Storm snaps up McCleave's 'gripping' thriller

Storm Publishing has signed Simon McCleave’s latest standalone psychological thriller. 

Deputy m.d. Claire Bord acquired world English language rights to a psychological thriller by the bestselling author of the DI Ruth Hunter series and, most recently, the Anglesey series. Bord acquired the rights from Millie Hoskins at United Agents and the book is slated for publication in e-book, audio and paperback in July 2024.  

Bord said of the deal: “I’ve long been a massive fan of the DI Ruth Hunter series. Simon always writes gripping page-turners with complex, multi-layered characters that leave you hungry for more. When we first spoke about his idea for a standalone psychological thriller – which opens with the lifeless body of a hotel guest floating in the pool of an exclusive Italian villa – my first reaction was: I have to publish this book. The Storm team and I are extremely excited to work with Simon and bring his psychological thriller to a huge global audience.” 

McCleave, who is based in North Wales, commented: “I’m so excited to be working with Storm. Their vision for my new psychological thriller is fantastic and I know that my work is in excellent hands. I can’t wait for my readers to let me know what they think.” 

McCleave was born in south London. Before becoming a crime novelist, he was a script editor at the BBC, a producer at Channel 4 before working as a story analyst in Los Angeles. He worked on films such as "The Full Monty" and television series such as the BBC Crime Drama "Between The Lines" among many others.

His debut, The Snowdonia Killings, was released in January 2020 and soon became an Amazon Bestseller, reaching number one in the Amazon UK Kindle Chart. His six subsequent novels in the DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller Series have all ranked in the Amazon Top 20 and are Amazon bestsellers. He recently signed a deal to make the Ruth Hunter books into a television series which is set to film in Snowdonia and North Wales.