KHLA is a small independent literary agency with a growing list of clients. We offer authors a nurturing environment and a high level of attention in all book markets. We offer publishers new and established talent across a range of adult fiction and non-fiction. Please click here for more information about agents Kate Hordern and Anne Williams.
News
Lynne McEwan's fourth DI Shona Oliver novel THE GATHERING STORM was published by Canelo Crime in February in eBook and paperback. Her first, IN DARK WATER, was published by Canelo in 2021 and was a Scottish Crime Kindle #1 bestseller.
"A thrilling new voice in Scottish crime fiction" Marion Todd
CALLING SERGEANT CROCKFORD: The Story of a 1960s Policewoman by Ruth D'Alessandro was published by Welbeck on 1 March 2024. It's the dawn of the Swinging Sixties. The Cold War is at its height and support for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is building. The Berkshire Constabulary's Detective Gwen Crockford is promoted to Woman Police Sergeant in Newbury – the town at the heart of Britain's atomic weapons programme. This is the third title in the Crockford memoir trilogy.
"For fans of Heartbeat and Call The Midwife, this is a charming policing memoir." Judge Rinder
Jane Corry's ninth novel, I DIED ON A TUESDAY, was published by Penguin on 20 June 2024. One day. Three stories. Who do you believe?
Jane Corry is a seven times Sunday Times Top Ten paperback fiction bestseller.
"A gripping and emotional thriller about dark family secrets coming back to haunt you. I loved it!" Claire Douglas
"A clever, twisty story of unravelling secrets, with a huge heart at its core. A joy for crime lovers." Andrea Mara
"Jane Corry has done it again. A page-turning, intricately woven plot full of colourful characters that was too hard to put down." Heidi Perks
"This story about long-buried secrets captivated me from the very first page to the absolutely explosive ending." Ashley Tate
Julie Houston's most recent novel, A CLASS ACT, was be published by Boldwood in July.
"Warm and poignant, brimming with heart and humour and filled with characters I was rooting for. Loved this class act!' Fiona Gibson
Alice Hunter, whose first novel THE SERIAL KILLER'S WIFE is now a 4-part Paramount+ television series, published her third novel, BAD APPLE, in May (Avon).
"Alice Hunter is a genius!" Amazon Reader Review
Laura Starkey's third novel, the ultimate forced proximity romantic comedy, THE SPARE ROOM, was published by Bonnier Embla on 6 February 2024.
THE SPARE ROOM reached #7 in the Kindle Top 100, #1 simultaneously in the three sub-categories Romantic Comedy (Kindle Store), Contemporary and New Adult Romance (Books), spent four weeks in the Kindle Top 20 and ten weeks in the Kindle Top 100. In Australia, THE SPARE ROOM reached #5 in the Kindle Top 100. Congratulations Laura.
"An absolutely gorgeous story - I now have a massive book hangover. I loved it." Jules Wake, author of The Spark
"I mean it when I say: Laura Starkey has written the most perfect romcom. The Spare Room was not a happily ever after, it was a happily all the way through." Suzy Krause, author of Sorry I Missed You
Apollo/Head of Zeus published PLANET INSECT: How Insects Conquered the Earth by Steve Nicholls in paperback on 4 July (previously published in hardback as ALIEN WORLDS). This is a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated natural history of insects.
"'The simple fact," Nicholls writes, 'is that we need insects far more than they need us.' Pollinators, predators, ecosystem engineers: insects of all kinds help shape and sustain the living world on which we all depend, whether we realise it or not ... and this alien world is under terrible strain... (This) book is an entrancing, moving exploration of the innumerable little lives flickering about us, of how they came to be here and how they may soon be lost forever." Richard Smyth, New Scientist
Ellie Wood's first novel, THE WILDWATER WOMEN, was published in eBook, paperback and audio by HarperNorth in April 2023. Her new novel, THE RESTAURANT AT THE HEART OF THE LAKES, was published by them in March 2024. She had just delivered a new novel, THE HOTEL AT THE HEART OF THE LAKES, for publication in Spring 2025.
"An instant hit...a perfect summer read" Lancashire Life
"Thoroughly enjoyable, this is a fine lakeside read for the summer" Cumbria Life
On 9 May Zephyr/Head of Zeus published Ewa Jozefkowicz's BENJI'S EMERALD KING, the debut novel in The Woodland Explorers Club series for readers aged 5-7. Inspired by Forest School, this is a magical new series in which a group of friends solve mysteries and protect the animals of Willow Wish Woods. BENJI'S EMERALD KINGS is full of friendship, adventure and learning through nature with fun illustrations by Gillian Flint on every page. SHYLA'S WOOD WIDE WEB is next up in the series, with publication on 7 November.
Rachel Barnett's new novel, ESCAPE TO THE FRENCH CHATEAU, was published by Embla in June. Her previous novel, A SUMMER ON THE RIVIERA was a Kindle top 50 bestseller.
"This is the perfect summer book! Travel, French countryside, wine, love, a variety of relationships, and a couple you'll be rooting for!" NetGalley review
UNDER THE BLACK MOUNTAIN by K.T. Fitzpatrick was published in audio by Bolinda on 1 May, the first of the Eva Willoughby series set in 1919 Australia.
"A sharply written, fast-moving mystery set in a wonderfully evoked post-Gallipoli Australia. A deeply pleasurable read." Andrew Miller, author of the Costa Book of the Year winning PURE
"Utterly enthralling." NetGalley reviewer 5 stars
Catherine Hanley’s new book, 1217: The Battles that Saved Britain, was published by Osprey on 9 May 2024.
Congratulations to Catherine Hanley on 1217 being a Sunday Times Book of the Week, with Dan Jones saying "her clear, colourful account ... revives a thrilling episode from England's medieval history."
Naomi Kelsey's first novel THE BURNINGS, set in 17th-century Scotland and Denmark, published in hardback and eBook in June by HarperNorth to considerable acclaim, is now available in paperback.
"I was mesmerised by THE BURNINGS and its heroines. I highly recommend this brilliant and compelling novel to all lovers of historical fiction" Laura Shepperson, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Heroines
Sandy Taylor's ninth novel, RETURN TO THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE, was published by Bookouture on 13 May 2024.
"This gut-wrenching story is phenomenal. Heartbreaking… Bringing you to tears, and then bringing a smile to your face and joy to your heart… Completely unputdownable." Page Turners, 5 star review
Congratulations to Sandy on THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE, the prequel to RETURN TO THE IRISH BOARDING HOUSE, reaching #30 in the UK Kindle Top 100 and #31 in the US Kindle Top 100 on the same day.
Congratulations to Jenny Dent, whose first novel A DEATH ON THE HOME FRONT, set in a Lake District village in the aftermath of World War I, was published by Northodox Press in August.
"I absolutely loved ‘A Death on the Home Front.’ The writing was beautiful, the characters powerfully drawn and the twists and turns of the plot had me guessing until the very end. But, for me, what made this really special was the wealth of historical detail. The novel is set soon after the end of World War one, and its long shadow haunts the returning soldiers and their families, imbuing the story with poignancy and tension.
A powerful and thoroughly enjoyable read" Gill Thompson, author of The Girls on the Train
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