Ask The Agent — Stephanie Glencross

What does a crime-and-thriller-loving literary agent look for in her submissions?

This feature first appeared in the print version of Writing Magazine — December 2023.

Stephanie Glencross joined David Higham Associates in 2018. Previously, she was an editor at Gregory & Company and edited award-winning novelists like Val McDermid, Minette Walters, and Tan Twan Eng. Her list includes crime and thriller genres, like police procedurals, psychological thrillers, and courtroom dramas. She’s always on the lookout for novels that deliver a new twist on the way crime and thriller stories are told.

What is it about the crime and thriller genre that you enjoy so much?

“It provides many elements that appeal to me as a reader: firstly, a huge variety within the genre itself-it offers novels from spy/espionage to police procedurals to intricate, clever puzzling mysteries to domestic noir to psychological suspense to action thrillers… and increasingly to novels that don’t fit neatly in sub-genre boxes. Crime/thriller novels are often highly absorbing-creating a strong sense of escapism for readers.”

“Furthermore, they enable readers to place themselves in to a variety of ‘shoes’-and to work out how they would react in a hypothetical situation-whether as a potential victim, a potential detective or other…