‘I always love being part of Murder One – it has rapidly become an important fixture in the literary calendar for anyone connected to the crime and thriller genre. I also enjoy the fact it takes place in a library – it is impossible NOT to quietly look for a body, a dagger and a rapidly disappearing Colonel Mustard’ SIMON TREWIN – Literary Agent
We were thrilled with the success this year of Murder One Fest 2023, which was brought to you with the invaluable support of DLR Libraries. Back in it’s weekend format, October 6th-8th, we welcomed a host of Irish and international authors. We were delighted to have the wonderful Bob Johnston of The Gutter Bookshop on hand supplying everyone with books from both new, and already favourite, authors. Also a big thank you to Paul Sherwood Photography for all the fantastic photos which really capture the spirit of the festival.
Crime is one of the biggest-selling genres in the book business and Ireland boasts some of the world’s top crime writers. The festival showcased the cream of Irish crime writing talent with Tana French, Jane Casey, Colin Walsh, Catherine Ryan Howard, Steve Cavanagh, Andrea Mara, Sam Blake, and Catherine Kirwan among those appearing on a range of solo events and hot-topic panels.
UK visitors included the hugely popular, Sophie Hannah, 2023 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, Tom Benn,Alice Feeney, author of the phenomenally successful Daisy Darker, plus cosy crime specialist, British Book Awards winner Janice Hallett, and highly praised debutante, Alice Bell.
Once a name synonymous with breaking news of high-profile crime cases, Dr Marie Cassidy has turned her hand to crime fiction and she discussed her debut novel, Body of Truth, in conversation with bestselling crime writer, Liz Nugent.
True crime fans were entertained by award-winning political journalist, Harry McGee whose book, The Murderer and the Taoiseach, retraces the extraordinary happenings in Dublin’s notorious Malcolm Macarthur murder case.
Wherever your tastes in the crime genre lie, we hope you were gripped by the plot of Murder One this year.
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Murder One is run by crime author Sam Blake and festival director Bert Wright.
Earlier in the year we kicked off 2023 with international blockbuster Harlan Coben on 21st March at the Lexicon Library in Dun Laoghaire which was an amazing event.
On March 26th we had an exciting evening at The Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire with Liz Nugentgiving us all a wonderful opportunity to get right inside the head of Strange Sally Diamond!
And on 20th June we were back at the Lexicon Library for a fantastic evening of crime with international bestseller Karin Slaughter.
‘MURDER ONE has established a huge following among Irish crime fans in a short space of time and in a country that boasts so many successful crime writers, it’s a joy to get fans and writers together on an annual basis in an ideal location like Dun Laoghaire.’ – Bert Wright
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“Literary festivals, writing festivals, readers’ festivals … however you wish to call an
event that brings readers and writers together … are magical spaces where magical things happen.
Being at Murder One has reminded me of that.” – Amy Gaffney
Running from 6th-8th October 2023, Murder One was thrilled to be supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Libraries again this year with a gripping programme for all.
Wherever your tastes in the crime genre lie, we hope you were gripped by the plot of Murder One as it unfolded across three days at Dun Laoghaire’s stunning LexIcon Library and Cultural Centre.
“Murder One is supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Libraries and that library connection is true synergy for us – bringing new authors to new readers and new readers to authors is at the heart of both the festival and the library’s mission.” – Sam Blake
FRIDAY 6TH OCTOBER
Not Just Crime – Meet the Editors
Three top Irish editors, Deirdre Nolan, Sarah Liddy and Ciara Dooley, who publish both fiction and nonfiction, discussed their submission process and what they were looking for with Sam Blake.
Deirdre Nolan heads up Bonnier Books Irish imprint Ériu, Sarah Liddy is a non fiction editor with Gill Books and Ciara Doorley is publishing director at Hachette Ireland.
Not Just Crime – Meet the Agents
Two top agents, Polly Nolan and Simon Trewin, revealed what they are looking for in a book. Sam Blake asked them for their tips for your submission package and how to impress an agent, plus the common mistakes they see every day.
The Body of Truth: Marie Cassidy in conversation with Liz Nugent
Dr Marie Cassidy discussed her debut thriller with bestselling crime writer, Liz Nugent. Dr Cassidy served as Ireland’s State Pathologist from 2004 until 2018, her image synonymous with breaking news of high-profile cases. In 2020’s Beyond the Tape: The Life and Many Deaths of a State Pathologist, she described the intricate processes central to solving modern crime. Now retired, she turns her hand to crime fiction with her debut novel Body of Truth.
SATURDAY 7TH OCTOBER
The Murderer and the Taoiseach:
Harry McGee in conversation with Breda Brown
Award-winning political journalist, Harry McGee retraced the happenings of the long hot summer of 1982 and the ramifications of the notorious Malcolm Macarthur murder case with Breda Brown. From the cat-and-mouse game to track down an unpredictable killer to Macarthur’s extraordinary capture, he considers both the life and psyche of a murderer, and that of the leading political figure of the time – a man similarly driven by greed, status and a sense of himself as existing above the law. True crime doesn’t come much more local than this!
Three talented crime writers, Kitty Murphy, Gill Perdue and Casey King, introduced by Sam Blake, had 10 minutes each to hook the audience as they discussed and read their work !
New Blood:
Meet Debut Authors Disha Bose, Alice Bell & Michelle McDonagh
Sam Blake quizzed three very different debut authors — Disha Bose, Alice Bell, and Michelle McDonagh — on the game-changing factors that transformed their writing lives and set in motion the transition from aspiring writers to published authors in 2023.
Three talented crime writers, Joe Joyce, Gaye Maguire and Claire Coughlan, introduced by Sam Blake, had 10 minutes each to hook the audience as they discussed and read their work !
Secrets and Suspense: Alice Feeney, Janice Hallett and Sam Blake talk to Karen Perry
Author Karen Perry talked secrets and suspense with bestsellers Alice Feeney, British Book Awards winner Janice Hallett and Sam Blake. These three authors discussed story ideas, what draws a reader in, how they keep readers guessing and how they keep the surprises coming.
French Connections:
Tana French in conversation with Karen Perry
Tana French is universally acknowledged as one of the most highly skilled crime writers currently working in the genre. Her Dublin Murder Squad novels have won a slew of awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction on two occasions. A rare participant on the festival circuit – Tana French discussed her work and career with close friend Karen Perry.
SUNDAY 8TH OCTOBER
Genre and Beyond:
Tom Benn, Liz Nugent and Colin Walsh in conversation with Amanda Cassidy
Genre is often not much more than a convenient descriptor for the benefit of publishers and critics. Writers have stronger views on the limitations of genre which they find inhibiting and artificial. Tom Benn, recently anointed Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year for 2023 has said “genre is a moral, disruptive living thing, forever evolving and trading with its neighbours to better innovate and interrogate.” Liz Nugent has said she owes “no particular allegiance to any genre.” Colin Walsh’s debut thriller, Kala, has shot into the bestseller list and has been described as more literary than thriller. These three fiercely independent writers discussed the question of genre with Amanda Cassidy in what was truly an enlightening experience.
Complicit: Winnie M Li in conversation with Remie Michelle Clarke
This event was was run in association with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
Winnie M Li’s critically acclaimed Complicit is, as the Guardian describes, ‘a visceral and timely story about the men – and women – who turn a blind eye to systemic exploitation in the film industry.’ Li has much in common with her character Sarah Lai – she is the daughter of east Asian immigrants, an Ivy League graduate and former film producer, and as a sexual assault survivor, Li brings a deep understanding of her character’s world to this landmark novel.
‘Li’s novel is a way of acknowledging the women whose stories have been heard, and those who haven’t.’ The Guardian.
Winnie M Li discussed Complicit, her own experiences of the film industry and #MeToo with Dublin Rape Crisis champion and crisis counsellor, author Remie Michelle Clarke. Find out more about the work of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre here.
Support for anyone affected:
If you have been affected by issues raised here or have been subjected to sexual violence at any time, you can contact the 24-hour National Helpline 1800 778888 for free, confidential support. Dublin Rape Crisis Centre also offers crisis counselling via a free webchat support service at www.drcc.ie
Inspired by Real Life: Catherine Ryan Howard, Andrea Mara and Catherine Kirwan
with Martin Doyle
Three of Ireland’s favourite bestselling authors, Catherine Ryan Howard, Andrea Mara and Catherine Kirwan, in conversation with Martin Doyle, discussed how true-life events and locations inspired their latest fiction. Howard’s The Trap was inspired by a series of still-unsolved disappearances; Mara’s No One Saw a Thing is based on a real- life event that happened to her and her sister in childhood; Kirwan’s A Lesson in Malice is set in her alma mater, UCC. Is real life stranger than fiction or vice versa?
On the Shoulders of Giants: Christie, Highsmith & Sayers
Three of our greatest contemporary crime writers, in conversation with Andrea Carter, discussed their latest books and how some of the great crime writers have influenced their work. Commissioned by the Christie estate to continue Poirot’s legacy, Sophie Hannah has been called “Christie’s heir.” Steve Cavanagh has cited Patricia Highsmith as an increasing influence on his work and his latest book Kill for Me Kill for You brings the theme in Strangers on a Train bang up to date. Jane Casey is a huge fan of Dorothy L Sayers and her recent novel The Close delivers a modern locked room thriller to the page, complete with a broad cast of characters with interwoven secrets. It was fascinating to discover what brings today’s authors back to the classics in what was a truly insightful discussion!
Murder One is thrilled to welcome International No 1 bestselling author Karin Slaughter back to Ireland in what will be a gripping event focused on her new book After That Night, which features the return of GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton in their 11th electrifying thriller.
Fifteen years ago, Sara Linton’s life changed forever when a celebratory night out ended in a violent attack that tore her world apart. Since then, Sara has remade her life. A successful doctor, engaged to a man she loves, she has finally managed to leave the past behind her.
Until one evening, on call in the ER, everything changes. Sara battles to save a broken young woman who’s been brutally attacked. But as the investigation progresses, led by GBI Special Agent Will Trent, it becomes clear that Dani Cooper’s assault is uncannily linked to Sara’s. And it seems the past isn’t going to stay buried forever …
Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her 20 novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and the instant Sunday Times bestselling novels Pretty Girls, Pieces of Her, and The Good Daughter. Pieces of Her is now a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette, and the Will Trent adaptation recently aired in the US.
Karin is passionate, no-nonsense, provocative and one of crime fiction’s most articulate ambassadors. She will be chatting to journalist and crime writer Edel Coffey in an evening that you cannot miss.
Karin Slaughter in Conversation with Edel Coffey, Tuesday 20th June 8pm LexIcon Level 4, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
‘Murder One has rapidly become a vital cornerstone of the literary calendar and the energy and excitement generated by their calendar of online and offline events mean it would be criminal to miss it!’
SIMON TREWIN – Literary Agent
We were absolutely thrilled with the success of Murder One ’22, brought to you last year with the invaluable support of The Arts Council and DLR Libraries. We welcomed a host of Irish and international authors and live streamed the majority of our events for an online audience who were able to interact with our guests via social media.
Our 2023 festival cannot be recorded due to budget restrictions, but we hope to repeat our online offering in 2024. Find out about our exciting 2023 programme here!
Come upstairs to the stunning banquet hall and visit:
Speakers Corner
Relax with a coffee and listen to our invited authors read gripping installments from their latest books at Murder One’s own Speakers Corner – readings are free and no booking is required, come and soak up the Murder One atmosphere in one of the most beautiful settings in the city….
Visit Dee Kelly and Matteo Griscti @ Grálinn for tea, coffee and freshly made sandwiches. Listen to our readers in Speakers Corner as you relax and decide which events you’d like to visit or books you’d like to read, mingle with our authors as they grab their own coffee between events.
Bob Johnston and the Gutter Bookshop Team will have all our authors books upstairs in the festival bookshop. Authors will be signing in the Banquet Hall after each event – if you aren’t able to attend an event there will be lots of signed copies available, just ask one of our booksellers and solve all your Christmas gift problems in one spot!
The Murder One Tarot: Cross their palms with gold and the Murder One Witches – authors Sarah Maria Griffin and Deirdre Sullivan – will shuffle their cards and read your fortune. Readings from €5.00. Funds raised will go to Rape Crisis. Open 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm Saturday and Sunday. They will also be available to sign, so pick up your copies of Other Words for Smoke and Perfectly Preventable Deaths in the bookshop!
At It Again will be bringing their original designs and literary ephemera, cards, notebooks and prints!
Murder One, a three-day long weekend crime writing festival that launched in November 2018 was jam packed with interviews with Irish and international authors, panel events, and a free speakers corner where attendees could listen to readings from some of Ireland’s newest crime writers. Murder One featured all aspects of the genre from thrillers and spy fiction, to police procedural and supernatural, cosy mysteries to psychological suspense with more coming for 2019 – we have something for everyone.
Michael Connelly has a full house when he discussed DARK SACRED NIGHT with Declan Burke. All our fabulous authors received a hand numbered and printed limited edition Oscar Wilde quote to remind them of their visit to Dublin, UNESCO City of Literature.
Michael Connelly opened the inaugural Murder One International Crime Writing Festival with a special preview event on October 28 2018, discussing his latest book Dark Sacred Night with crime writer and Dublin City of Literature writer in residence Declan Burke.
Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of twenty-eight novels and one work of nonfiction. With over sixty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into thirty-nine foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today.
A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. In Dark Sacred Night Renée Ballard is working the night beat again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out, but then checks into the case herself and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.
Bosch is investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.
The main programme took place in Smock Alley Theatre, one of Dublin’s premier event venues, from 2nd – 4th November. Featured over the weekend were a stellar cast of crime and thriller writers including Lynda La Plante, Peter James, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Clare Mackintosh, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, Mick Herron and Robert Goddard together with many of your favourite Irish crime writers including Liz Nugent, Jane Casey, Karen Perry and many more.
Lynda La Plante discusses Murder Mile and the Widows Movie with Niamh O’Connor
International bestselling & award winning author, Lynda La Plante, whose TV dramas from Prime Suspect to Trial & Retribution have kept viewers on the edge of their seats, discussed her criminal passions and her latest novel, Murder Mile, with Niamh O’Connor. As Widows, the movie inspired by Lynda’s hit TV series is released, does print still pull her back and how does she keep those ideas coming?
Lynda La Plante was born in Liverpool. She trained for the stage at RADA and worked with the National Theatre and RDC before becoming a television actress. She then turned to writing – and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful TV series WIDOWS, that has been adapted for film this year. Directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by McQueen and Gillian Flynn WIDOWS features Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall and Liam Neeson, and is released by 20th Century Fox on November 16 2018.
In her latest book, Murder Mile, Prime Suspect meets Ashes to Ashes as we see Jane Tennison starting out on her police career . The fourth in the bestselling Jane Tennison series, Murder Mile is set at the height of the ‘Winter of Discontent’ in February 1979. Can Jane Tennison uncover a serial killer?
Lynda La Plante also brought festival attendees a unique free workshop for anyone interested in the world of forensics or Crime Scene Investigation. This interactive event is hosted by Think Forensic whose experts include CSI’s, forensic scientists, and senior investigating officers. In Lynda La Plante’s CSI Murder Room, vistors got a hands on introduction to forensic science during which you will be briefed on the crime of the day, inspired by Lynda’s newest thriller Murder Mile, and help the team solve it. Signed hardbacks are available at The Gutter Bookshop – get in touch to order yours!
The legendary Val McDermid talks maggots and methods of murder with Niamh O’Connor
Murder One has been developed and is curated by two of Ireland’s most experienced literary event programmers, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin of Writing.ie (aka crime writer Sam Blake) and Bert Wright formerly of Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival and currently curator of The Dublin Festival of History and the DLR Voices Series. Working with Dublin City Libraries, Dublin City Events, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, this sensational festival attracted engaged crowds to see some of the biggest names in international crime writing.
We’re planning the 2019 festival now – sign up so you don’t miss our news.
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Catherine Ryan Howard quizzes Anthony J Quinn, Karen Perry and WC Ryan.
Jeffery Deaver is the No.1 international bestselling author of more than thirty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
He’s received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world. A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, he was born outside of Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.
Deaver’s stunning new thriller, The Never Game, the first in an exciting series featuring enigmatic investigator Colter Shaw is out on 16th May. Join Jeffery Deaver on 24th May at 7.30pm in Dublin’s stunning City Hall where he will be in conversation with Declan Burke
The Never Game is a gripping page-turner that in true Deaver style will keep you awake all night:
The killer is changing the rules. One murder at a time . . .
You wake up all alone, in the middle of a forest, miles from anywhere.
Beside you lie five objects – a lighter, grease, picture-frame wire, a piece of silk, a bottle of water – which you will need to use if you want to survive.
You’ve been taken by the Whispering Man and there is no escape. He makes the rules and nobody ever gets out alive.
Enigmatic investigator Colter Shaw is fighting to stop the murders. But another victim has been snatched from her family and he’s running out of time.
In the darkest corner of Silicon Valley, a new breed of killer is emerging: someone with a deadly obsession, whose twisted game is spiralling out of control.
‘The Never Game is the very definition of a page-turner’ IAN RANKIN
‘Masterful storytelling — The Never Game is Deaver’s most riveting, most twisty, most unputdownable novel yet.’ KARIN SLAUGHTER
‘As always, Deaver gets you in his stealthy grip on page one, and then takes you on a wild and inventive ride …this time with new star character Colter Shaw. No one in the world does this kind of thing better than Deaver’ LEE CHILD
‘Jeffery Deaver scores yet again with a fascinating new detective, Colter Shaw, and a plot as full of thrills and twists and turns as you would expect from him. With The Never Game you know you are in the hands of a master. But be warned—don’t start this too late in the evening because sleep would be an annoying interruption once you’ve started reading!’ PETER ROBINSON
James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He is the author of the acclaimed ‘LA Quartet’: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz. His novel Blood’s a Rover completes the magisterial ‘Underworld USA Trilogy’– the first two volumes of which (American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand) were both Sunday Times
bestsellers. His most recent novel, Perfidia, is the first instalment in Ellroy’s second ‘L.A.Quartet’.
Like Perfidia, the first volume, This Storm is populated with characters from
Ellroy’s previous novels – including arch villain Dudley Smith from L.A. Confidential – in a grand drama of L.A. This Storm is Ellroy’s first novel in five years, and only his fifth in the last twenty.
Jame Ellroy will be in conversation with Eoin McNamee in Dublin’s stunning City Hall, on Thursday 30th May at Midsummer Murder One From ‘one of the great American writers of our time’ (Los Angeles Times BookReview) – This Storm is a brilliant historical crime novel, a pulse-pounding, as-it-happens narrative that unfolds in Los Angeles and Mexico in the wake of Pearl Harbor.
January, ’42. L.A. reels behind the shock of Pearl Harbor. Local Japanese are rounded up and slammed behind bars. Massive thunderstorms hit the city. A body is unearthed in Griffith Park.
The cops tag it a routine dead-man job. They’re wrong. It’s an early-warning signal of Chaos. There’s a murderous fire and a gold heist, exploding out of the past. There’s Fifth Column treason – at this moment, on American soil. There are homegrown Nazis, commies and race racketeers. There’s two dead cops in a dive off the jazz-club strip. And three men and one woman have a hot date with History.
Elmer Jackson is a corrupt Vice cop. He’s a flesh peddler and a bagman for the L.A. Chief of Police. Hideo Ashida is a crime-lab whiz, lashed by anti-Japanese rage. Dudley Smith is a PD hardnose working Army Intelligence. He’s gone rogue and gone all-the-way fascist. Joan Conville was born rogue. She’s a defrocked Navy lieutenant and a war profiteer to
her core.
This Storm is James Ellroy’s most audacious novel yet. It is by turns savage, tender, elegiac. It lays bare and celebrates crazed Americans of all stripes.
‘There has never been a writer like James Ellroy.’ – Telegraph
‘The master of American crime fiction.’ – Sunday Times
‘There surely can’t be a more richly or brutally realised city in world literature than James Ellroy’s Los Angeles.’ – Independent on Sunday
Perfidia: ‘James Ellroy is back doing what he does best, weaving a tangle of tales set in wartime Los Angeles…I look forward, eagerly, to the next three instalments.’ – The Times
Lynda La Plante also brought festival attendees a unique free workshop for anyone interested in the world of forensics or Crime Scene Investigation. This interactive event is hosted by Think Forensic whose experts include CSI’s, forensic scientists, and senior investigating officers. In Lynda La Plante’s CSI Murder Room, vistors got a hands on introduction to forensic science during which you will be briefed on the crime of the day, inspired by Lynda’s newest thriller Murder Mile, and help the team solve it. Signed hardbacks are available at 
Find out more at