Swedish Debut Drawing Buyers
In the Mire by Swedish author Susanne Jansson has sold in several territories, including to publishers Cargo (Netherlands), C. Bertelsmann (Germany) and Aschehoug (Norway). Astri von Arbin Ahlander of the Ahlander Agency controls all rights to the title, which was originally published by Wahlstrom and Widstrand. The novel follows Nathalie, who travels to rural Sweden to conduct experiments in a mire for her biology thesis. After discovering a dead man in the mire one night, she begins searching for his killer.

Colombian Author Becomes Toast of LBF
Melba Escobar's The Beauty House, which HarperCollins UK's 4th Estate recently acquired world English rights to, has emerged as a hot book of the just-wrapped London Book Fair. Pontas Literary and Film Agency controls rights, and other deals have been made with, among other houses, Planeta (Latin America), Denoel (France) and Marsilio (Italy). The novel is about a beautician in Bogotá who becomes a key witness in the investigation into the murder of one of her clients. At press time, multiple offers were in on the book.

Taiwanese Novel Picks Up New Sales
My Enemy’s Cherry Tree by Wang Ting-Kuo recently sold, in a world English rights deal, to U.K. publisher Portobello. The novel, which follows the entangled history of two men--a cafe owner and his former mentor--also sold to Xander (Holland). As of press time, offers were in from publishers in Germany and Turkey. Gray Tan of the Grayhawk Agency controls rights to the book, which was originally published in Taiwan in September 2015. Because a full English translation of the book was not available when the title was released in Taiwan, Anne Meadows at Portobello acquired the novel having only read reports on it that she commissioned.

Italian Debut Novel Racks Up Sales
In June, Rizzoli (Italy) will publish The House of Burning Island by Emma Piazza, which has sold to Penguin Verlag (Germany), Fayard (France) and Sweden (Forum). Laura Ceccacci controls rights to the book, which follows a pregnant painter named Teresa who goes back to her home in Corsica to deal with mysteries concerning her family. Ceccacci called the book “the Mediterranean answer to The Girl on the Train.”