Yet another installment of DealWatch ™

And oh looky, yet another forensic thriller written by a chick:

Dianne Emley’s CHAIN OF PEARLS, the first in a series featuring a Southern California homicide detective embroiled in a brutal case: a kinky husband and wife on a killing spree, pitched to "fans of Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs and Linda Fairstein," to Linda Marrow at Ballantine, for publication in spring 2006, by Robin Rue at Writers House (world).

Marrow figures in this next deal as well, proving that there simply aren’t enough Shaaras in the publishing world to go around:

Daughter of Michael Shaara and sister of Jeff Shaara and professor of anthropology at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Lila Shaara’s debut literary thriller about a former model turned college professor whose scarily obsessed students create a website of doctored photos from her previous career, and soon the danger they pose to her and her two young sons becomes shockingly real, to Linda Marrow at Ballantine, for publication beginning in spring 2006, in a two-book deal, by Loretta Barrett at Loretta Barrett Books (world).

Meanwhile, the forensic thing (as noted above) isn’t going away by a longshot. CSI? So passe. Now it’s all about cleanup:

Gil Reavill’s AFTERMATH: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home, a foray into the new field of bio-recovery (dial 877-TRAGEDY), in which the author will glove up, strap on a Tyvek suit, and work side-by-side with Aftermath technicians as he takes his readers on the journey of a crime writer who thought he could handle anything being confronted with the worst of everything, to Erin Moore at Gotham, at auction, by Byrd Leavell at Venture Literary (NA). UK rights are being handled by Ed Jaspers at Conville & Walsh.

What the deal doesn’t mention is that Reavill used to work as a ghostwriter for Al Goldstein (of Screw fame.) Finally, this cracks me up for no good reason:

UK Rights to Ellen Potters’ third book in the middle grade OLIVIA KIDNEY SERIES, about a twelve-year-old girl’s bizarre adventures through Upper West Side apartment buildings, and a new series, PISH POSH, to Macmillan UK, by Jennifer Weltz for Alice Tasman at the Jean V. Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, with Greene & Heaton. The first title OLIVIA KIDNEY has sold in six countries.

No, it’s not because the character’s name is Olivia Kidney. It’s that she’s traipsing through UWS apartments. Rejected titles included: Adventures in Prewar Buildings, How Much do I Tip the Doorman at the Holidays, and Rent Control is My Best Friend. Oh wait…