Hi everyone,

Well, I’ve been away from the blog for quite some time now. Those of you who follow me on the socials will know why, but I’ll get to that in good time. Anyway, my apologies, and I’ll try to keep things a bit more up to date in the New Year.

So here’s a quick roundup of 2023. The Venetian Candidate came out to very gratifying reviews all round, including a glowing piece in The Critic, and Val McDermid herself supplied a quote for the cover (yes, still having to pinch myself over that one!). I did a lot of stock signings around publication date but, I have to admit, things were very London-centric this time. I hope to get a bit further abroad next time around

It was a busy year on the festival front – Crime Cymru, Iceland Noir, Newcastle Noir and the mini-event organised in Venice by Gregory Dowling, Tom Benjamin, David Hewson and myself. Next year, I have the great honour to be Chair of  Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival 2024, which will be held online on 17/18/19 and 22/23/24 April. Further information to follow in the New Year, or why not sign up for direct updates via https://gwylcrimecymrufestival.co.uk ?

Next year’s Nathan novel – The Venetian Sanctuary – has been delivered to my editor with a scheduled UK hardback publication date of July 4th 2024. Hopefully, we’ll have a cover reveal early in the New Year. And on April 4th, the paperback of The Venetian Candidate will be hitting the shelves in the UK.

Now, 2024 is going to be just a little bit different for me on the writing front. Round about now, I’d expect to be settling down to work on another Nathan novel for 2025. But, after eight adventures, I think Nathan has earned a year off.

First of all, don’t panic! I am not abandoning the Venice series. I owe them far too much for that, and time spent in the company of Nathan, Fede, Dario and, yes, even Gramsci is time well spent. But I’ve had an idea for a Sicilian-based series for a couple of years now, and so the first novel in that series will be the big event for 2025. It will, I think, allow me to stretch my writing muscles and – crucially – I think it’ll help to keep the Venetian series fresh.

This means that in 2025, there will be a paperback of The Venetian Sanctuary and the first hardback in the Sicilian series (title not quite fixed yet). In 2026, there’ll be a paperback of the Sicilian novel, and a new Nathan hardback. And that’s the way things will progress over the next couple of years.

As I said, I’m not abandoning Nathan. But I’m very excited about the new series (and, yes, just a little bit nervous as well) and I think that if you enjoy the Venice books you’ll enjoy the Sicilian ones as well. I guess we’ll find out if I’m right in 2025!

Finally, and seriously, 2023 was indelibly marked for me by the death of my father, an event as unexpected as it was peaceful. I am truly grateful for all the messages of support I received. I’m sorry that I couldn’t reply to them all personally, it simply wasn’t possible, but each and every one of them helped more than you can imagine. Thank you all.

This isn’t quite it for this year. Keep an eye on your inboxes over the next few days. You might well see some seasonal goodies dropping in…but, in the meantime, I hope that your Christmas and New Year are all that they can be.