Sunderland author signs new book deal after success of Ryhope saga series

Glenda’s love of books was sparked as a child growing up in Ryhope where she would use the village library. It became a life-long passion which led to her penning her own novels set in Ryhope, the popular Belle of the Back Streets, The Tuppenny Child, Pearl of Pit Lane and The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon.

Publishers have been so impressed with the series that Kate Byrne, senior commissioning editor at Headline, has signed five new books by Glenda.

Kate has bought world English rights from Caroline Sheldon at the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency, and the first title in a Scarborough-set cosy crime series, Murder at the Seaview Hotel, publishes in August 2021, followed by further titles in May 2022 and May 2023. There will also be two new Ryhope-set sagas in 2022 and 2023.

Glenda said: "I'm absolutely over the moon to be writing more books set in Ryhope, the village where I was born and bred. I love researching old Ryhope and weaving fictional characters and stories around real, historic events that took place.

"And I'm very excited to be writing a new genre of books too, with my cosy crime series set in in modern-day Scarborough. It's a very special place for me as it's where I went on my summer holidays for many years when I was a child with my family and I was married there too.

"The first cosy crime book, Murder at the Seaview Hotel is really funny. It features a troupe of twelve Elvis impersonators, called Twelvis, and when one of them is found dead with his blue suede shoes stolen, local B&B landlady Helen Dexter and her trusty rescue greyhound Suki are on the case to solve the murder.

"It was such fun to write and every time I sat down to write, I listened to an Elvis song to get me in the right mood for each chapter. I wrote the book during the first lockdown of this year because at the beginning of lockdown I badly injured my foot and couldn't walk on it for about two months. I had no choice but to sit down and write and I loved every minute of bringing the first of my cosy crime books to life.”

Kate said: "It's an absolute joy working with Glenda on her saga novels, and I'm thrilled that we're going to be returning to Ryhope for two more, featuring the strong, resourceful heroines that she is well known for. And when I received Glenda's proposal to turn her talents to writing cosy crime alongside her sagas, I knew this was something we had to publish at Headline.

"The setting of Scarborough makes a brilliantly engaging backdrop for a winning pair of new sleuths, and we're excited about introducing hotel proprietor Helen Dexter and her trusty greyhound Suki to Glenda's existing fans as well as to a wealth of new readers."

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