Elinor Davies

What I'm Looking For

I’m looking for commercial and upmarket fiction stories that will be either the next compulsive read or a cosy winter comfort book. The most important thing for me is a great hook. An addictive premise that can be summed up in just a few words but will stay in the reader’s mind so that they’re unable to stop talking about it.

I love a feminist crime thriller and I’m especially drawn to merciless narrators who we can’t help but love (even when they do bad things) like YOU’D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST, or characters that are so unpredictable we can’t guess their next move like DEATH OF A BOOKSELLER.

I’m also open to lighter crime reads and can’t get enough of crime capers with comedy at their heart like DIAL A FOR AUNTIES or any crime with a unique and original premise like THE THREE DAHLIAS or a high concept like FUTURE PERFECT or LA CASA DE PAPEL/MONEY HEIST.

In historical fiction, I’m looking for stories set from the Victorian era onwards, although I’m currently avoiding wartime fiction. I like anything that brings glitz and glamour like Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels or that uncovers a surprising true story; be that connected to the history of an event, a place, or the untold secrets of someone we think we already know so much about. I loved LOOKING FOR JANE for its relatability today and for highlighting how history repeats itself and the ripples that are felt through the generations. I also love to see authors’ imaginations run wild solving true mysteries from the past like THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR or MISS AUSTEN. It’s a thrill to see authors who research the depths of their subject and find inspiration in the most minute details to bring a new set of eyes to an era or an issue. I’m particularly drawn to the idea of something set in old Hollywood and around the silent-to-talkies movie era.

I adore a dose of magic in just about everything I read whether it comes in the form of spirituality, family, or love. I’m talking about magical realism rather than outright fantasy (although I have a soft spot for witchy books in the vein of THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES). If you have a story that offers a family or community setting with a big heart that dives into the vulnerability of humanity with an added magical twist a la Toshikazu Kawaguchi and Elizabeth Acevedo, I must read it! I’m also obsessed with all kinds of superstitions so do send anything based around this theme my way.

Nothing pleases me more than a novel that can transport me around the world and I’m really keen to find underrepresented voices that can teach me about their country and culture. I also read in both Welsh and Spanish so if you’re a writer of one of these languages wanting to adapt your writing for the English market within any of the genres mentioned above, I would be thrilled to read your work!