Margie Orford, author of the 'smart, sassy and sexy' Clare Hart thriller series has been appointed to the editorial board of the 2011 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, of which Nobel Prize winning author J. M. Coetzee is the final judge. She will also replace Shaun Johnson on the South African PEN Executive and will be in London during the London Book Fair, for which South Africa is the country of market focus, as SA PEN's representative.

Margie Orford's gripping thrillers have been sold in eight territories and published to great praise. BLOOD ROSE, the third in the series, has been described by Michael Connelly as 'wonderfully crafted and fully engrossing' and will be published in the UK on Monday 1 March 2010, along with the paperback edition of its predecessor LIKE CLOCKWORK, 'a fantastic serial killer crime novel'. Her third Clare Hart novel, DADDY'S GIRL - a prequel, has also been bought by Atlantic. Orford is published in Germany by Blanvalet, in France by Payot & Rivages and in South Africa by Jonathan Ball, and is currently writing her fourth book in the series, THE QUARRY for which German rights are already sold to Blanvalet.

Praise for Margie Orford:

'Margie Orford has nailed it. BLOOD ROSE is wonderfully crafted and fully engrossing. It's a book that stays with you, even after the last page is turned.'
--Michael Connelly

'A fantastic serial killer crime novel from Margie Orford…The pace of LIKE CLOCKWORK ticks along perfectly for the reader…. It is a great book and catapults Orford to the top of the class of crime writing in South Africa for me thus far. This is largely due to her ability to write with a sense of true humanity and yet maintain a pacy sexy style. …All I can say is more speed to Orford's wonderfully well-crafted pen.' 

--Jennifer Crocker, Cape Times

'The energy Margie Orford creates between her characters and the tautness of her plots is attracting new readers and publishers every month.'
--Sue Grant-Marshall, The Weekender