Jackson moves to Canelo in four-book deal

Canelo has signed a four-book deal with Douglas Jackson for the Warsaw Quartet. 

Commissioning editor Craig Lye acquired world English language rights from Mark Stanton at the North Agency. Blood Roses, the first book in the deal, will be published in February 2023 with the second novel following in November 2024. 

The new Second World War historical crime series will follow investigator Jan Kalisz from the fall of Warsaw in 1939 to the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. In Blood Roses Kalisz is convinced by his Resistance handler to return to his old job as a police investigator, working for the Nazi occupying force, to obtain useful intelligence. But "when a senior German general’s niece is killed, and her remains rearranged into a bizarre echo of a floral display, the pressure is on to find the killer. Only Jan realises this death may be linked to other, similar killings around the city that the Germans will not deign to investigate, setting him on the trail of the serial killer known as The Artist." 

Jackson is the author of 17 historical novels and mystery thrillers, previously published by Transworld, including the Hero of Rome series. He commented: "I’ve been hugely impressed by the enthusiasm shown by all at Canelo for Blood Roses and the Warsaw Quartet. The story of Jan Kalisz and Warsaw’s ordeal through five years of brutal occupation is close to my heart and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to bring it to the reading community with the support of such a forward-looking and innovative company." 

Lye added: "In Blood Roses, a dark serial killer investigation is married to an equally dark period in Poland’s history to create an unputdownable historical crime thriller. Douglas’ deft prose and dialogue pulled me in from the first page, and I felt as though I was living Jan’s experiences with him through the novel, so real does he seem. Fans of historical crime fiction are going to love this!"