HarperNorth triumphs in 4-way auction for Orkney-set crime trilogy with neurodivergent sleuth

HarperCollins today announce the acquisition of Daniel Aubrey’s debut novel, Dark Island, and two further novels. HarperNorth’s Commissioning Editor Daisy Watt acquired World English rights from Ella Kahn of Diamond Kahn & Woods Literary Agency, in a four-way auction. French rights to Dark Island were sold to Le Masque/JC Lattes; Swedish to Lind & Co; and Ukrainian rights to Laboratory. HarperNorth will publish Dark Island in paperback, e-book and audio in April 2024, as the first of three in the new Orkney Mysteries series.

Dark Island is set in midwinter, where only six hours of daylight interrupt the darkness over Orkney. When a body is discovered on the small archipelago’s wild Atlantic coast, neurodivergent reporter Freya Sinclair finds herself in a race against time to catch a killer, all while awaiting her autism diagnosis. Both the investigation and the diagnosis will come with more twists and turns than she’d hoped…

Advance praise has poured in for Dark Island: Danielle Devlin calls the novel ‘an unputdownable thriller’, while Wiz Wharton calls the ‘hauntingly original backdrop of Orkney’ a ‘character in its own right’. Anita Frank found the portrayal of Freya, the novel’s neurodivergent protagonist ‘refreshing … complex yet tangible’ and says Dark Island is ‘far more than a gripping read … truly enriching’.

Daniel Aubrey is a former journalist based in Scotland. His debut novel, Dark Island was inspired by his obsession with all things Orcadian – he is working towards an MLitt in Orkney and Shetland Studies from the Institute of Northern Studies in Kirkwall – and by his experience of being diagnosed as autistic and ADHD in his early forties. Before starting work on this novel Daniel completed the Riff Raff mentorship programme and helped start the Virtual Writing Group on Twitter (@virtwriting).

Daisy Watt said: ‘A small Scottish island where the days are getting shorter and shorter: can you imagine a better location for ticking-clock suspense? With Dark Island Daniel announces himself as a writer with a formidable gift for atmospheric, tightly plotted, twisty storytelling, and Freya is a protagonist I’d follow anywhere. Daniel’s nuanced portrayal of Freya’s experiences will help to normalise those of many neurodivergent people during the often lengthy and challenging process of diagnosis. We can’t wait to introduce her to the world.’

Daniel Aubrey said: ‘I’m thrilled to be working with Daisy and the whole HarperNorth team. I was so lucky to have a number of great publishers offer to take on Dark Island, but Daisy really understood Freya and the story I wanted to tell, and I felt from the first time we spoke that she was the right person to help me make this series a success.’

Ella Kahn said: ‘HarperNorth’s passion, vision and ambition for Dark Island made them the clear winners in a very closely fought auction. Daniel Aubrey is a very talented author, and I’m so excited to see his stunningly atmospheric, emotionally powerful and gripping new crime series flourish in the care of Daisy Watt and her team!’