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'Kill one of them off, and I'm away': Ann Cleeves and Steph McGovern on how they got caught up in a life of crime

The dark side of broadcasting, learning to trust your characters and the return of Jimmy Perez: debut author, Steph McGovern talks to her friend, and crime writing legend, Ann Cleeves.

Ann Cleeves and Steph McGovern really, really love crime. Having met at various crime-related books festivals and events over the years, they're now firm friends and, coincidentally, neighbours. So when Steph decided to write a crime novel herself, Ann was one of her first readers. The book, Deadline, is out now for everyone to read. We caught up with the two authors before a recent event in the north east to find out what drew them to the genre. 

Steph McGovern's crime debut is out now

Going live in 10, 9, 8. . .Today is a huge day for TV reporter Rose’s career. A live interview with one of the most powerful men in the country, on one of the nation’s biggest TV shows. 

7, 6, 5. . . But when she hears an unfamiliar voice in her ear, she knows something is very wrong.

4, 3, 2. . . Her earpiece has been hacked. She’s live on air in the middle of the interview. They tell her they have kidnapped her family.

1. . . And in order to protect them, Rose must do exactly what the hijacker says. . .  

The new standalone Jimmy Perez novel finds the star of Ann Cleeves' Shetland series living in Orkney

Coming in October, this is a new standalone novel featuring Detective Jimmy Perez, last seen in Wild Fire, the final book in Ann Cleeves’ bestselling Shetland series. When a violent storm descends upon Orkney, the body of Archie Stout is left in its wake. An unusual murder weapon, a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions, is found discarded nearby. Detective Jimmy Perez, no stranger to the complexity of human nature and the darkness it can harbour, is soon on the scene. He counted Archie as a childhood friend, so this case is more personal than most. Here, in these ancient lands where history runs deep, Perez must discern the truth from legend before a desperate killer strikes again . . .