Not only did I scream loudly and drag my youngest children off a train when I spotted a poster for my book, I committed the heinous act of speaking to a random stranger and asking him to take our photo 😱 Luckily we all survived the humiliation but we can never speak of it again
Beautiful Star passed away this morning. We are devastated because we loved him so much but we’re so grateful for the years we had with him and the lessons he taught us. No matter what happened, his tail never stopped wagging. Shine bright like a Star ⭐️ 💛
If there was life before Parker the puppy joined our family (3 days ago) I’m afraid I don’t really remember it. He’s here, he’s fabulous and we love him 💛🐾💛
Wowzers!! Thank you
@CriFiLover
😁 It took 11 years of rejections before I got published but I’m so happy I never gave up! These awards are voted for by the most important people out there - readers - and I’m so grateful to each and every one who voted for my book 💜🔨💜
Thank you so much to all the people in Oxford Circus who just joined in my excitement when I found these ads for my book!! The ads will be in tube stations for 2 weeks, and if you spot one, please post a pic and tag me 🙏 - I want to hunt down each and every one 😁
It’s my birthday!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 Half a century of mooching around this planet with the most fabulous people and hopefully many years left to meet many more 🙏
#itsallaboutmetoday
😁🎉🎉
Completely overwhelmed to be shortlisted for best debut and best crime author of 2023!!
Thank you everyone who nominated ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ 💜 You have no idea how much this means to me 😊 Details for how to vote for your winners below … 🤞🔨🤞🔨
CRIME FICTION LOVER AWARDS 2023
🏆The shortlists for our six categories have been compiled – it's time to vote for your book of the year and top debut, crime in translation and indie novel, plus your top crime show of 2023 and author of the year.
Screaming in Tesco is never appreciated but I couldn’t help it because - look!!! ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is on the cover of
@womanandhome
magazine 🤩 and 1,000 readers have the chance to win a free ebook 🥳🥳 So the screaming will continue and sorry, not sorry Tesco 😁
So excited to share the cover of my new book! ‘The Dead Friend Project’ is a dark comedy thriller based around the politics and treachery of the school run … because some days it’s murder, isn’t it?
Brought to you by the spectacular
@ViperBooks
and arriving in July 🥳🥳
We’re on our way to Harrogate for
#TheakstonsCrime
!! This is our first little holiday together without our children and dogs since … 🤔 … This is our first little holiday together without our children and dogs!!! 🍺📕🍺🥳💤
Hammer mail!! Look what’s just arrived in the post … the most smashing bookmarks I’ve ever seen! Thank you
@RosieAParnham
@ViperBooks
- you’ve nailed it 😁🔨💜
"This book is often laugh-out-loud funny but also packs an emotional gut punch that really creeps up on you."
@ViperBooks
has signed two novels from debut author
@JoWallaceAuthor
, with You’d Look Better as a Ghost publishing next September.
Read here:
I can’t believe I’m typing this but ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is number 15 on
@USATODAY
list of best-selling books! I’m so happy and want to say a huge thank you to everyone, especially all the incredible booksellers and wonderful readers 🙏🥳🥳🥳 THANK YOU! 😁
Yesssss!! My proof of ‘The Dead Friend Project’ has arrived and it gets to meet the proof of ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost!’ Best. Day. Ever. All thanks to
@ViperBooks
🥳🥳🥳
If I ever find myself feeling a little sad, I’m going to look at this photo of a ghost reading my book and remember … if this can happen, anything can happen. Thank you
@bnportlandor
for the perpetual lifting of my spirits 👻😁👏👏👏
I screamed when I saw the tube station ads for my book at Oxford Circus and I just screamed again when I saw this post from
@NikkiOMay
🥳🥳 Thank you so much Nikki!! 🤩🤩🤩
I’ve been so excited to share this news … ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is Barnes & Noble’s monthly pick for mystery and thriller 🥳🥳🥳 Thank you
@BNBuzz
- I am overwhelmed, overjoyed and overusing emojis but I can’t help it - I’m just really, really happy 🔨💚🔨💚🥳😁🔨
Having a brilliant time celebrating the launch of ‘Leave No Trace’ - the latest by the phenomenally talented and thoroughly lovely
@JoCallaghanKat
👏👏👏 Congratulations Jo! I LOVE your books xx
On the train home from the spectacular
@CheltLitFest
and what do I see … ‘You’d Look Better as A Ghost’ is this week’s hot read in
@WomanMagazine
😁And tomorrow I’m going to the utterly fabulous
@WestKirbyBooks
… best week EVER!! 🎉🔨🎉
‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is published in the US and Canada today and I couldn’t be happier!! Thank you
@JeramieOrton
@PamelaDormanBks
@PenguinBooks
💚💚 Claire has arrived! And she’s brought her hammer 🔨😁🔨
Celebrating winning best debut crime novel in the
@CriFiLover
awards by telling random strangers (I’ve told 19 so far today and only 1 ran away) and also by signing copies of my book. Thank you Lauren
@waterstoneswyc
for being so welcoming and putting up with my excitement 😁 💜
Proofs of
@JoWallaceAuthor
’s hilarious dark thriller
#TheDeadFriendProject
have landed!
Beth is trying to schedule time to solve a murder, between the school run, baby group and keeping the shreds of her sanity together.
Crime authors everywhere, watch your letterboxes 🍷 🍷
Trying to remain composed because apparently - according to my teenagers - I’ve become ‘even louder and more embarrassing than usual’ but sod it, HARRIET TYCE LIKES MY BOOK!! 🥳🥳🥳Thank you so much Harriet 💚😁
I loved this. Some of my favourite themes (issues with booze, school gate dramas) brought together in a tragi-comic banger with some pitch-perfect passive aggression. Thanks for sending
@mirandajewess
and congrats
@JoWallaceAuthor
Thank you so much
@ViperBooks
for organising such a brilliant launch! An evening probably best summed up by my youngest son on the train home who said, ‘I didn’t know bookshops could be so much fun!’ Thank you to everyone who was there - I loved every moment 😊
For the third week in a row, Claire and her hammer have been in the top 20
@USATODAY
list of best-selling books!! Not bad for a part-time serial killer who just wants to be left alone … if only people would stop annoying her!! 🔨 Thank you everyone who has read my book 🙏💚💚
There’s a lot going on in the book aisle
@asda
and if you were just in the Watford branch you may have heard me shouting, ‘Look! THERE’S MY BOOK!’ 🥳‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is now available in Asda along with
@Kristen_Perrin
@amytintera
and many more 🥳😁
My US copy has arrived and I couldn’t be happier! Thank you so much
@JeramieOrton
and
@PenguinBooks
😊 Seeing my US and UK copies side by side is a dream come true 💜💚🔨🔨
Wow!! ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is on Amazon’s list of best debuts of the year so far! 🔨🥳🔨🥳🔨🥳🔨🥳
Who would have thought that a grieving serial killer with a hammer would ever find herself in such great company??
Thank you!! 💚💚💚💚
Challenging everything I thought I knew, this twisty page turner by
@DanMalakin
is brilliant. Such an intricate, spectacularly clever plot littered with characters I care about beyond the last page … this is not to be missed. ‘The Wreckage of Us’ - out in June 2024
@ViperBooks
I’m excited, the dog’s excited … the US galley of my book has just arrived and it’s green and gorgeous!! Thank you
@JeramieOrton
and
@PenguinBooks
💚 I can’t wait for readers across the Atlantic to meet part-time serial killer Claire. She’ll be arriving in April 2024 🔨😁🔨
I’m not in the US to see displays of my book in
@BNBuzz
stores but people have kindly started sending me photos and I LOVE them 💚 Please keep them coming 🙏 Oh, and despite the adorable model in the first pic, please note - this book is NOT for children!! 😳🔨🔨😁
MOTHERLAND MEETS MURDER!!
It’s just 2 months to go until THE DEAD FRIEND PROJECT is published! 🥳🥳 When the perfect mums at the school gates are suspects, will you guess the killer? 🔍👀
Thank you
@ViperBooks
for this brilliant animation 👏👏👏🍷💚
I was flicking through
@womanandhome
magazine earlier to show my family what they’d written about ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ when I saw ‘The Dead Friend Project’ is in there too!! It’s the closest I’ve ever come to impressing my teenagers 😁 Thank you
@womanandhome
💜🔨🍷💚
When a group of old university friends congregate in a remote mansion, you know it’s going to be good! Beautifully written and teeming with intrigue, this wonderful whodunnit by
@OskarCoxJensen
had me hooked from the first page and guessing until the last. Out January 2024 🔍👀
In my new book ‘The Dead Friend Project’ (out in July 🥳) there is a wonderful Labrador called Wilfred, based on my wonderful Labrador, Wilfred. So, it only seemed right to get a photo of him with my book, which I just did!! Despite the best efforts of a photobombing puppy 🤣🐾
Chatting about situations that make us feel murderous and leaving with a hammer bookmark - my perfect Saturday afternoon! Thank you for having me Chalfont St Peter library
@StPeterVillage
and everyone who came along 💜🔨💜😁
When I was writing my book, never in a million years did I think it would one day end up on a table in a bookshop with these magnificent books!! 🤩🤩 Thank you
@WaterstonesWest
for totally making my day 💜🔨💜
I’m loving the selfies and thumbs up with the tube posters for my book! (Thank you Liz and
@JackJordanBooks
🙏) Please keep the photos coming! Hanging out with Magic Mike at Embankment 🤩
I’m so grateful to everyone who has read my book so far 🙏 and now she’s out in paperback, I hope new readers will enjoy meeting part-time serial killer Claire because she’s really not that bad … just don’t annoy her … or push in front of her in a queue 😬🔨🔨🔨
I’ve always wanted to go to Boston and look! My book has beaten me to it! Here it is at Boston airport 😁 Thank you so much to all the wonderful booksellers and readers for sending me photos of my book out in the world, please keep them coming 🙏💚💚
#1
Most Gifted in Ghost Horror AND Parodies & Satires!! Thank you so much to everyone who has bought my book (yesterday it sold out at
#TheakstonsCrime
🥳🙏🥳) - I really hope you enjoy meeting part-time serial killer Claire, because she can’t wait to meet you! 💜🔨💜
Sharing the spectacular US cover 🤩 with some exciting news … Barnes & Noble Rewards and Premium Members get 25% off all pre-orders from Sep 6 - 8! Premium Members get an additional 10% off 🥳 So, what are you waiting for? Pre-order your copy of
#BetterAsAGhost
today 🔨😊🔨
The magic of Harrogate ✨Books reappearing just when you need them!! Thank you so much Sarah - I wish I’d met up with you but hopefully we’ll be at the same event sometime soon 🤞 Hope you enjoy getting hammered with part-time serial killer Claire 🔨🔨😁
@elizabethfazal
@JoWallaceAuthor
Ah I would have loved to have met you Jo, you were so funny and charming on your panel that I knew I needed to read your book but they were sold out and a few of us searched
@ImaginedThings
and couldn't find it and just before I left I went back and ONE MIRACULOUSLY APPEARED!
What is happiness? The sun on your face … a random act of kindness … the smell of fresh coffee … finding a bargain in the sales … laughing so hard it hurts … and PURPLE SPRAYED EDGES!! I am in love with this beautiful Indies exclusive edition 🔨💜🔨 thank you
@ViperBooks
❤️💜 EXCLUSIVE EDITION 💜❤️
Take a look at our stunning Indies exclusive sprayed-edge paperback of
#YoudLookBetterBetterAsAGhost
by
@JoWallaceAuthor
!
You can get your hands on this beauty at independent bookshops across the country from 11th April 👻
It’s only two weeks until my new book, ‘The Dead Friend Project’ is published by
@ViperBooks
and it’s available to preorder now! If you want to find out more about it, watch this …. 🍷😁
Welcome to the Mind Palace! I am so thrilled and excited to be appearing at Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival!
#TheakstonsCrime
I loved my time
@HarrogateFest
last year and can’t wait to be back there again 😁
Me and my book in a very Christmassy
@WaterstonesPicc
🎄 Thank you lovely bookseller Jamie for being so welcoming, letting me sign copies, giving my books special stickers and totally making my day 😁
THE CRIME FICTION LOVER AWARDS 2023 🏆
Our sixth shortlist is for Best Author and it's now live on the site. It was nominated by readers, and now you can vote on one of six authors for the big prize.
Congrats to all shortlisted!
I’ve always loved libraries and last night I got to meet the most amazing librarians and audience at Bushey. Thank you so much for having me and for creating such a warm, welcoming space … even when talking about a hammer-wielding maniac, none of the joy dimmed 😊🔨
‘Before I Go to Sleep’ is one of my favourite books of all time, written by one of my favourite authors. And this post by S J Watson - with v cute dog - is one of my favourite tweets of all time! Thank you for reading my book, hope you enjoy the second half 🤞 & get well soon 😊
If you’re not reading ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ by
@JoWallaceAuthor
what are you even doing? Less than half way through but it’s on track to be my book of the year. Sick and funny. (Just like me right now 😂)
It's under a month to go until we publish the paperback of
#YoudLookBetterAsAGhost
! To celebrate,
@JoWallaceAuthor
has put together a
@bookshop_org_UK
shelf of her favourite books featuring anti-heroes you can't help but love ❤️💜👻
Check it out:
ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO until we publish the award-winning, fan-favourite
#YoudLookBetterAsAGhost
by
@JoWallaceAuthor
in paperback ❤️💜
You do NOT want to get on the wrong side of our protagonist Claire, and you do NOT want to miss this darkly funny debut 🔨
For a bunch of people who like writing about murder, the crime authors I’ve met over the last year or so are some of the most thoughtful, kind and supportive folk on earth! Thank you
@writerjac
for these lovely words - thrilled you enjoyed it 🍷💚
Raced through this corker by
@JoWallaceAuthor
- funny, dark and compelling, Beth’s not giving up on her dead friend - for anything! Grab a copy when you can. Loved it.
@ViperBooks
Put your paw up if you think it’s always the husband … This beautiful proof of ‘The Wreckage of Us’ by the brilliant Dan Malakin arrived today and I’m already hooked!! Thank you
@ViperBooks
and
@DanMalakin
- this is superb 👏👏👏
Tapping into the trauma of school runs,
@JoWallaceAuthor
has skillfully weaved tragedy and dark comedy together to create a story that makes you laugh, makes you cry and makes you want to kill most of the PTA mums. Brilliant!
#TheDeadFriendProject
@ViperBooks
Such fun celebrating the publication of
#TheWreckageOfUs
! Congratulations
@danmalakin
👏👏👏👏 brilliant book, brilliant speech, brilliant people, nice crisps, fab night 🥳🥳🥳
Sending a new book out is as scary as hearing the Jaws theme tune whilst going for a little swim 😬 But posts like this make me more confident about getting back into the water. Thank you
@LeonoraNattrass
- you total legend 😘
Only a week to go until ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ is published in the US and Canada and I’m absolutely thrilled to see it appearing on this incredible list! 🔨🤩🔨
Not long now until Claire makes her entrance... 🔨
Dexter meets Killing Eve in this superb thriller by
@JoWallaceAuthor
.
Pre-order
#YoudLookBetterAsAGhost
, out 21st September 👉🏽
You’d Look Better as a Ghost (face) 👻👻👻 I LOVE
@MCMComicCon
- seriously, why have I never been here before?? It’s fabulous and probably the most fun you can have legally. My new favourite place 🤩
Just finished “You’d Look Better as a Ghost” … now I mean I could not put this book down I BINGED! To the point I was up till 8am one morning reading it! Absolutely amazing! Can’t wait to read more by
@JoWallaceAuthor
🤍
Seeing ‘You’d Look Better as A Ghost’ shortlisted with these fabulous books is a dream come true! Thank you
@CriFiLover
and everyone who has voted so far. There’s still time to choose your winner! 🤞🔨🤞🔨😁
Vote on the Best Debut crime novel of 2023! 🏆
Today we're taking a look at the six books nominated by readers in the Best Debut category of our annual awards.
Which will you choose?
If you're in the mood for a proper murder mystery 🔎, lurking among the spilled wine, gossip and scraped knees of urban domesticity, put The Dead Friend Project on your list. It's out Thursday from
@JoWallaceAuthor
and
@ViperBooks
and we're tipping it.
What a Halloween treat! Just seeing ‘You’d Look Better as a Ghost’ in this incredible line up is overwhelming … but to be chosen as book of the month?? Thank you
@FeatzR
for making my day 😊💜 Happy Halloween 👻👻
That's a wrap!
October is done and dusted. We added 12 new reviews to the blog this month - what have you been reading?
Visit the blog for the Featz October in a Nutshell and my
#bookofthemonth
is.....
Had so much fun
@LedburyBooks
last night, I forgot to take any photos but here I am the next morning with the fabulous Charlotte Philby 🤩 Thank you so much
@sarah_hilary
and Lindsay for organising and for everyone who turned up - it was brilliant to meet you all xx
A baby scan photo posted through the letterbox … a troubling new girl at work. Coincidence? Or a warning of something sinister about to unfold? This is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery by
@AlisonStockham
- weaving its way through secrets, paranoia and fear 👏👏
If you ever get the chance to take part in a live Murdle - do it!! So much fun 🥳🥳Thank you
@CrimeFest
and
#Murdle
for letting me be a murder suspect with
@DanMalakin
@KaaronWarren
and congratulations to all the detectives who guessed which one of us was the killer 🔍😁😁
Murder on a gridlocked motorway! (Traffic) jam packed with mystery, humour, unforgettable characters and a killer who could be sitting in the car next to yours, there are plenty of twists and turns on this stretch of road! Page-turning brilliance
@Jo_Furniss
👏👏 out July 2024
After 3 failed surgeries and the removal of his entire hip, my brilliant dog is finally back in his favourite park - a place I never thought he’d see again. And through it all, his tail never stopped wagging and he never came close to giving up. Such a happy day!
#dogsarefamily