Crime thriller: Victoria Selman's Truly Darkly Deeply is a bestseller

The same day, See-Saw Films, the production company behind The Power of the Dog, The King's Speech, and Slow Horses optioned the book.

Now, out in paperback, it is a Richard and Judy Book Club pick with foreign rights deals signed around the globe.

Yet there was a time Selman feared she might never see her name in print.

"Getting published is an emotional Ferris wheel," says the West Hampstead resident.

"And the first step on the ride is securing an agent - which can be even more difficult. To land one you need a track record but to acquire that track record, you need an agent. It’s the ultimate Catch 22."

To square the un-squarable circle, she started writing short stories which were picked up by various magazines and newspapers - including the Ham & High which provided her first literary credit.

"A year on, I wrote a novel and, full of vim, fired off emails to prospective agents. I remember the giddy feeling of opening my first response only to find it was a rejection. And the succession of big fat 'no's that went on to flood my inbox."

But she kept going, refusing to give up. She tweaked her pages. Worked on increasing pace and tension. Every time an agent gave her a nugget of advice, she took it.

"I guess I just don’t like being told, 'no'," she says.

And then, one afternoon, she got a call. An agent liked her work and wanted to take her on.

She wrote a critically acclaimed crime series, was shortlisted for two prestigious awards. Then fast forward to 2022 and that ferris wheel started cranking up in ways she could never have imagined.

She’d just finished writing the book, that would become Truly Darkly Deeply. Her first standalone. A novel which explores a serial killer’s legacy through the eyes of his daughter.

"Much has been written from the perspective of the serial killer’s wife, but it struck me that very little has been penned from the viewpoint of a child. I wanted to explore that relationship and its legacy without in any way celebrating ‘the killer’ whilst also as looking at what it means to be a monster - and to love one."

Described as ‘unputdownable’ by Patricia Cornwell and ‘the pinnacle of suspense fiction’ by Jeffery Deaver, it tells the story of twelve-year-old Sophie who moves from America to Hampstead with her mother, Amelia-Rose. There they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives.

But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose. When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murder, questions remain as to his guilt - questions which ultimately destroy both women.

Now twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like she might finally get the answers she craves.

But will the truth set her free?

Although rooted in true crime like Selman's series fiction, she says it was very different to anything she'd written before.

So, although her agent was excited about it, she was mentally preparing for another “no” from the publishers. She was also preparing for a long wait since it can take months to get a response when you’re out on submission.

Except she didn’t wait months. She didn’t even have to wait a day!

Less than twenty-four hours after sending the manuscript out, her agent rang with the news- Truly Darkly Deeply had been snapped up by a top publisher.

Victoria Selman's Truly Darkly Deeply is published by Quercus (Image: Quercus)

In July he rang back with some more news- 'Congratulations, Victoria. You’re a Sunday Times bestseller!'

"He had to say it twice before it sank in!

"My husband tells me I’m stubborn. I tell him, it’s just as well…"

Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman is published by Quercus and available in hardback, paperback and eBook.