It’s thirty years since I first entered the crazy world of authordom and there have been a good few books along the way. Inevitably, that means titles readers still want to find fall by the wayside over time. Some of my more popular titles from the past are currently unavailable due to the expiry of rights and other issues.
Well, here’s some good news. A bunch of my biggest hits from the past three decades are coming back. First, two Venice titles with new introductions in which I talk about their genesis and what they mean to me now.
Lucifer’s Shadow, first released in 2000 and later republished in the UK as The Cemetery of Secrets, was the first book I wrote set in Italy. A twin-era tale embracing the Venice of Vivaldi and Canaletto, both of whom make cameo appearances, coupled with a ‘modern’ story set in what was then the present day — the Venice of the 1990s, somewhat different to now. As I explain in the new introduction to this edition, Lucifer was an eye opener for me on many fronts and led to the long obsession I’ve had with Italy since.
Lucifer’s Shadow on Amazon UK, print available now, e-book pre-orders open, release date September 7.
Lucifer’s Shadow on Amazon US, print available now, pre-orders open, release date September 7.
Carnival for the Dead, released ten years later, is a standalone novel featuring one of the most popular characters from the Costa series, the forthright pathologist Teresa Lupo. In this solo outing Teresa finds herself in a chilly Venice during Carnival, searching for her lost aunt, Sofia, and encountering a very odd mystery: a series of linked short stories featuring her and Sofia which appear to give a clue to her aunt’s fate. If you liked The Medici Murders and The Borgia Portrait, then this tale, with its mix of mystery and history, is very much in the same vein. Again, I’ve written a new introduction about the book’s genesis.
Both Lucifer’s Shadow and Carnival for the Dead will be priced at £2.99 or equivalent in e-book. Lucifer’s Shadow is available now for pre-order with release this Thursday, September 7. The print editions, priced at £10.99 and £9.99 respectively, are ready now. The e-book of Carnival for the Dead should go live shortly.
Carnival for the Dead on Amazon UK.
Carnival for the Dead on Amazon US.
On September 21, the four books that form my Pieter Vos series set in Amsterdam — The House of Dolls, The Wrong Girl, Little Sister and Sleep Baby Sleep — will all become available on Amazon in e-book and can be pre-ordered today. The print versions are available now. On the 21st, the entire series will appear as an e-book box set.
The Vos books are the titles I wrote directly after working on the three-book novel adaptations of The Killing TV series in Copenhagen. They’re in the same vein — dark, city-based stories, set in Amsterdam locations I took great pains to research (not that it was a pain), notably the Jordaan, with a cast of very local characters.
The box set omnibus edition of all four books can be found here on Amazon UK and here on Amazon US.
But that’s not all, as the shopping channels say. I’m delighted to be able to announce that Severn/Canongate, which already publishes the first three Nic Costa titles and the last, The Savage Shore, have now acquired the remaining six books in the series which will reappear with new covers and a new life in paperback and e-book next Spring. Watch this space for more details. It will be heartening to have all the Costa titles under the same English language publishing imprint worldwide for the first time.
Happily, none of this affects the audiobooks of all these titles which remain available through all the usual channels, and through the same audio publisher, WF Howes, who’ve been with me for most of the past three decades. You can get all these titles, the Venice books, Vos and the Costa series, on audio right now.
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