Headline snares Simmonds’ ‘irresistibly taut and gripping’ début thriller set over 24 hours

Headline has acquired Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds, “a compulsive and provocative” début thriller set over just 24 hours.

Editorial director Toby Jones acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Amanda Preston at LBA, for publication in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio in June 2023.

The novel follows Em, who is having the worst day of her life. Heartbroken by a recent split, with her 30th birthday looming, she loses her job and her home in the same morning because of two swaggering, dishonest men – the boss who sexually harassed her and the flatmate sleeping with her behind his fiancée’s back. But all Em can think about is catching a flight to attend her sister’s wedding and see her dying mother.

Its synopsis continues: “With a record-breaking heatwave, and a serial killer making the streets unsafe, London is completely gridlocked. Em’s life has always been full of men getting their own way, and today the scorched city teems with them standing between her and home. As Em’s troubled past returns to haunt her, she refuses to let them win. Her defiance leads to shocking consequences that soon spiral wildly out of control.”

Jones said: “Natali has written an irresistibly taut, piercing and gripping novel. The story brims with pace, plot, twists and tension, while sharply dissecting the antagonism women face from selfish men. It is a trojan horse of a novel, a potent read wrapped in page-turning thrills.”

Simmonds, who also writes fantasy under the pseudonym of N J Simmonds and is one half of paranormal romance writer Caedis Knight, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be working with Headline. Good Girls Die Last is not a quiet book, and it is a story that I hope will resonate with a lot of readers. I was looking to convey the oppressive tension and suffocating frustration that many women feel on a daily basis, and never more so than in a city at breaking point when the streets are at their most dangerous.

“I couldn’t ask for a better champion for my work than my agent, Amanda Preston, nor a better visionary than my wonderful editor, Toby Jones. I’m so excited to be working with such an incredible team and I’m looking forward to seeing my début out in the world soon.”