Rick Treon has signed a contract with Fawkes Press to publish two novels in a new upmarket thriller series, according to Treon and Publisher Jodi Thompson.

The first novel, titled Let the Guilty Pay, is scheduled for release in July 2020. Fawkes Press also purchased the world English rights to a second book in the series.

The two-book deal was announced Wednesday in premier trade publication Publishers Marketplace. Exact financial details were not disclosed, though the price range listed in the announcement indicates it is worth up to $49,000.

“I’m thrilled to be working with the team at Fawkes Press, not only to publish Let the Guilty Pay but to develop a series around these characters,” said Treon, a former editor at the Amarillo Globe-News and a 2004 graduate of West Texas High School in Stinnett.

According to the announcement, Let the Guilty Pay is about “a struggling crime writer working the oilfields of Texas (who) discovers the power of truth and the price of redemption when he is linked to two brutal murders decades apart.”

The novel’s original manuscript — under the working title Helpers — was named a thriller finalist for the Writers’ League of Texas 2019 Manuscript Contest.

Treon is a member of the Texas High Plains Writers and the International Thriller Writers, which in July honored him as a member of the organization’s 2018-2019 debut authors class at ThrillerFest XIV in New York.

Treon is one of four local authors scheduled to sign books and participate in panel discussions at the Hub City Comic Convention in Lubbock, which begins Aug. 23 and runs through Aug. 25 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Other Amarillo authors scheduled to participate include bestselling young adult fantasy author A.G. Howard, young adult author Libbi Duncan, and thriller author Andrew J. Brandt.

Treon will also be participating at Bouchercon 2019 from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in Dallas. Bouchercon is the World Mystery Convention where two of the top honors in mystery writing, the Anthony and Shamus awards, are presented.

Let the Guilty Pay will be Treon’s second novel when it is released next year. His first, Deep Background, was published in December 2018 by Black Rose Writing and is available in paperback, e-book and audiobook.

Fawkes Press is based in Fort Worth. Its nonfiction title, Spoiler Alert: You’re Gonna Die, was a silver-medal winner at the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards, commonly known as the IPPY Awards.

Digital and print Advance Reading Copies of Let the Guilty Pay will be made available for media and reviewers at a later date. For more information and to request ARCs, contact me or Fawkes Press at fawkespress.com/contact-us.