At the Sharp End . . .
News from Zoë Sharp and Charlie Fox

Winter 2009

Winter's certainly hit with a vengeance here in the wilds of Cumbria, and the hailstones are bouncing outside the window as I write. But, it's the ideal time to be cosy inside, writing the next Charlie Fox book, which is exactly what I'm doing.

The summer was fun, with appearances at CrimeFest in Bristol and Mayhem in the Midlands (in Omaha) in May, the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and Caerleon Writers' School in July, and the Reading Festival of Crime Writing in September, as well as at a number of highly enjoyable library events.

Not to mention a CWA Dagger nomination for my short story Served Cold. I didn't win − that honour went to Sean Chercover − but it was a privilege to be shortlisted.

Two new versions of Third Strike have just been launched:

• Mass market paperback from St Martin's Press
• CD audio set from BBC Audiobooks

The audio book is read by Clare Corbett, who did a wonderful job of interpreting Second Shot, also under the BBC Audiobooks imprint.

So, this seventh book in the Charlie Fox series is now available in seven English language formats, the rest being:

• UK hardback from Allison & Busby
• UK paperback from Allison & Busby
• UK hardback large print from ISIS Publishing
• US hardback from St Martin's Press
• US hardback large print from Thorndike Press.

BBC Audiobooks are planning to release audio versions of all the early Charlie Fox books, as well as the new issues mentioned above. Similarly, ISIS Publishing have announced that they, too, will publish the early books in the series in large print format.

Hopefully, the whole Charlie Fox portfolio will soon be available in both audio and large print, which I know will be of special interest to libraries and reader groups.

Third Strike ends with Charlie Fox facing a life-changing dilemma that will affect her entire future. "Readers will kill for the next instalment," was how Publishers Weekly put it.

Fans will not have much longer to wait to discover how it all works out. Fourth Day will be out in May 2010 − from Allison & Busby in the UK. US publication date TBA soon.

Fourth Day finds Charlie Fox going undercover into a California cult (called Fourth Day). Her mission is to extract a man who entered the cult five years ago to investigate the death of his son and has not been seen since. It should have been a fast, covert op but Charlie has not reckoned with the lure of the cult's charismatic leader, Randall Bane, or how easily he will pinpoint her weaknesses . . .

For a sneak preview of Fourth Day, take a look at my introduction and author's notes and follow the links to an excerpt from the text and part of Chapter One.

The early Charlie Fox books were not originally published in the USA. To my American readers, Charlie Fox's career appears to begin with First Drop, the fourth book in the series. Although each book can be read as a standalone, many American fans have told me that they would like to be able to follow Charlie's development from the start. Soon they can.

Independent US publisher, Busted Flush Press, is gearing up to issue the early Charlie Fox books as trade paperbacks for distribution in the USA and Canada. Killer Instinct, with smart new jacket and introduction by Lee Child, will be out in May 2010, and bears the seal of approval from such luminaries as Mark Billingham, Tess Gerritsen, Gayle Lynds and David Morrell. Riot Act will follow in July, with Hard Knocks and Road Kill later in the year. Booksellers and libraries can find details in the current Consortium catalogue.

Charlie Fox's exploits are about to be translated into Russian for the first time. Translation rights to both Second Shot and Third Strike have been licensed to Russian publisher, Corpus Books. Watch this space for publication dates!

After much rushing about this summer, I'm still out and about, doing various library events and already seeing the diary begin to fill up for next year. I'm joining other members of Mystery Women at Collectormania at Olympia, London W14, over the weekend of 28-29 November. Come along and say hello, get books signed, or take part in one of the Q&A sessions!

I shall, of course, be continuing to blog fortnightly on the award-nominated Murderati website, as well as my regular 'At the Sharp End' blog on my own website.

With Christmas creeping up on us rapidly, what better present than a signed book? For anyone who wants to get hold of signed copies of any of my books − including some of the early, hard-to-get editions − I've teamed up with local internet booksellers, Loads-A-Books, who are close enough for me to call in and sign or personalise a book as you wish. Contact Chris on loadsabooks@googlemail.com

www.zoesharp.com