We’re delighted to see Helen H. Durrant’s Forgotten Victim as a new edition in the Bookseller’s Digital Bestseller Lists. Coming in hot at number three, Helen’s latest soared straight to the top three upon entry and we couldn’t be happier! Congratulations, Helen, and a big thank-you to all of our lovely readers for your continued support.
We're delighted to have the front cover of the Bookseller magazine today. It features our wonderful authors and celebrates their amazing achievements. We're very proud to work with and publish our authors’ brilliant books!
As well as celebrating our authors, we would like to celebrate you too, our wonderful readers. It goes without saying you’re a key part of our team too. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to sharing more books with you this year – there’s plenty more to come!
In the latest edition of the Bookseller, industry heads predict what 2021 will bring to the publishing industry. Our very own Jasper Joffe weighed in on the discussion and I’m thrilled to share his/our response below:
Jasper Joffe, Founder, Joffe Books
I asked the team at Joffe Books to weigh in on the question of what publishing 2021 will look like, as together we are much smarter. The consensus is that 2021 will be about solidifying three major changes that took seed during the pandemic. Conscious actions taken in 2020 will begin to translate into real, measurable progress for the industry and spearhead further campaigns and initiatives to create greater diversity than ever. There will be a paradigm shift in work-life balance (for good or bad), thanks to home working. We’ll see huge, simultaneous growth of digital publishing (being super-convenient and accessible, especially during quarantine) and local bookshops (meeting the desire for real-world community).
Across our sector, I’d like to see books by authors from a broader range of backgrounds. In our case, we hope to see results. We’ve shown everyone can work remotely but we miss the doughnut parties to celebrate our successes. The convenience of digital and its global growth will continue to mean agile indy publishers will be building readership. Our own sales are up 25% this year. But I think (I hope) from Easter on, there will be a return to the office and the high street.
If you haven’t read the latest edition, pick up your copy today! There are some incredibly interesting predictions from other industry heads like David Shelley, CEO of Hachette UK; Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books UK; Tom Weldon, CEO Penguin Random House UK; Stephen Page, Chief Executive at Faber and Catherine Bell, Group co Managing Director at Scholastic.
We are thrilled to end the week with news that Joy Ellis is in the Bookseller’s Bookstat eBook Top 10 charts! They Disappeared is sitting comfortably at number eight and is certainly in good company. Huge congratulations to Joy and a big thank you to all of our lovely readers!
We're currently open for submissions. Please read the guidelines carefully and we hope to find some more amazing writers of top quality crime fiction to join our brilliant team of authors! https://joffebooks.com/submissions #publisher #submissions #crime #thriller #mystery
WHAT WE PUBLISH
Our favourite genres are crime fiction, mysteries, psychological thrillers, cosy crime, police procedurals, chillers, suspense and domestic noir. We will also consider women’s fiction, historical fiction and romance novels.
We encourage authors of colour, LGTB+ authors, differently abled authors, authors from diverse backgrounds to submit their work and make their voices heard.
We especially look for great stories, fresh ideas, excellent writing and original voices; in short authors who say something interesting about the world as they see it.
We publish writers we believe in, from debut novelists and agented authors, to self-represented writers and authors who are already well-established.
We’re delighted to announce The Dying Light, book three in the bestselling Matt Ballard series, is now available in audio! The audiobook is narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies and is now available on Amazon thanks to Tantor Audio.
Huge congratulations and happy audio publication day to Joy!
For our audiobook lovers, you can purchase your audio copy of The Dying Light on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L6Y1HRC
It’s been a busy autumn at Joffe HQ and we’re thrilled to share some of our latest signings with you. We can’t wait to publish each and every one of these amazing authors. We hope you’ll join us in welcoming them to Joffe Books.
British-born Canadian author Jackie Elliott has signed a three-book deal with Joffe Books for her Coffin Cove crime series. The series, set in an atmospheric fishing village, is peopled with fantastic characters and fast-paced intrigue and just might have created a new genre of crime fiction: the coastal noir. The first book in the series will be published in spring 2021.
Gretta Mulrooney is back with a brand-new Tyrone Swift novel! The eighth in the series takes the eponymous detective to Wales in search of an old friend who mysteriously disappears. We can’t wait to hear what readers make of this gripping new outing for our favourite private detective.
Linda Mather has joined Joffe Books, with her Zodiac Mysteries. We are so excited to be re-publishing the first three books in the series in early 2021 and thrilled to announce that a brand-new fourth addition to the series will swiftly follow!
Judi Daykin’s debut novel, Under Violent Skies, got off to a flying start. We’re delighted to announce the second book in the Sarah Hirst series is on its way. Expect the hard-hitting sequel to land in your Kindle and on your bookshelves in spring 2021. Watch this space!
Former detective turned novelist, Rebecca Bradley has hit the gold standard with her new series featuring the ambitious and straight-laced DI Claudia Nunn, and we are delighted! We’ll be publishing the first book in the highly anticipated series in spring 2021.
A prolific writer of romances and cosy, South Africa-born Biba Pearce joins Joffe Books with her gripping DCI Rob Hill series and we’re ecstatic. We will be re-releasing the first three books in this series, set in in the bucolic boroughs of Surrey, in 2021 and with the fourth instalment coming hot on their heels.
We are delighted to be publishing the complete five part Old Minister series by Norman Russell. Norman is best known for his spy novels and historical mysteries, but in this brand-new series he leaps into police procedurals with aplomb. Norman’s Inspector Antrobus series, perfect for Victorian crime fiction fans, is expected to be re-released in late 2021.
We are thrilled to announce Joffe Books has sold its 10 millionth book! Nominated for Independent Book Publisher of the Year in 2020, we have experienced extraordinary growth in the past year, selling 2.1 million books in in 2020 alone. We are very proud to be publishing some of the UK’s best-loved authors and grateful to our amazingly loyal readers. To celebrate we commissioned this brilliant artwork by internationally acclaimed artist Adam Dant, featuring the people of Shoreditch reading books by our authors. It will be displayed on the back cover of the Bookseller, Friday 16 October 2020. Both Joffe Books and the artist are located in the thriving and historic area of Shoreditch, famed for its unique location at the intersection of business, innovation, entertainment and culture.
ABOUT JOFFE BOOKS
Founded in 2014 by Jasper Joffe, we at Joffe Books pride ourselves on our history of innovative publishing. Thanks to the unflagging passion and dedication brought by everyone in Team Joffe, we have built a reputation for crafting great books for readers, long-term relationships with authors, and fleet-footed marketing of the books we love. We were very proud to be shortlisted for Independent Publisher of the Year 2020 at the British Book Awards.
We have achieved industry-wide renown for discovering new talent as well as bringing overlooked books back to life and delivering them to millions of readers – transforming the careers of their authors in the process. In 2019, we acquired the Robert Hale backlist from Crowood Press and extended our core list of crime and mystery to include sagas, historical and romance. In 2020, we acquired the rights to Nicholas Rhea’s Constable Nick series, Murder Squad founder Margaret Murphy’s critically acclaimed backlist of gripping thrillers and the whole of Faith Martin’s romance list, written under the pseudonym Maxine Barry. We also began a partnership with Severn House to bring the likes of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stella Cameron and Judith Cutler to a whole new audience.
ADAM DANT BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1967 in Cambridge Adam Dant studied Fine Art Printmaking at The Royal College of Art, HDK Berlin and MS University, Baroda, India. He was a recipient of The Rome Scholarship in printmaking in 1993, The Jerwood Drawing prize in 2002 and was appointed by parliament as ‘The Official artist of The 2015 UK General Election’. Adam Dant’s work is exhibited internationally and is in the collections of Tate Britain, MOMA, New York, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Musee D’Art Contemporain. Lyon, HRH The Prince of Wales The Museum of London and various other public and private collections.
IMAGE CREDIT: Adam Dant
Back in May we announced a new publishing partnership between Joffe Books and Severn House. The collaboration sought to bring together the best of both houses: the success and expertise in eBook publishing of Joffe Books and the long-established reputation of Severn House’s marvellous backlist. The partnership began with two of Severn House’s most popular series, Judith Cutler’s DS Kate Power series and the Alex Duggins series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stella Cameron. After the astounding success of the first two series from Judith Cutler and Stella Cameron, we are delighted to announce that our partnership is still going strong and Joffe Books will be publishing more eBooks from the wonderful list of authors at Severn House.
Kick-starting the next round of eBook releases in our partnership we're going to be launching Cathy Ace, Margaret Mayhew and Jeanne M. Dams into the eBook stratosphere, starting with the first three in each of their respective series!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Margaret Mayhew
CATHY ACE: Cathy Ace’s Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist, and foodie, sleuth Cait Morgan encounters traditional, closed-circle whodunits around the world, while her WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries feature a quartet of soft-boiled female PIs who solve quintessentially British cases from their office at a stately home in Wales. Her standalone novel of psychological suspense, The Wrong Boy, became an amazon #1 bestseller. Shortlisted for Canada’s Bony Blithe Award three times in four years, winning in 2015, she’s also won an IPPY Award and has been shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award. Cathy lives in Canada, having migrated from her native Wales aged 40.
MARGARET MAYHEW: Margaret Mayhew was born in London within the sound of Bow Bell and her earliest memories are of the German Blitz on the city. Her father was a pioneer heart surgeon at Guy’s Hospital and her mother was French. She was educated at Malvern Girls’ College and in Lausanne, Switzerland. She began writing short stories and novels in her mid-thirties and a number of her books are set in the Second World War. She has also written a series of six English village detective mysteries featuring a retired army Colonel as the investigator. Margaret is married to the American military aviation author, Philip Kaplan, and they live in Gloucestershire, England.
Jeanne M. Dams
JEANNE M. DAMS: Jeanne was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. She’s read English mysteries since she was a teenager and they bred in her a love of England that led to her first mystery series. Enter Dorothy Martin, who is essentially Jeanne’s alter-ago. The first book in the series, The Body in the Transept, won the Agatha award for Best First Novel of 1995, and Dorothy has gone on to many more adventures since.
Cathy Ace
We are thrilled to announce that Joffe authors Jane Adams and Victoria Dowd have been chosen as winter finalists for The People’s Book Prize 2020/21!
“The People’s Book Prize is the unique literary competition aimed at finding, supporting and promoting new and undiscovered works wholly voted for by the public who choose the Next Best Sellers.”
Jane Adams’s Safe and Victoria Dowd’s The Smart Woman’sGuide to Murder are in excellent company among the many other talented authors selected as finalists in the fiction category – a huge congratulations to all who have been selected. We’re in great company!
FICTION
An Artist's Muse, Deborah E Wilson (Victorina Press)
Battle Cry, Rosie Jones (Blossom Spring)
Hallowed Ground, Paul Twitty (Conrad Press)
Michel-Michelle, Margo Gorman (Victorina Press)
Safe, Jane Adams (Joffe Books)
The Euro Man, Edward Figg (Moonshinecover Publishing)
The Nobody Man, Steven Jenkins (Victorina Press)
The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder, Victoria Dowd (Joffe Books)
The Virus Poems, Michael Burton (Poems & Pictures)
You Have To Make Your Own Fun Around Here, Frances Macken (Oneworld)
Voting is open until April 2021, so be sure to use your voice and cast your vote before the deadline. You can vote online via the following link: http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/
Good luck to all!
We are delighted to announce that audio rights to D.E. White’s bestselling Detective Dove Milson series were snapped up by audiobook publisher Podium, in a three-book deal. The first book in the series, Glass Dolls, follows Detective Dove Milson out to a chilling murder scene by the coast that exactly mimics the horrifying method of a serial killer who is responsible for the disappearance of Dove’s own niece, though her body was never found. D.E. White spins a remarkable web of lies and intrigue set against the backdrop of fraught family dynamics, but the twist is something no one sees coming.
Glass Dolls was published by Joffe Books earlier this year, and received rave reader reviews and was even promoted on Matt Lucas’s new podcast, Bitch, Bitch, Bitch. If you’re a fan of Glass Dolls, get set — the second Dove Milson novel is on the way! Look out for it late November 2020.
Robert Goddard’s Booker Prize nominated first novel, Past Caring, has soared into the best seller charts yet again!
Thirty-four years after it was first published and became an instant best seller, Past Caring is once again claiming the best seller title and we’re beyond thrilled! Sitting comfortably at number 42 in Amazon’s overall Best Sellers chart, as well as dominating Historical Mysteries at number one, it’s safe to say history appears to be repeating itself.
Past Caring was nominated for the Booker Prize and author Robert Goddard is the winner of the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and the CWA Diamond Dagger.
“A wonderful read . . . the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present . . . A poised telling of a complex tale.” Publishers Weekly
“Combines the expert suspense manipulation skills of a Daphne DuMaurier romance with those of a John Le Carre thriller.” New York Times
“One of the best novels I’ve read in a long time . . . I loved every one of its 500 pages.” Washington Post
“A hornet’s nest of jealousy, blackmail and violence. Engrossing.” Daily Mail
“A complex trail of blackmail and murder. Recommended.” Daily Express
If you’re yet to read PAST CARING and you’re wondering what all the hype is about, pick up a copy today for £1.99 / $2.99 and find out for yourself – we’d love to hear what you think!
We are delighted to announce Michelle S. Smith has joined Joffe Books. The American novelist has signed a multi-book deal with us, starting with a gripping, high-stakes crime thriller starring Detective Victoria Wharton, an ambitious yet troubled Chicago cop determined to find her twin’s killer.
Emma Grundy Haigh, managing editor, says: I am thrilled to be publishing Michelle’s debut. Her first novel, brimming with the tensions of fierce family dynamics, is driven by a powerfully vulnerable protagonist. Michelle provides a refreshing and empowering new voice on the crime fiction scene.
Her stunning novel is set to take the crime fiction world by storm in early 2021.
In search of a good crime novel? We are thrilled that our own Victoria Dowd’s The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder was the July recipient for Puzzly Book of the Month at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel! We were thrilled to see Victoria’s book nab the top spot and read all the lovely things they had today:
[The Puzzly’s] going to Victoria Dowd’s crime fiction debut, The Smart Woman’s Guide To Murder which fans of well-plotted, fairly clued crime fiction really should make time for. A book that really needs to be better known, written by someone with a clear love for the genre, with some really clever uses of the traditional tropes while still written for the modern crime fiction readers as well. A great book and a deserved winner.
Congratulations, Victoria! You can read all about the full list of contenders at the ISOTCMN website.
The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder will be joined by its sequel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Survival, in early 2021. In the meantime, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder is available now on Amazon.
Not only has Joy Ellis’s The Dying Light reached the No. 2 spot on the Bookseller’s eBook charts, but her latest outing for detective duo Jackman and Evans, They Disappeared, is The Times’ Audiobook of the Week! Read in Richard Armitage’s rich baritone, it’s not hard to understand why.
The setting is Ellis’s heartland, the haunting shores and lonely villages of the Lincolnshire Fens, which she conjures up with an immediacy born of deep understanding: Ellis lives in the Fens with her partner, whose former career in the police usefully informs the procedural side of her books. Her socially topical plotlines are made the more dramatic as she wastes no time on purple passages, is frugal on adverbs and strong on dialogue, something that Armitage evidently relishes.
They Disappeared will be out 30 November in eBook and paperback — till then, there’s audio!
We are thrilled to announce that RONA Romantic Saga of the Year 2020 Tania Crosse will soon be available in audio!
Performed by popular narrator Emma Powell, the audiobooks, published by British-based audiobook pioneers W.H. Howes, includes three titles from Tania’s phenomenal Devon series.
Two of the three sagas to be adapted are The Ambulance Girl* and The Wheelwright Girl*, published earlier this year by Joffe Books. The third, The Gunpowder Girl*, is set to hit Kindle screens and post boxes 16 September 2020, along with The Quarry Girl* and The Railway Girl*.
These glorious novels are filled with everything we’ve come to love about Tania’s rich storytelling. They’re packed with impeccable historical detail, and brimming with emotion and passion. We can’t wait to hear these sumptuous sagas come to life, can you?
The Ambulance Girl is available now on Amazon.
The Wheelwright Girl is available now on Amazon.
* These novels were originally titled, in order: Teardrops in the Moon, Wheels of Grace, Cherryrbook Rose/Bouquet of Thorns, A Dream Rides By and The Wrong Side of Happiness
We are delighted to end the week with news that two of our wonderful authors – Joy Ellis and Helen H. Durrant – are in the top 10. Two in the top 10! We are thrilled for you both. Heaps of congratulations to Joy and Helen and an enormous thank you to all of our lovely readers!
We are delighted to announce our most recent author acquisitions, including some fresh new faces to the crime fiction landscape.
Bestselling psychological thriller writer Susanna Beard, author of Dare to Remember and The Truth Waits, joins us with two utterly gripping thrillers, due to be released late 2020. Susanna is a master of dark, contemplative stories that catch the breath and expose everyday secrets we’d rather keep hidden.
Ballynahinch writer Kerry Buchanan is already well known across Northern Ireland as a prolific, award-winning author who writes fantasy novels, as well as copious numbers of short stories published nationally and internationally. And now she’s turned her very talented hand to crime with her new Harvey & Birch series.
Judi Daykin recently completed her MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at the University of East Anglia (UEA). We are just thrilled to be publishing the subsequent novel (and her crime-fiction debut), which was shortlisted for the Little, Brown UEA writer's prize in 2019.
Scottish actor and writer Jodi Lawrance brings the first two novels in her well-received Detective Helen Carter series, plus a brand-new third novel to round it out. Bestselling author Alex Gray (When Shadows Fall) called Jodi’s debut "A genuine page turner", while Lorraine Mace (Retriever of Souls) said it was "a brilliant debut."
Journalist Geoffrey Osborne has long enthralled readers with his spy novels. Now he is set to win the hearts of crime-fiction aficionados with his brand-new Detective Dorothy Fraser series. In the meantime, his short stories can be found in magazines, newspapers and anthologies in the UK, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Australia and the States.
Finally, bestselling crime-thriller maestra D.E. White returns with not one but two titles in her electrifying Detective Dove Milson series. The first in the series, Glass Dolls, took the crime-fiction world by storm in spring 2020 and now fans can look forward end the year with its gripping sequel.
Managing Editor Emma Grundy Haigh says, “I am thrilled to be adding even more brilliant authors to our list, including our first Northern Irish and Scottish authors. Despite the pandemic, 2020 is proving to be such an exciting year for us.”
All of our new authors will be published in all English-language territories, in eBook and print. Any rights enquiries should be directed to the Lorella Belli Literary Agency.
Stay up to date with all of Joffe Books’s new releases by joining our mailing list here.
We are thrilled to announce that we will be publishing a brand-new novel by Joy Ellis! Recently retired CID detective Matt Ballard returns in The Dying Light. He and his partner enter the world of private investigation. After their first successful, the pair are approached to take on a surveillance job that should be a simple yet quickly turns out to be anything but.
Will Matt solve the case in time or with the truth slip away with the tides?
Release date: 23 July 2020
We are thrilled to start the week with news that bestselling author Joy Ellis’s THE PATIENT MAN rocketed to the No. 1 spot on The Bookseller eBook charts!
Joy, we are just giddy to see you at the top among such amazing company! Huge thanks to all of our wonderful readers for making this happen.
Joffe Books and Severn House are delighted to announce a new publishing partnership. The collaboration brings together the best of both houses: the success and expertise in eBook publishing of Joffe Books and the long-established reputation of Severn House’s marvellous backlist. The partnership begins with two of Severn House’s most popular series, Judith Cutler’s DS Kate Power series and the Alex Duggins series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stella Cameron. These series will be reissued as eBooks, with fresh jackets and a targeted marketing campaign.
Jasper Joffe of Joffe Books says: “I have long admired Severn House and the quality and precision they bring to publishing, especially in crime fiction. Severn House has an excellent relationship with so many fantastic authors and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to extend their reach to a whole new market. We have already launched the first Stella Cameron novel, Folly, into the Top 100 on Amazon. We're looking forward to continuing this success in a long and fruitful partnership with Kate and Severn House.”
Kate Lyall Grant of Severn House says: “Having watched Joffe Books closely for some time, I have been immensely impressed with Jasper and his team’s ability to hit the digital bestseller lists with long-established authors, particularly in the contemporary crime genre. I am very excited therefore to be entering this new partnership and, with Joffe Books’ enthusiasm, expertise and targeted focus in this area, I am looking forward to seeing our authors reach a wider readership than ever before.”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The recipient of the Pacific Northwest Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement, Stella Cameron has more than 14 million copies of her books in print. Her Cotswolds-based books star Alex Duggins, pub owner and amateur sleuth, in traditional village mysteries that will appeal to fans of M.C. Beaton and Midsomer Murders. “[Stella Cameron] excels at assembling an intriguing cast of characters laden with dark histories. A thrilling conclusion, combined with cliffhanger chapter endings, guarantees readers will be flipping the pages late into the night,” praises the Library Journal.
With more than 30 titles under her belt, Judith Cutler is renowned for her feisty and intriguing heroines, and the Detective Sergeant Kate Power novels are no different. Starring a tough young cop intent on surviving, and thriving, in Birmingham’s police force, this taut, gritty series is ideal for fans of Ann Cleeves and Kate Ellis. Cutler receives high praise for “spending as much time on the characterizations as on the crime” (Reviewing the Evidence) and for creating “a strong, gutsy heroine in Kate [in this] fast-paced novel with murder and intrigue at its core” (Glasgow Evening Times).
