Headline celebrates Granger's 30th anniversary with three more

Headline has acquired two new novels and a collection of short stories from Ann Granger, as the author celebrates the 30th anniversary of her debut crime novel Say It with Poison. 

A new short story collection, Mystery in the Making, will be published in December 2021 and will span Granger’s 30-year career. The first novel in the deal, Deadly Company, will mark a return to the Mitchell and Markby series and the second novel will be a Victorian mystery, following on from The Truth-Seeker’s Wife which was published in July 2021.

British Commonwealth volume rights, including Canada, were acquired from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann by Headline executive editor Clare Foss, who commented: "It is a privilege to publish one of the nation’s best-loved and most well-respected crime writers. Over the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Ann’s fans have followed the fortunes of Mitchell and Markby, Fran Varady, Campbell and Carter, and Ben and Lizzie Ross.  Headline has sold well over a million copies of Ann Granger’s novels and all four of her series continue to perform strongly in print and digital format."

Granger said: "To think that I have been writing crime fiction for 30 years seems astonishing to me. The time has passed so quickly. I have been very fortunate to have had wonderful backing in my writing career. I have been a client of a first-class agency in Blake Friedmann; and this has provided a constant support for which I am very grateful. I have also had the good fortune, over the years, to have had three wonderful editors at Headline: Anne Williams, Marion Donaldson and Clare Foss. They’ve always been there for me with advice and encouragement. I could not have been luckier. My most constant supporter, my late husband John Hulme, is sadly no longer here to share this 30th anniversary of writing. Even when he knew himself to have little time left, he urged me to keep writing. So, I shall continue to do so for as long as it’s possible."

Dixon added: "It’s an absolute honour and joy to represent Ann Granger, having worked for two decades with her long-time agent Carole Blake. Some of my first deals at Blake Friedmann were selling Ann’s wonderful short stories and crime fiction serials – crafty three-and five-parters delivered for magazines with clockwork precision – and I loved talking with so many translating publishers about her beloved Mitchell & Markby and Fran Varady books. It’s been glorious to see the full scope of the work unfold, with Headline also now publishing the Victorian crime series, and Campbell & Carter picking up from Mitchell & Markby in crime-solving in the Cotswolds. With the short story collection signposting Ann’s remarkable 30 years with Headline, we’re thrilled to still be in full swing with the new two-book deal, and looking forward to the road ahead. Ann is a dream author for an agent, for her publishers and her readers – here’s to many more stories."