Recent articles in The Guardian and The Telegraph reported that for the first time crime novels and psychological thrillers are outselling other types of fiction.
According to figures unveiled in April at the London Book Fair by Nielsen BookScan, 18.7 million crime and thriller books were sold in 2017. This was almost a 20% increase from 2015. The large number of TV crime dramas is credited with fuelling this upsurge. For example, The Telegraph identifies Louise Doughty’s Apple Tree Yard among the books topping the best-seller lists last year. The novel was first published in 2013 but re-issued to tie in with a BBC adaptation starring Emily Watson.
Popular crime writer Sophie Hannah explains in The Guardian that it’s no mystery that crime is the biggest-selling genre in books. Crime, writes Hannah, is the only genre that puts puzzle-solving – making sense of what the hell’s going on – at the centre of everything. It’s closest to our core motivation, as we blindly stumble through life, needing but never being given all the answers.
Of all the books Michael and I have published, his crime novel A Single To Filey has been far and away our best selling title. Published in 2015, the novel was an Amazon Number 1 Best Seller in British Detectives and for two consecutive months received a Kindle Allstars award for its huge popularity with readers.
In case you like reading crime fiction and haven’t read A Single To Filey, here’s an introduction.
Detective Chief Inspector Tony Forward’s hobby is directing amateur theatricals. His latest production for the Sandleton-on-Sea Players is “The Cherry Orchard”. It’s nearly midnight and he still hasn’t completed the dress rehearsal. Then duty calls: a man with fatal head injuries has been discovered in a remote bay on the East Yorkshire coast.
The man’s name is Mark Coulson and he’s the Headteacher of a local primary school. But no-one seems able to explain why this respectable, professional man was at such an isolated spot so late at night. His wife is the most mystified of all.
Why were Mr Coulson’s pockets empty? Sergeant Wilmott believes robbery was the motive. But if the killer had stolen Coulson’s car keys why is his car still parked nearby?Was Mr Coulson murdered by a jealous boyfriend or husband? That’s what DC Diane Griffiths thinks. But Mr Coulson’s Chair of Governors says he was a boring man whose only interest was his work.
With such a baffling case to solve how can DCI Forward find time for “The Cherry Orchard”?
A Single To Filey has received well over two hundred reader reviews on Amazon. These are copied from the sidebar on the bookpage.
stephen sheppard
5.0 out of 5 starsGood Stuff
Excellent read…couldn’t put it down now…watch out for this author and Tony Forward. settings, characters timings all v.good
10/10 +
Published 7 months ago
Mark9999
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
Hope there are some more in this series soon
Published 9 months ago
Discerning reader.
5.0 out of 5 starsA great read!
I really enjoyed this book, and hope that there will be another Tony Forward novel before long. It was very hard to put down!
Published 1 year ago
Heather B39
5.0 out of 5 starsLots of twists
Never guessed the outcome at all! Really enjoyed the story look forward to reading more of authors books. Great read.
Published 1 year ago
You can read lots more reviews and a good sized free sample on the Amazon bookpage for A Single To Filey.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
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