HQ nets three more from Martin

HQ has netted three new novels in the Ryder & Loveday series from digital bestseller Faith Martin.

World alllanguage rights were bought by editorial director Abigail Fenton from Kate Nash at Kate Nash Literary Agency. The first new book, A Fatal Affair, will be published in paperback original, e-book and audio in March 2021.

The Ryder & Loveday series is set in 1960s Oxford and sees WPC Trudy Loveday team up with coroner Clement Ryder to crack seemingly impossible cases. The first book in the series, A Fatal Obsession, will be republished in paperback with a new cover look later this month.

A Fatal Affair will see the pair investigate the apparent suicide of a young man whose girlfriend was found strangled and tied to the village maypole a week earlier. Despite their very different backgrounds and the struggles that Loveday, the only female police officer in her station, faces daily, the pair quickly uncover evidence that a double-murderer is on the loose – and silencing anyone who threatens to uncover their identity.

Fenton said: “Faith has long been an absolute star of digital publishing, selling millions of copies and finding fans around the world. I’m so thrilled to be publishing three more Ryder & Loveday novels, and I can’t wait to share them with Faith’s voracious readership. A Fatal Affair is Faith’s best book yet, and there is so much more to come in this gripping series.”

Martin said: “I was so pleased that HQ wanted more Ryder & Loveday books. I love writing the more traditional-style crime novels, and the 1960s setting just adds so much to the ambiance of this series. I'm so delighted that my readers have taken the unusual pairing of Ryder & Loveday to their hearts.”