Deon Meyer’s SKORPIO pushes on to the shortlist for the SA Book Awards Favourite Bestselling Adult Fiction Prize

SKORPIO, the latest Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido investigation by bestselling crime sensation Deon Meyer, has advanced to the shortlist for the 26th annual SA Book Awards, in the Favourite Bestselling Adult Fiction category.

Booksellers from across South Africa were invited to vote for their favourite South African-authored books of the year from a longlist of the bestselling titles of 2025, with SKORPIO recognised following an epic 9-week end-of-year run at the top of the South African bestseller lists, claiming the Christmas #1. The awards, powered by NielsenIQ BookData and supported by the Publishers’ Association of South Africa and the SA Booksellers’ Association, strive to celebrate books written and published in South Africa, as voted for by South African booksellers. Each category winner will be awarded ZAR 5,000.00 and an overall winner – awarded to Deon in 2024 for previous book LEO – receiving the highest number of votes, who will be presented with ZAR 20,000.00. The winners will be announced at a special virtual award ceremony on 8 September 2026.

The other books on this year’s Adult Fiction shortlist are:

• BINNERYM VAN BLOED by Antje Krog

• DÉJÀ VU by Chanette Paul

• DIE BY THE SWORD by Tony Park

• SWEETIE by Nataniël Nataniël

First published last year in Afrikaans by Human and Rousseau, English-language readers won’t have to wait long to enjoy the thrills of SKORPIO for themselves: last week, Pan Macmillan unveiled the cover of their edition, the first to be published by Pan Macmillan following a six-figure swoop for the UK and Commonwealth English-language rights. Titled SCORPIO RISING (translated by K.L. Seegers), it will be published in South Africa in October this year, and in the UK on 11 February 2027, alongside Grove Atlantic in the US and Canada. Rights have further sold in France (Editions Gallimard), the Netherlands (A W Bruna) and Germany (Aufbau).

In SKORPIO/SCORPIO RISING, when two seemingly disparate investigations collide, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido must race against time to solve both before it is too late.

When Detective Benny Griessel is assigned the case of a private eye crushed under a BMW in his garage, it looks a lot like suicide. But Benny’s partner, Vaughn Cupido, knew the deceased, and he says it’s murder. Benny would love to have Vaughn’s help on the case, because so far it’s going nowhere. But his partner is stuck wasting his considerable talents investigating the arson of a remote shepherd’s hut.

Then a caravan explodes on a nearby farm, and the identity of the body inside drives the media into a feeding frenzy just a week before an international security forum comes to town. Suddenly, Griessel and Cupido’s dead-end cases are burning red-hot, and the flames threaten not just their careers, but those dearest to them.

Local and international threats become perilously entwined in this tautly constructed thriller from a master of the form, as Griessel and Cupido race against time to uncover a plot that could challenge global politics at the highest level…

Credit: Will Punt, Peartree Photography

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer lives in Stellenbosch. His books are sold in 31 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, the Martin Beck Award in Sweden and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’. THE DARK FLOOD was longlisted for the 2023 CWA Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. His latest novel LEO, a new Benny Griessel thriller, enjoyed ten weeks at the top of the South African bestseller lists, Number One in all categories.

Adaptations of Deon’s novels have recently had great success on screen: in April 2024, HEART OF THE HUNTER topped the global Netflix film charts, becoming the first African film to do so, with over 11 million views in its first two days alone. DEVIL’S PEAK was also adapted for a miniseries by Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions, premiering on M-Net in South Africa in 2023 before reaching audiences in the USA, New Zealand, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. In 2020, TRACKERS, produced by Three River Fiction and Scene 23, aired on Sky Atlantic in the UK and HBO in the USA, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and across the Nordic countries and Europe.

Praise for SKORPIO

‘Even if he writes a book where Griessel and Cupid just go on holiday without any crime to solve, I will still buy it, read it and add it to my collection… Meyer needs no introduction… I don’t even want to think what he has meant to the Afrikaans book and film industry as a whole. He showed everyone what is possible, and SKORPIO shows how everyone still listens when he speaks. In 2025, a wealth of good suspense literature was published; SKORPIO is the icing on the cake.’ – Stefan Coetzee, LitNet

‘It’s the characters, the humanity and the humour that keeps me devouring Deon Meyer’s novels.’ – Deborah Steinmair, Netwerk24

‘In terms of depth, it is Meyer’s penetrating consideration of the nature of criminality that is surprising… In Meyer we notice the necessary awareness of South Africa’s social diversity. This makes the story nuanced and credible. What is also striking is the compassion with which Meyer treats the characters. This is a novel that is marked by humanity. Even the characters and suspects do not lack the author’s compassion… Ultimately, it is the scope of the story that surprises both the detectives and the reader. The evil that is systemic corruption is strikingly exposed. With the unmistakable Deon Meyer trademark, precise and powerful, SKORPIO is prime crime fiction that captivates to the end’ – Francois Bekker, Netwerk24

Praise for Deon Meyer

‘He’s up there with the best in the world.’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘I love Deon Meyer novels. It’s global storytelling at its best, with the undeniable hallmarks of gritty realism and deep character building.’ – Michael Connelly

‘Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.’ – Tess Gerritsen

‘Deon Meyer is one of the giants of crime fiction.’ – El Mundo

‘One of the best crime writers on the planet.’ – Mail on Sunday

Visit Deon’s website

Follow Deon on Twitter

Bookouture acquires two more Jean Fullerton novels

Bookouture has acquired two more World War Two saga novels from bestselling author Jean Fullerton for publication in 2027. The books will be the fifth and sixth in her East End Girls series, which follows the lives, loves and heartbreaks of a group of four extraordinary young women, who join the WAAF and are stationed in the East End of London as barrage balloon operators. Commissioning Editor Lizzie Brien has agreed a World English Language deal, including audio, from Kate Burke at  Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

Lizzie says, ‘I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Jean and Kate to publish more books in this incredible series. Every book that Jean writes opens a door onto our past in such a fascinating and delightful way, and the women of Balloon Site 312 have become firm favourites, capturing many hearts along the way! It’s such a joy to know that we have two more books in this series on the way. I know that readers are going to love them just as much as I do!’

Jean says, ‘I can’t tell you how delighted I am to have signed a new contract with Bookouture. It means I’ll once again be working with Lizzie Brien and the brilliant editorial team, and, best of all, I’m finally able to give all my lovely East End Girls the happy endings they so richly deserve.’

Kate says, ‘I’m delighted that Jean is writing more books in this wonderful series and that we get to continue working with Lizzie and the whole Bookouture dream team!’

About Jean Fullerton

Jean was born and bred in the overcrowded streets surrounding London Docks where her family have lived since 1825. Being born within the sound of Bow Bells, she’s a true cockney who grew up in what was then the working-class dockland community in Wapping and Stepney, East London. All her published books are set in the streets and alleyways she roamed as a child.

Jean worked for 30 years as a community nurse in East London, starting as a staff nurse and finishing as a university lecturer in Health Studies at London South Bank University.

Jean’s Ration Book series is published by Corvus, whilst her East London Nurses series and Victorian East London Nolan series are published by Orion. Her first memoir, A CHILD OF THE EAST END, was published by Corvus in August 2022.

 Praise for Jean Fullerton

‘The queen of East End sagas’ – Elaine Everest

‘Warmth, humour and characters readers care about are Fullerton’s hallmarks.’ – Peterborough Evening Telegraph

‘A brilliant author who is not afraid of the truth’ – Geoffrey Harfield, Historical Novels Society

Visit Jean’s website

Follow Jean on Instagram and Facebook 

THE MOTH by Paul Herzberg receives its London premiere at the Finborough Theatre this October

We are delighted to announce that Blake Friedmann client Paul Herzberg's award-winning play THE MOTH will have its London premiere at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre for a strictly limited four-week season, from 27 October to 21 November 2026, following a triumphant Northern tour in 2025. The press nights will be held on Thursday, 29 October and Friday, 30 October 2026 at 7.30pm.

Micky Cochrane & Faz Singhateh in The Moth by Victoria Wai

THE MOTH tells the story of a chance encounter on a train between John, a Black British journalist, and Marius, a White South African ex-soldier. Their meeting sets in motion an escalating chain of events that reshapes their lives over thirty years, culminating in a confrontation before the nation's television cameras where they are forced to lay bare their conflicting truths.

Directed by award-winning theatre director Jake Murray Elysium Theatre Company. The play is presented by Andy Jordan Productions and Elysium Theatre Company in association with Neil McPherson.

Inspired by a true story, the play explores the themes of memory, identity, the legacy of Apartheid, and ultimately, what does forgiveness really mean. Paul, an accomplished actor and writer with nearly fifty years in theatre, television, and film, drew directly on his own experience of forced conscription into the army during the Angolan Border War. Having left South Africa in 1976, his lived experience of Apartheid and its continuing reverberations drive the narrative with profound authenticity.

ABOUT PAUL HERZBERG

An accomplished actor and writer, Paul Herzberg began his career at South Africa's first multi-racial theatre, The Space, before coming to the UK in 1976. As a writer, Paul's work has been produced by BBC Radio 4 and presented internationally. His previous stage play The Dead Wait was produced at the Market Theatre Johannesburg, the Royal Exchange Manchester, and the Park Theatre. It was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award, nominated for three Manchester Evening News Awards, and adapted for BBC Radio 4, ABC Australia, and WDR Germany.

Paul is represented by Julian Friedmann.

The Northern tour reviews:

“Evocative and as deeply human as it is disturbing... A sure sign of a remarkable and powerful play is that it stays with you long after the curtain call. Like a moth, this play will linger and flutter in your mind.”

Northern Arts Review ★★★★★

“A political thriller which directly confronts its darkness... A piece of theatre which lodges itself deep inside you, demanding reckoning long after the evening is over.”

The Palatinate ★★★★★

“Gripping, stellar performances by Faz Singhateh and Micky Cochrane. A poignant reflection on race, war, history and identity.”

Love Manchester ★★★★★

Deon Meyer’s SKORPIO longlisted for the SA Book Awards Favourite Bestselling Adult Fiction Prize

Bestselling crime sensation Deon Meyer has been longlisted for the 26th annual SA Book Awards in the Favourite Bestselling Adult Fiction category with SKORPIO. The awards, powered by NielsenIQ BookData and supported by the Publishers’ Association of South Africa and the SA Booksellers’ Association, strive to celebrate books written and published in South Africa, as voted for by South African booksellers.

SKORPIO earned its place on the longlist following an epic 9-week end of year run at the top of the South African bestseller lists, claiming the Christmas #1. In 2024, Deon took home not only the Best Fiction prize but also the overall Book of the Year prize at the SA Book Awards, for his previous Benny Griessel title LEO.

This year’s longlist was made up of the bestselling titles published in South Africa by South African authors, as measured by NielsenIQ BookScan South Africa in 2025, with South African booksellers invited to vote for their favourite to determine the shortlist and winners. Each category winner will be awarded ZAR 5,000.00 and there will be an overall winner, receiving the highest number of votes, who will be presented with ZAR 20,000.00. The winners will be announced at a special virtual award ceremony later in the year.

SKORPIO was first published in South Africa, in Afrikaans, by Human and Rousseau in October 2025. The English-language edition, titled SCORPIO RISING (translated by K.L. Seegers), will be published by Pan Macmillan in South Africa in October this year, and in the UK in Spring 2027, alongside Grove Atlantic in the US and Canada. Rights have further sold in France (Editions Gallimard), the Netherlands (A W Bruna) and Germany (Aufbau).

In SKORPIO/SCORPIO RISING, when two seemingly disparate investigations collide, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido must race against time to solve both before it is too late.

Aishah Fernandez, distinguished former Deputy Director General of South Africa’s nuclear power regulatory agency, is brutally attacked in her hotel room in Moscow. Four months later, Benny Griessel and his partner Vaughn Cupido – their rank as captains happily restored – find themselves investigating two tragic but seemingly unrelated cases: two small explosions and the suspicious death of private investigator Brandon Maarman.

At the same time, Benny is desperately trying to repair the damaged relationship with his son Fritz. As the connections between the cases become frighteningly clear, the race to save the country from an international disaster is on, with stakes higher than a father’s bond with his son.

Credit: Will Punt, Pear Tree Photography

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer lives in Stellenbosch. His books are sold in 31 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, the Martin Beck Award in Sweden and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’. THE DARK FLOOD was longlisted for the 2023 CWA Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. His latest novel LEO, a new Benny Griessel thriller, enjoyed ten weeks at the top of the South African bestseller lists, Number One in all categories.

Adaptations of Deon’s novels have recently had great success on screen: in April 2024, HEART OF THE HUNTER topped the global Netflix film charts, becoming the first African film to do so, with over 11 million views in its first two days alone. DEVIL’S PEAK was also adapted for a miniseries by Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions, premiering on M-Net in South Africa in 2023 before reaching audiences in the USA, New Zealand, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. In 2020, TRACKERS, produced by Three River Fiction and Scene 23, aired on Sky Atlantic in the UK and HBO in the USA, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and across the Nordic countries and Europe.

Praise for SKORPIO

‘Even if he writes a book where Griessel and Cupid just go on holiday without any crime to solve, I will still buy it, read it and add it to my collection… Meyer needs no introduction… I don’t even want to think what he has meant to the Afrikaans book and film industry as a whole. He showed everyone what is possible, and SKORPIO shows how everyone still listens when he speaks. In 2025, a wealth of good suspense literature was published; SKORPIO is the icing on the cake.’ – Stefan Coetzee, LitNet

‘It’s the characters, the humanity and the humour that keeps me devouring Deon Meyer’s novels.’ – Deborah Steinmair, Netwerk24

‘In terms of depth, it is Meyer’s penetrating consideration of the nature of criminality that is surprising… In Meyer we notice the necessary awareness of South Africa’s social diversity. This makes the story nuanced and credible. What is also striking is the compassion with which Meyer treats the characters. This is a novel that is marked by humanity. Even the characters and suspects do not lack the author’s compassion… Ultimately, it is the scope of the story that surprises both the detectives and the reader. The evil that is systemic corruption is strikingly exposed. With the unmistakable Deon Meyer trademark, precise and powerful, SKORPIO is prime crime fiction that captivates to the end’ – Francois Bekker, Netwerk24

Praise for Deon Meyer

‘He’s up there with the best in the world.’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘I love Deon Meyer novels. It’s global storytelling at its best, with the undeniable hallmarks of gritty realism and deep character building.’ – Michael Connelly

‘Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.’ – Tess Gerritsen

‘Deon Meyer is one of the giants of crime fiction.’ – El Mundo

‘One of the best crime writers on the planet.’ – Mail on Sunday

Visit Deon’s website

Amazon Original Stories acquires ‘thrilling and surprising’ short story from No.1 bestselling crime writer Peter James

Credit: Max Young

This summer Amazon Original Stories will publish a brand-new story from no.1 Sunday Times bestselling crime and thriller writer Peter James, acquired by editor Maisie Lawrence from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

Publishing on 1st August, JOHN GREBBLE IS GONE follows the eponymous John Grebble, who wakes up to discover he’s been declared dead. His bank account is frozen, his car repossessed, and his entire existence erased. Someone wants him gone – permanently. Can he discover who would go this far to destroy him before it’s too late?

Peter James says: ‘I love to write short stories – in which I can explore ideas and themes very different to my Roy Grace crime thrillers.  The team at Amazon have been both huge fun and truly inspirational to work with, and I can honestly say that JOHN GREBBLE IS GONE is one of my very favourite stories I have ever written.’

Maisie Lawrence says: ‘I was so excited when Peter James said yes to writing an Amazon Original Story. JOHN GREBBLE IS GONE is an incredibly fast-paced, darkly comic thriller about a man whose entire existence is wiped out overnight and the result is a short that sent shivers up my spine. Peter brings all of his trademark thrilling pace and ability to surprise. It’s wickedly entertaining and I know readers are going to love it.’

Isobel Dixon says: ‘The indefatigable Peter James is a twisty plot powerhouse and it’s such a pleasure to share his bestselling work – series and standalone – with the world in so many formats. Thanks now to Maisie Lawrence for this opportunity for Peter to have some more short-form storytelling fun – providing great entertainment to even more readers worldwide.’

Michael Buchsteiner, Senior Manager at Amazon Books Europe, says: ‘Peter James is one of the UK’s most iconic crime writers, and we’re thrilled to bring his brilliant storytelling to Amazon Original Stories. ‘John Grebble Is Gone’ is a gripping, inventive short that showcases Peter’s extraordinary ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats. We’re proud to connect his work with even more readers across Europe and beyond, and to champion the short story format as a home for bold, compelling fiction.’

Peter’s next full length novel, DEAD IN THREE TWO ONE, will be published on 20th October by Pan Macmillan. It will be the 22nd in Peter’s ever popular Roy Grace series, but as with all the Grace titles, readers can dive in at any stage!

About Peter James

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series.

Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over 24 million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 21 Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award and in 2024 he won four Silver Nielsen Bestseller Awards. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

The opening episode of GRACE, based on the first Roy Grace novel, DEAD SIMPLE, was broadcast in March 2021 with John Simm starring in the lead role as the tenacious detective. It was a TV Pick of the Day across all the major UK newspapers, appeared on ITV 1’s prime Sunday night slot and viewing figures quickly reached more than 8.8 million, with glowing reviews. In May 2025 it was in the top ten of ITVX’s most streamed shows.

Peter took part in the launch podcast of the Queen’s Reading Room in January 2024, having had the Grace series featured on the Royal Reading Room previously. He appeared on the podcast again in June 2024, where he was named one of Her Majesty’s favourite crime writers and Roy Grace her favourite fictional detective!

In 2026, Peter was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List, in recognition of his services to literature and to charity.

Praise for Peter James

‘Superior plotting and edge-of-the-seat suspense.’ – The Guardian

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

‘A master plotter who cunningly tunes into contemporary concerns. Peter James cannot fail to thrill.’ – The Daily Mail

‘Memorable characters and nail-biting tension.’ –  Kathy Reichs

‘Peter James creates a world we can smell, touch and feel for his Brighton detective Inspector Roy Grace.’ – The Times

‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

‘With echoes of Thomas Harris, the closer analogue is to Jeffrey Deaver’s clock-racing thrillers… James delivers the goods.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ – Independent on Sunday

Visit Peter’s website

Follow Peter on Facebook and Instagram