HarperCollins pays six-figures for Casey's crimes

HarperCollins has signed a six-figure deal with Irish author Jane Casey for three more crime novels, including a new standalone book.

Julia Wisdom, publisher for crime and thrillers, acquired world English language rights from Ariella Feiner at United Agents. The unnamed first title, to be published in spring 2021, will be Casey’s first standalone novel since her 2010 debut, The Missing (Ebury). 

Dublin-born Casey is perhaps best known for her DC Maeve Kerrigan series. She published the first seven Kerrigan titles with Ebury before moving to HarperCollins in 2017. The deal also includes at least one more novel in the series.

The new standalone centres around a barrister who fears that she is being stalked by a man she once defended: "Once free, he made her his next target. Now he’s back – not to ruin her life, according to him, but to save it. He could protect her; he could kill her. Should she trust him or is just another trap?"

Casey said: “It has been a huge pleasure to work with Julia Wisdom and her amazing team for my last three novels, and I am looking forward to them publishing my first standalone since my début.”

Wisdom added that the standalone would be a "nail-biting, twisty ride, with a fascinatingly ambiguous antagonist, and we are sure this will bring in a whole raft of new readers".