Long hot summer sales for top crime writers

The massive appeal of Scandinavian crime fiction is illustrated this week with Jo Nesbo’s new book, Police, soaring up the Kindle best-selling lists in the US and UK nearly two months before publication.

In the UK, the new Harry Hole thriller is at No 257 paid in the Kindle store despite being priced at a fairly hefty £13.06 while in the US the ebook is priced at $19.94 and is lurking at No 4,184.

Other top crime writers are also riding high before publication, with Lee Child’s latest Jack reacher novel, Never Go Back, scheduled for release on August 29. The £10.44 ebook is currently No 100 in the UK Kindle list and at No 954 in the US, priced at $15.94.

There’s a longer wait for Michael Connelly’s new book about defence lawyer Mickey Haller, with The Gods of Guilt set for publication on November 21. Pre-sales for the £9.99 ebook place it at 1,801 in the Kindle UK list and in the 32,000 rankings in the US ($15.25).