Publishing Perspectives: Which Country is the Next Big Thing in Crime Fiction?

Publishing Perspectives have put a question that seems to do the rounds every now and then - what country's fiction might rise up and become the next big thing internationally? It frames this within the statement: 'With Scandinavia’s crime fiction spree winding to a close.' I'm not really convinced that this is the case; it seems to be still doing just dandy. More a case of what crime fiction is going to eat further into the share of the UK and American markets. Of course, I'm biased, but I'd like to think that Irish crime fiction might be the one to rise to prominence.

As the comment by Declan Burke on the PP website makes clear, there are a healthy number of Irish authors publishing crime fiction set in Ireland or abroad - John Connolly, Tana French, Colin Bateman, Alex Barclay, Ken Bruen, Stuart Neville, Benjamin Black, Adrian McKinty, Arlene Hunt, Conor Fitzgerald, Eoin Colfer, Declan Hughes, Eoin McNamee, William Ryan, Brian McGilloway, Gene Kerrigan, Niamh O’Connor, Alan Glynn, Cora Harrison, Jane Casey, John J. Gaynard, Gerard Brennan, Casey Hill, Gerard O’Donovan, Kevin McCarthy, KT McCaffrey, Cormac Millar, Paul Charles, Sam Millar, Claire McGowan, Garbhan Downey, John Brady and Declan Burke himself. And good stuff it is too. Check it out, if you haven't already.

Other countries presently making their mark? In my view, Scotland, South Africa, Australia and Italy.