Orion snaps up police series from de Lange

Orion Fiction has snapped up a new police procedural thriller series from Louisa de Lange.

Lucy Frederick, editorial assistant, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Ed Wilson at Johnson & Alcock. The first book, Ask Me No Questions, is published in October as a paperback original.

It introduces Southampton based Detective Sergeant Kate Munro, who is investigating a seemingly random violent assault that has left its victim in a coma. The synopsis explains: “When the victim’s twin is interviewed, the intriguing, unusual relationship between the estranged sisters is called into question. Munro must delve into the twins’ past before she can find the assailant – and she must do it before any more blood is spilled.”

The second novel in the series, Nowhere To Be Found, will be published in October 2020.

De Lange, whose debut novel was 2018’s The Dream Wife (Orion), said: “DS Kate Munro has been great fun to write. She’s a dedicated cop – smart, determined, ambitious – but she’s also going through a few problems in her personal life that interfere with her good intentions. But, for me, it’s her fallibility that makes her interesting. I have loved working with Ben Willis and Harriet Bourton at Orion in initially committing Kate to the page and look forward to working with Lucy in the future.”

Frederick said: “With The Dream Wife, Louisa proved she could spin a twisty, unique psychological tale with brilliant skill. In Ask Me No Questions, she brings all of this intricate plotting to the police procedural format, and proves without doubt that she is a bright new star on the British crime fiction scene.”