TWITCH wins Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children 2022

I’m utterly delighted to learn that today Twitch won the Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children 2022 at the CrimeFest awards.

I really enjoy plotting adventures and crimes in my stories, so this award means a lot. I hope my readers have intriguing and surprising journey through my books. I’m delighted when they do.

There will be more crime thwarted in September when the second book in The Twitchers series is published.

I’d like to say a hearty thank you to all involved with the Crime Fest awards and my wonderful publishers Walker Books.

You can learn more about the Crime Fest Awards here.

The Highland Falcon Thief wins Belgium's Young Jury Prize!

De Juwelen Dief (The Highland Falcon Thief), translated by Marce Noordenbos and published by De Fontein has been voted the best children's book by reading groups of 10-12 year-olds winning Belgium's Young Jury Prize in its category! Sam and I were delighted by the news and he was able to pop over to Antwerp and pick up the award.

The Reading Jury is the largest young reading club in Flanders and Brussels. No fewer than 11,690 children and young people between the ages of 4 and 18 read and voted for their favourite books in the past year.

Each year, from September to April, children and young people read and discuss six or eight books and choose their winners. In each of the seven age categories, the book with the most votes wins. The children and young readers come together in groups in schools and libraries, or they can vote as an internet jury member.  You can learn more about it here.

Cover Reveal for The Arctic Railway Assassin

COVER REVEAL

COVER REVEAL

Behold Elisa Paganelli’s stunning cover for the 6th book in the Adventures on Trains series, The Arctic Railway Assassin. It will be arriving in bookshops in the UK on the 13th of October 2022, but you can pre-order your copy from Waterstones right now.

The bestselling, prize-winning Adventures on Trains series embarks on a thrilling sixth adventure as Harrison Beck and Uncle Nat climb aboard the night train to Narvik, travelling to the Arctic Circle to see the northern lights for Christmas.

But as their train leaves Stockholm, Hal and Uncle Nat realize they're being followed by a sinister figure, and Hal's powers of observation are tested when Uncle Nat's past comes back to haunt him. Journeying into the never-ending night of the arctic winter, our railway detectives must outsmart an assassin in their most chilling adventure yet, in which nothing is as it seems.

The Arctic Railway Assassin can be read as a stand-alone novel, or enjoyed as part of the award-winning Adventures on Trains series. Join Hal and Uncle Nat on more stops in this thrilling series with: Murder on the Safari Star, Danger at Dead Man's Pass and Sabotage on the Solar Express.

PRIX ENFANTAISIE - Le vol du Highland Falcon

The French edition of the Highland Falcon Thief, translated by Lilas Nord and published by Nathan, has won the Prix enfantaisie 2022!

I am so delighted, in particular, because the prize is voted for by the readers, of which there were over four-thousand-eight-hundred children in Switzerland, which means a hell of a lot to a children’s author.

Another reason that this is such an exciting award to win, is that a story often sinks or swims around the world on the strength of its translation, and so this award really is for Lilas Nord’s translation. It’s wonderful to know that they did such a good job, especially because they have more books to work on coming soon!

So a huge thank you goes to our French translator, Lilas Nord, and our French publisher, Nathan, and especially to all the readers who voted. I hope you continue to read Mysteres Sur Les Rails!

You can FIND OUT MORE HERE.