HQ snares two more Abdullah courtroom dramas

HQ has snared two more courtroom drama novels from Kia Abdullah, author of Take It Back and Truth Be Told.

Publishing director Manpreet Grewal acquired world rights from Jessica Faust at BookEnds Literary Agency to Next of Kin and one other novel. Next of Kin will be publishing in hardback, trade paperback, e-book and audio in September 2021.

The synopsis reads: “In Next of Kin, London architect Leila Syed is nearing the end of a busy day when she receives a call that cleaves her life in two. Her brother-in-law Andrew is at the gates of Rosemont Nursery but there’s no sign of his son, Max. Did Leila drop him off as planned? It’s only now, six hours later and with Andrew’s voice pitched just below panic, that the sickening realisation hits Leila: she left her sister’s son in her car this morning – on the hottest day in London for two decades, with the doors locked and windows closed. What comes next is an explosive trial that will tear the sisters apart – but there’s more to this case than meets the eye.”

Abdullah said: “It has been a joy working with Manpreet and the formidable team at HQ. They are passionate, creative and downright gutsy, and I feel immensely privileged to be able to continue working with them. Take It Back found a profoundly enthusiastic readership and I can’t wait to see what they think of Next of Kin.”

Grewal said: “Kia’s first novel for HQ, Take It Back, lit a fire under all of us, and she has continued to deliver powerful and hard-hitting stories ever since. With Next of Kin, she’s taking things to the next level. Unforgiving and relentless, it’s an intense courtroom drama that does the almost impossible job of combining pacy and commercial storytelling with a forensic look at the society we’re living in today without being heavy-handed. Kia is brave and fearless in her writing and I’m incredibly proud that we get to work together on another novel.”