'Truly original' Joseph Knox novel to Doubleday

Doubleday will publish Joseph Knox's True Crime Story, which the author calls his "most ambitious work", in summer 2021.

Publisher Bill Scott-Kerr acquired UK and Commonwealth, European and non-exclusive rest of the world rights (excluding US and Canada) from Antony Topping at Greene & Heaton.

In True Crime Story, Knox will weave together a series of interviews that will blend fact and fiction to create a "dark and pacey thriller with a twist". The title will be published in hardcover, e-book and audio on 17th June 2021.

Scott-Kerr commented: "You always get a frisson of sheer pleasure when you see a supremely talented writer going up through the gears and that is precisely what Joseph has done here. After three superlative noir-ish crime thrillers featuring the beleaguered Aidan Waits, he has taken a look at the genre itself and turned it inside out. He has come up with a truly original story and an innovative way of telling it—and hasn't sacrificed one iota of suspense or excitement in so doing. I couldn't be more thrilled to be publishing True Crime Story next year—it establishes Joseph as one of the most compelling and imaginative writers in this space right now."

Knox says: "True Crime Story is the book I always wanted to write, but felt too afraid to try. It’s my biggest, most ambitious work—different from anything I’ve written or read. I’m incredibly grateful to my agent, Antony Topping, and to all at Transworld for sticking by me."

Doubleday previously published Knox's Aidan Waits series: Sirens (2017), The Smiling Man (2018) and The Sleepwalker(2019). According to the publisher, the series has been translated into 18 languages and is being adapted for screen by drama studio Lookout Point.

The Bookseller, published September 24, 2020 by Tamsin Hackett