The Twelfth Card and The Cold Moon, as well as The Bone Collector which was made into a feature film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. All were previously published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Deaver is serving his second term as president of the Mystery Writers of America and is based on the East Coast in the US.