Headline signs new psychological thrillers by Mackay and Pattison 

Headline has acquired two psychological thrillers, publishing in autumn 2023, by Niki Mackay and C L Pattison. 

Deputy publishing director Lucy Dauman acquired world rights for Due Date by Mackay from Hattie Grunewald at The Blair Partnership, and for The Florist by Pattison directly from the author.

Due Date is about two expecting mothers who form a friendship after they realise their babies are due on the same day. When one of the women seems to disappear into thin air, the other resolves to track down her new friend. But when she does, her friend denies ever having met her, or ever having been pregnant at all.

The Florist follows Amy, a young, ambitious florist who finds herself at the centre of a murder case when her client’s sister is found dead at a party she was working at. Amy is convinced her client is the murderer and, when she is put in the frame, sets about trying to clear her name before a secret from her past is exposed.

Dauman said: “I am over the moon to have signed Niki and Claudia up with these two brilliant thrillers, both of which completely blew me away. Due Date is a captivating story that is gripping and moving in equal measure, exploring the darkest side of motherhood and female friendship through the lens of two mothers, both with secrets. The Florist, too, has no shortage of secrets – as a florist, Amy knows all about her clients’ indiscretions, but how much do they know about her?