Fremantle Press presents a thrilling list of new reads for London Book Fair 2023
London Book Fair 2023 Highlights
Fremantle Press is proud to present its newest titles from award-winning Western Australian writers – thrilling crime reads, contemporary women’s fiction, literary works from diverse voices, and cracking coming of age and YA stories.
New Crime Reads
Summer of Blood is the latest page-turning, suspense-filled crime novel from multi-award-winning author, musician and screenwriter, Dave Warner. Two police officers travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the summer of 1967 – the Summer of Love – in search of a missing young man, only to find themselves fully immersed in the world of music, free love and drugs. With every new gig comes a new murder, and they soon realise that this isn’t just any ordinary missing persons investigation. Summer of Blood is coming soon and Dave Warner’s next book When it Rains is due out in 2024.
From Karen Herbert, author of The River Mouth, which is currently in film development, comes her next gripping crime novel, Vertigo. Frances, a mid-level bureaucrat reviewing public housing projects, is struggling to come to terms with her colleague’s disappearance when she uncovers a trail of corruption that leads to the highest levels of government. Frances has the sharp wits and resourcefulness of a forensic auditor, but her vertigo/Meniere’s disease makes her situation terrifyingly precarious, as the investigation puts her in the path of those who will do anything to keep their names hidden. Vertigo is coming soon and Karen Herbert’s next book Sixty-Five Roses will be published in 2024.
David Whish-Wilson’s newest crime read, I am Already Dead, is the thrilling sequel to True West. Trainee private investigator Lee Southern finds himself drawn into a web of danger and deceit as he investigates a series of bribery attempts targeting a wealthy entrepreneur. Under the expert tutelage of retiring PI Frank Swann, Lee uses all his instinct and cunning to get to the heart of a sordid mystery. As Lee delves deeper into the case and questions the intentions of those he’s working for, he finds himself the target of increasingly ominous threats and several attempts on his life.
Also look out for emerging crime writers like Lisa Ellery, whose second title, Hot Ground, will be published in 2024, and Alexander Thorpe, whose classic who-dunnit Death Holds the Key is entertaining cosy crime at its best.
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
The Disorganisation of Celia Stone is Emma Young’s answer to Bridget Jones, but while the noughties diarist lurches from crisis to crisis, Celia is a hyper-organised millennial who moves smoothly from one appointment to another with everything completely under control. In fact, Celia’s life is so perfectly planned out that it would be practically impossible for anything to go wrong. So when Celia’s husband throws a spanner in the works, it threatens to derail everything she’s worked so hard for. And more importantly, it makes her question what it is she really wants. Emma Young is a writer, journalist and former bookseller, and the author of The Last Bookshop, which was shortlisted for the inaugural Fogarty Literary Award for Young Writers in 2019.
Last Best Chance is Brooke Dunnell’s brilliant follow up to The Glass House, which won the Fogarty Literary Award in 2021. Her new book draws together the complexity of human relationships with low-simmering tension and drama that threatens to erupt into something deeply unpleasant. With relatable themes, plot-driven tension and a life-affirming conclusion, this is satisfying reading for fans of contemporary women’s fiction.
For more great reads, check out Joanna Morrison’s debut novel The Ghost of Gracie Flynn, who was shortlisted for the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, and find out more about our best female writers.
New and Noteworthy
This year we will publish Molly Schmidt’s debut novel Salt River Road, winner of the 2022 Hungerford Award for an unpublished manuscript, and an exciting new voice in literary fiction. Molly’s book is immensely readable, her writing is nuanced, and she tells a poignant and powerful coming-of-age story set in the 1970s on a failing sheep farm in a small regional community where racism is deeply entrenched. The book deals with the grief and abandonment of the Tetley siblings, whose mother dies after a long illness, and explores themes of resilience, redemption and ultimately reconciliation.
We are also delighted to share the news that Holden Sheppard’s Invisible Boys, our best-selling LGBTQIA+ novel – a gritty and confronting look at growing up different in a small town – is in development as a television series. We have recently secured our first foreign language deal for Holden’s book.
Click here for Fremantle Press’s complete Catalogue of books for adults, or email aallan@fremantlepress.com.au for reading copies of any title above.
