Harvill Secker scoops Mina's reimagining of 'famed and troubled' detective Marlowe

Harvill Secker has scooped Denise Mina’s reimagining of Raymond Chandler’s "famed and troubled" detective Philip Marlowe, set in Los Angeles during the Hollywood Golden Age.

Katie Ellis-Brown, deputy publishing director for crime, acquired UK and Commonwealth (including Europe) rights in The Second Murderer from Jon Wood at RCW. According to the publisher, Mina will be the first woman to take on the infamous character, and her book will be supported by a marketing and publicity campaign.

The synopsis said: "It’s mid-September, a heatwave has descended on the parched hills of LA and Private Detective Philip Marlowe is called to the Montgomery estate, an almost mythic place sitting high on top of Beverly Hills. Wealthy 22-year-old Chrissie Montgomery, set to inherit an enormous fortune, is missing [...] Who will get to her first, Marlowe, Anne, or the men chasing her fortune? And does she want to be found?"

Mina has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice and was inducted into the Crime Writers’ Association Hall of Fame in 2014. Her novel, The Long Drop (Vintage), won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2017, as well as the Gordon Burn Prize, while Conviction (Vintage) was the co-winner of the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2019. She is also the author of the Garnethill trilogy (Vintage), the Paddy Meehan series (Vintage) and the Alex Morrow series (Orion/ HarperCollins/ Back Bay Books/ Little, Brown and Company).

She said: "It’s the honour of my life to walk in Marlowe’s footsteps. He fundamentally shaped noir fiction as we know it and I love the Los Angeles of 1939.

"Raymond Chandler has been a hero of mine since before I even thought being a writer would be possible. The whole project has been a joy from bad-suit start to hat-tilted finish."

Elizabeth Foley, publishing director of Harvill Secker, added: ‘‘This book is such a treat – Denise’s stylish wit and her take on the iconic Marlowe will captivate an array of readers from noir and classic crime enthusiasts to fans of atmospheric crime writing and escapist holiday reads."

The Raymond Chandler Estate said Mina’s book is "a terrific homage which also crackles with zest and wit and has a life all of its own".