They find her body in the veld near Cape Town, South Africa. A teenager. She's not the first. Recently widowed Detective Jan Magson has to look mothers and fathers in the eye. Has to answer their questions. He can't. He can't even answer his estranged son's questions about how his wife died. Alone with his pistol at night, a good man faces his inner darkness.

After obtaining degrees in Psychology and Criminology, Martin Steyn studied serial killers and profiling. Dark Traces is his first novel in English.

200 review copies (100 prepub, 100 postpub) sent to reviewers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, others. Available as an e-ARC on Edelweiss & Netgalley. 3-week, 15-blog blog tour with book giveaways. Goodreads and Library Thing giveaway. We will seek to host an author Q&A chat on Goodreads. We will seek out book clubs who are interested in the book and offer the chance to win a SKYPE visit with the author. Promotion at book fairs and trade shows. We will submit the book for relevant and applicable awards. In collaboration with the author, we will plan twitter chats, Facebook Live and Google Hangout videos, and videos to be released via youtube. Promotion online via Catalyst's website, email lists (in development) and social media (blog, twitter, facebook, instagram, and youtube) with author and publisher interviews, chats, and guest posts. Advance Review Copies in American Bookseller Association's White Box campaigns. Team up with Cinco Puntos to pair Martin Steyn with Lisa Sandlin in an interview promoted via Cinco Puntos' #pandulce series. Simultaneous e-book and print release.

About the Author
Martin Steyn began writing Stephen King-inspired horror stories in his teens. Given his interest in the darker recesses of human beings, it was probably unavoidable that he would become fascinated by serial killers. After obtaining degrees in Psychology and Criminology, he studied serial killers and profiling. He also wrote seven true crime articles for the Crime Library website. But the dream was always to write fiction, particularly realistic crime fiction. This led to much research into the South African Police Service and its forensic units. In 2014 Donker Spoor was published by LAPA Uitgewers, and was awarded the ATKV's "Woordveertjie" for Suspense Fiction the following year. In 2017 it will be published in English as Dark Traces. Steyn is the translator for Dark Traces. Steyn prefers to tell the story through the eyes of the detective, that individual with the extraordinary task of finding justice for those whose final chapter ends up being written in a murder docket.


Book Information
ISBN 9781946395016
Author Martin Steyn
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Catalyst Books
Publisher Catalyst Books