We are thrilled to announce that author and bookseller Fiona Hardy has sold World English Language rights to their debut adult crime novel – Unbury the Dead – to Affirm Press.

A story of small-time criminals and sometime-detectives – Teddy Golding and Art Roubicek – Unbury the Dead features layman detectives like in Emma Viskic’s Caleb Zelic series, with the surprise turnabouts of a Christian White thriller, and the cozy crime feels of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club.

Since 2019, Hardy has worked with Affirm to carve out a critically-acclaimed and beloved space in the contemporary middle grade landscape (with books; How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days, How to Write the Soundtrack to Your Life, and How to Tackle Your Dreams). But she has also been a long-standing and respected Crime Fiction reviewer at her day-job; as bookseller for Readings Bookstore in Melbourne.

Unsurprisingly, when Hardy turned her pen to a readership and genre change, she did so with aplomb – and what Affirm Publishing Director Martin Hughes calls; “Funny, atmospheric, intriguing, memorable and very clever. Fiona has done a terrific job … a very fresh take on the Aussie thriller.”

For Fiona’s part, she has this to say about the sale; “I’m so thrilled to be in partnership with Affirm again — a publisher I’ve loved working with, and whose books I have always loved reading as well! After years of reading and reviewing the excellent output of Australian crime writers, I can’t wait to release my own take on the genre in 2025. I’m grateful to my agents Jacinta and Danielle for their work in getting Unbury the Dead into the safest hands possible — and soon into readers’ hands, too!”

Unbury the Dead will be published some time in 2025.