Murder One ‘It would have been criminal to miss it!’

‘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 FrenchJane 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.

Join our mailing list below and we’ll  be able to notify you first of future events so you don’t miss out!

Murder One is run by crime author Sam Blake and festival director Bert Wright.

Two black chairs on a stage with posters
©Paul Sherwood Photographer

 

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 Nugent giving 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.

Three faces looking at the camera

‘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

 

A stage
©Paul Sherwood Photographer 

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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

Watch Back: Murder One Online & Live Stream Events 2022

Murder in the Library: Online Only Events

Laura Lippman has been heralded as one of the great contemporary writers of crime fiction. Her slick, intelligent, socially-aware novels have won every mystery award, including the Edgar, Anthony and Agatha Awards. Her new short story collection, Seasonal Work, underscores her impressive versatility across the genre. A rare chance to hear a master discussing her work.

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s super-smart plotting caught the attention of a whole new audience when her novel, You Should Have Known, aired in an HBO adaptation entitled The Undoing starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman. In fact, she had already published six critically-acclaimed novels, among them taut legal thrillers that have earned her a devoted readership.

Live Events: SATURDAY 

Let’s Twist Again: Catherine Ryan Howard, Andrea Mara and Arlene Hunt with Paul McNeive

Three bestselling authors known for their incredible twists discuss where their ideas come from, how much they plan and how they keep readers on the edge of their seats. Catherine Ryan Howard’s Run Time, set against the backdrop of a dark and disturbing horror movie is the latest of her award winning, bestselling standalone thrillers. Andrea Mara’s Hide and Seek reveals neighbourhood secrets with her trademark sting in the tail where ‘even the twists have twists’ (Lee Child) and after a string of bestsellers Arlene Hunt returns with While She Sleeps: from the shaky glamour of Irish high society to the cold heart of two broken families, Detective Inspector Elliot Ryan must work against hidden forces to solve a murder where nothing is quite as it seems.

Chaired by Paul McNeive, motivational speaker and author of Poison Sky

 

On the Case: Steve Cavanagh in conversation with Breda Brown

The Sandman killings have been solved. Daniel Miller murdered fourteen people before he vanished. His wife, Carrie, now faces trial as his accomplice. But Eddie Flynn won’t take a case unless his client is innocent. Steve Cavanagh was born in Belfast, and for twenty years he practiced civil rights law. All of his novels have been nominated for major awards and many are international bestsellers. Steve Cavanagh is author uniquely positioned to bring us into the tension of the court room – Breda Brown gets to the heart of Steve’s brilliant new novel The Accomplice.

Breda Brown is a keen book reviewer, Chair of the Irish Writers Centre board and the voice behind the Inside Books podcast.

Your Worst Nightmare: Brian McGilloway, Claire Allan & Louise Phillips talk to Sam Blake

Brian McGilloway’s The Empty Room, Claire Allan’s The Nurse and Louise Phillips They All Lied, share a common theme in a daughter going missing, but the hunt for the truth is handled it in very different ways – each one as gripping as the next. Sam Blake steps inside a mother’s worst nightmare to find out what drives and inspires these three very different authors.

Sam Blake is the No 1 bestselling author of Remember My Name and founder of Murder One.

Grounds for Murder: Ann Cleeves in conversation with Breda Brown

Award-winning crime writer, Ann Cleeves, OBE, is the author of more than thirty-five critically- acclaimed novels.  In 2017, she was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger.  She is the creator of popular TV detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn.  The books and the TV series they are based on — Vera, Shetland and The Long Call –have captured the imagination of millions worldwide.

Breda Brown is a keen book reviewer, Chair of the Irish Writers Centre board and the voice behind the Inside Books podcast

Live Events: SUNDAY

A Criminal Past: Vaseem Khan, Sinéad Crowley, WC Ryan with Henrietta McKervey

From 1950’s Bombay in Vaseem Khan’s award winning Malabar House series, to 1920’s Ireland in WC Ryan’s The Winter Guest via Sinéad Crowley’s dual timeline thriller The Belladonna Maze, readers are fascinated by the sins of the past. But how do writers’ achieve that total immersion and bring all the elements of great story together with the rich colour of times long ago? Henrietta McKervey digs deep to uncover the answers from three bestselling authors.

Henrietta McKervey is the award winning writer of A Talented Man, and the programmer of Echoes, Ireland’s only literary festival with Maeve Binchy at its heart.

Inside The Family Remains: Lisa Jewell in conversation with Sam Blake

As Lisa Jewell’s 20th bestseller The Family Remains hit the shelves earlier this year, her process was laid bare in The Truth About Lisa Jewell written by Professor of Cultural History, Will Brooker.  Lisa discusses the secrets of her continued success and evolution as a writer, how The Family Remains developed, and what it’s really like to have a book written about you. In conversation with Sam Blake.

Sam Blake is the No 1 bestselling author of Remember My Name and founder of Murder One.

 

The Scales of Justice: Nadine Matheson, Edel Coffey and Catherine Kirwan with Andrea Carter

Ex criminal defence barrister Nadine Matheson’s bestselling debut The Jigsaw Man brought DI Angelica Henley to readers with a gruesome tale of found body parts, Edel Coffey’s Irish Times No 1 centres on a courtroom and the question of guilt, and solicitor Catherine Kirwan takes us inside Finn Fitzpatrick’s own legal office in a gripping tale of Cruel Deeds.  In conversation with Andrea Carter, this panel will dig deep into the universal fascination with crime and the law.

Andea Carter studied law at Trinity College Dublin, and worked as a barrister before turning to write crime novels. She is the author of the Inishowen Mysteries, which will shortly be adapted for television.

Inside Slough House: Mick Herron in conversation with Declan Hughes

How many converts to the spy thrillers of Mick Herron the Apple TV series of Slow Horses may have added is impossible to say.  What’s certain is that the Slough House series already had a massive cult following among crime writing aficionados.  His latest novel, Bad Actors, is the eighth in the series.  Discover what makes the successor to John Le Carre tick when he talks to critic and uber-fan, Declan Hughes.

 

Crime in the City!

Our last event for 2022 followed on from 2021’s successful crime event,  gathering of some of the sharpest literary criminal minds from UNESCO Cities of Literature around the world.

This time, inspired by cities of literature Québec, Edinburgh and Kuhmo in Finland, we were joined by Roxanne Bouchard, Abir Mukherjee and Antti Tuomainen in conversation with Sinéad Crowley, as they discussed how their home cities have influenced and shaped their writing, how crime fiction crosses geographical divides and what prompted them to start a life in crime

Roxanne Bouchard

Roxanne Bouchard is one of French Canada’s most prestigious authors and playwrights. Her Detective Morales series has been shortlisted for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger and won the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best French Crime Book, and a number-one bestseller in her native Canada. Her writing has been widely compared to Annie Proulx and Louise Penny. Whisper of the Seals, book three in the series, was published by Orenda Books in August. She lives in Quebec with her partner.

Abir Mukherjee

Abir Mukherjee is the Times bestselling author of the Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in Raj-era India which have sold over 400,000 copies worldwide and been translated into 15 languages. His books have won numerous awards including the CWA Dagger for best Historical Novel, the Prix du Polar Européen, the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing and the Amazon Publishing Readers Award for E-book for the Year.

Alongside fellow author, Vaseem Khan, he also hosts the popular Red Hot Chilli Writers podcast, where every fortnight, joined by special guests from the media and literature, he takes a wry look at the world of books, writing, and the creative arts, tackling everything from bestsellers to pop culture.

Antti Tuomainen

Antti Tuomainen has been dubbed ‘the funniest writer in Europe’ by The Times, and he was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-fiction formula, with his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died, which has since become an international bestseller and a mini series. His books have won or been shortlisted for the Glass Key Award, the Petrona Award, the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger and the Last Laugh Award. The Rabbit Factor, the first in Antti’s first ever series, was a number-one bestseller and is now in production for a major motion picture, starring Steve Carell. Book two in the series, The Moose Paradox, was published in October by Orenda Books.  He lives in Finland with his wife.

Sinead Crowley

Journalist by day, author by night (and sometimes early mornings too), Sinéad Crowley is currently arts and media correspondent with RTE News in Dublin, covering all aspects of the arts and media on radio, TV and online. She is also an author. Her books include the bestselling DS Claire Boyle crime series while her most recent novel, The Belladonna Maze is described as a spooky dual timeline mystery set in the west of Ireland. The Belladonna Maze was published by Head of Zeus in May and spent three weeks in the Irish Times bestsellers charts. Sinéad is currently working on another novel, set in the 1920s and today.

Join our mailing list for Murder One event news, special offers, author  exclusives and to keep in touch!

Murder One Writing Workshops 2019

Writing a Best Selling Series with Patricia Gibney

How do you create an original and empathetic character that is strong enough to carry a series? What are the essential ingredients to make sure every book must work on its own as well as part of the series? How many should you write before you approach an agent, and how do you construct a series character arc? Patricia Gibney has sold over a million books, find out her secrets and how to make them work for you!


Pearse Street Library   €25  
Thursday 31 October, 11.00am-1.00pm 
Book now


What’s Your Story? Writing from Life with Shane Dunphy

Are you planning to fictionalise elements of your life or write a memoir? Find out the essential first steps and the key techniques of fiction writing that will make your story leap off the page. Shane Dunphy is an Irish and London Times bestseller, and the movie adaptation of his memoir, The Boy They Tried to Hide, is in development with Hollywood production company Rumble Films. His series of non-fiction titles, relating the years he spent as a child protection worker, have been internationally successful and sold in
translation across several territories. These include the Number 1 bestseller Wednesday’s Child, and The Girl Who Couldn’t Smile, which spent five weeks on the London Times Top 10 list.


Pearse Street Library   €25
Thursday 31 October, 2.00pm-4.00 pm
Book now


Plot the Perfect Murder with Catherine Ryan Howard

Learn how to plot the perfect crime novel with Dagger and Edgar shortlisted crime author Catherine Ryan Howard. This workshop will explore the mechanics of storytelling and the best methods for taking your idea from brain to blurb. Catherine will share each step of her own process, from interrogating the initial idea to getting to ‘THE END’ of the first draft, with lots of Post-It Notes in between. Even if you’re more of a pantser than a plotter, this workshop will offer techniques, tips and tricks that will help you strengthen your storytelling and keep your readers turning the page.


Pearse Street Library    €25
Friday 1 November, 11.00am-1.00pm
Book now


Breaking Bad with Liz Nugent

Before becoming a full-time writer, Liz Nugent worked in Irish film, theatre and television. At the 2018 Irish Book Awards, Liz enjoyed a rare double success, winning both Crime Fiction Book of the Year and the Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award for Skin Deep, her third bestseller. Unravelling Oliver and Lying in Wait were previous winners in the same category. In 2017, Liz was named Irish Woman of the Year in Literature. In this Masterclass, Liz will talk about the core principles of writing drama that can apply to tv, radio, cinema or novels. Using the pilot episode of Breaking Bad as a teaching tool, she will examine plot, dialogue, characterisation, structure and awareness of the medium in question. Participants are required to bring only a pen, paper and their imagination!


Pearse Street Library    €35
Friday 1 November, 2.00pm-5.00pm
Book now


The Killer Pitch with Literary Agent Simon Trewin

Sam Blake chats to Simon Trewin about what catches an agent’s eye, famous hits and misses
and his top ten tips for writing a killer pitch. Giving examples of pitches that worked, find out how to make your book irresistible to a literary agent.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
5.00pm-6.00pm | €12/€10

Book Here!

Murder One 2018: The Talent

 

MURDER ONE is a unique literary festival weekend: a fun, action packed weekend for lovers of crime and mystery in all its guises.

This is the list of the incredible authors who appeared at Murder One in 2018, our 2019 festival will be just as strong. Click here to join our mailing list to get up to date news and find out more!

The Authors (in alphabetical order)

Claire Allan is a former journalist from Derry in Northern Ireland. She has previously published eight women’s fiction novels, before switching genre. Her Name Was Rose, her debut psychological thriller was published in June 2018 by Avon, and became an instant bestseller. Her second thriller Apple of My Eye will be published in January.

Mark Billingham is one of the UK’s most acclaimed and popular crime writers. A former actor, television writer and stand-up comedian, his series of novels featuring D.I. Tom Thorne has twice won him the Crime Novel Of The Year Award as well as the Sherlock Award for Best British Detective and been nominated for seven CWA Daggers. His standalone thriller IN THE DARK was chosen as one of the twelve best books of the year by the Times and his debut novel, SLEEPYHEAD was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade. Each of his novels has been a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller.

A television series based on the Thorne novels was screened in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne and series based on the standalone thrillers IN THE DARK and RUSH OF BLOOD are currently in development with the BBC.

Professor Dame Sue Black is one of the world’s leading anatomists and forensic anthropologists. Her expertise has been crucial to many high-profile criminal cases, and in 1999 she was the lead anthropologist for the British Forensic Team’s work in the war crimes investigations in Kosovo. She was one of the first forensic scientists to travel to Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 to provide assistance in identifying the dead. Sue is a familiar face in the media where documentaries have been filmed about her work and she led the highly successful BBC 2 series – History Cold Case. In 2015 she moved many to tears with her stories on Desert Island Discs and more recently she stunned over 300,000 Outlander followers when she announced that Lord Lovat, Simon Fraser, was not residing in a coffin built for him at the Wardlaw Mausoleum.
Sue was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to forensic anthropology.

Sam Blake is a pseudonym for Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, the founder of The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy , the national writing resources website Writing.ie, and the Murder One festival. She is Ireland’s leading literary scout. Vanessa has been writing fiction since her husband set sail across the Atlantic for eight weeks and she had an idea for a book.

Her debut novel Little Bones went straight into No 1 and stayed there for four weeks, spending another four weeks in the top 10, and was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. It was followed by bestsellers In Deep Water and No Turning Back. Find out more at www.samblakebooks.com or follow her on Twitter @samblakebooks

 

Siobháin Bunni  was born in Baghdad in 1968 to her Irish mother and Iraqi father. Juggling her writing with raising three children while managing a full time career is the constant challenge that keeps her alive and on her toes. Siobháin lives in Malahide, Co. Dublin with her three children and a very cheeky Golden Retriever called Milo.

 

Declan Burke Declan Burke is the author of Eightball Boogie (2003), The Big O (2007), Absolute Zero Cool (2011), Slaughter’s Hound (2012), Crime Always Pays (2014) and The Lost and the Blind (2014). Absolute Zero Cool was shortlisted in the crime fiction section for the Irish Book Awards, and received the Goldsboro Award for Best Humorous Crime Novel in 2012. Slaughter’s Hound was shortlisted in the Crime Fiction category for the 2012 Irish Book Awards. Declan is also the editor of Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century (2011) and Trouble is Our Business (2016), and the co-editor, with John Connolly, of Books to Die For (2013). He blogs at Crime Always Pays.

Declan works as a freelance arts journalist, now contributing to the Irish Times, the Irish Examiner and RTE’s arts programme Arena. Declan is the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Writer in Residence, alongside Elizabeth Reapy

Andrea Carter studied law at Trinity College Dublin, then moved to the Inishowen peninsula in Co. Donegal where she ran the most northerly solicitors’ practice in the country. After ten years, she moved to Dublin to work as a barrister before turning to write crime novels, the most recent of which is Murder at Greysbridge. Her books are published by Little, Brown in the UK, Goldmann Verlag in Germany, Oceanview in the US and will be adapted for television next summer.

Jane Casey is the author of the award-winning, best-selling Maeve Kerrigan series. Married to a criminal barrister, she has a unique insight into the brutal underbelly of urban life. Winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award for The Stranger You Know, Jane has been shortlisted four times for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award and longlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. The eighth Maeve Kerrigan novel, Cruel Acts, will be published by HarperCollins in April 2019.

Nicola Cassidy is a Drogheda based author and blogger. She worked as a journalist, political press officer and marketing manager, before turning her hand to novel writing. Her debut novel December Girl, an historical fiction novel set in the Boyne Valley, was published by Bombshell Books in 2017 and became a number one Amazon best seller in 2018.

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. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit cinemas worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include The Wrong Side Of Goodbye, The Crossing, The Burning Room, The Gods of Guilt, The Black Box, and The Drop. Michael is the executive producer of BOSCH, an Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character. He spends his time in California and Florida. Dark Sacred Night is out now.

Aidan Conway was born in Birmingham and has lived in Italy since 2001. He has been a barman, a bookseller, and a teacher, translator and editor for the UNFAO. He is currently an assistant university lecturer in Rome where he lives with his family. A Cold Flame is the second novel in his DI Michael Rossi series.

Robert Craven lives in Rush, County Dublin. After a journeyman period of switching and working with small and Indie presses, he re-released all the novels on Kobo and Amazon platforms: Get Lenin, Zinnman, A Finger of Night, and Hollow Point. Eagles Hunt Wolves is due January 2019. He’s also written a Steampunk novella, The Mandarin Cipher, and has two horror stories published in anthologies: A Communion of Blood  in ‘Broken Mirrors Fractured Minds’ (Vamptasy Press) and ‘Vodou’ in Red Rattle Book’s ‘Zombie Bites’. Follow him @cravenrobert

Sinéad Crowley is a journalist by day, crime writer by night. Arts and media correspondent with RTE News, she is the author of the DS Claire Boyle series, crime fiction set in Ireland. All three books in the series, Can Anybody Help Me, Are You Watching Me? and One Bad Turn were shortlisted for Crime Book of the Year awards at the BGE Irish book awards. Sinéad was also a contributor to ‘Trouble is our Business’, a collection of new Irish crime writing published by New Island in 2016 and is currently working on her fourth, stand-alone novel.

Sharon Dempsey’s crime debut Little Bird was released July 2017 with Bloodhound Books. She tutors at Queen’s University and Stranmillis College and has published three health books. She also writes contemporary women’s fiction. Sharon is working on the follow up to Little Bird and a collection of dark short stories.

Shane Dunphy (also writing as S.A. Dunphy) is the million-selling author of twelve books. His series of non-fiction titles, relating the years he spent as a child protection worker, have been sold in translation across several territories, while his series of crime novels featuring the emotionally scarred criminologist, David Dunnigan, have been widely acclaimed.

Tanya Farrelly is the author of three books: a short fiction collection When Black Dogs Sing (Kate O’ Brien Award 2017), and two psychological thrillers: The Girl Behind the Lens and When Your Eyes Close. She holds a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from Bangor University, Wales, and teaches at the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin.

Derek Flynn is a writer and musician with a Masters in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. The author of two crime/thriller novels – Broken Falls and The Dead Girls – he was also featured in Surge, an anthology of new Irish writing published by O’ Brien Press. He is a regular contributor to “Writing.ie”.

Patricia Gibney’s debut novel, The Missing Ones, was published by London based digital publisher, Bookouture, in March 2017 and since then three further books in the Detective Lottie Parker series have been published, achieving over one million sales in just fourteen months. Her books, already in audio format, are now being published in paperback by Little Brown UK. Foreign translations have sold to Norway, Italy, France, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Taiwan and China. Tell Nobody is the latest in the series and out in digital now. Patricia lives in Mullingar.

Robert Goddard was born in Hampshire and read History at Cambridge. His first novel,Past Caring, was an instant bestseller. Since then his books have captivated readers worldwide with their edge-of-the-seat pace and their labyrinthine plotting. The first Harry Barnett novel, Into the Blue, was winner of the first WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and was dramatized for TV, starring John Thaw. His thriller, Long Time Coming won an Edgar in the Mystery Writers of America awards. Robert’s most recent books feature hero James ‘Max’ Maxted.

Mick Herron’s first Jackson Lamb novel, Slow Horses, was described as the ‘most enjoyable British spy novel in years’ by the Mail on Sunday and picked as one of the best twenty spy novels of all time’ by the Daily Telegraph. The second, Dead Lions, won the 2013 CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger. The third, Real Tigers, was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and both the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. The fourth, Spook Street, was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger and won the Steel Dagger. London Rules is the fifth. Mick Herron was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.

Maria Hoey’s short story, Reading Brother Boniface, was shortlisted for the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award. Her debut novel, The Last Lost Girl, was published in July 2016 and has gone on to be shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Debut Award 2018 and the Annie McHale Debut Award 2018. Her second novel, On Bone Bridge, was published in July. Maria lives in Portmarnock.

Cat Hogan is an Irish Times Best seller and BGE Irish Book Awards nominated author who lives by the sea in Co.Wexford with her partner and two sons. When she’s not writing crime fiction, she lectures in Adult Education and Literacy. Cat is represented by Curtis Brown and a panellist with Co. Wexford Arts department.

Declan Hughes co-founded Dublin’s Rough Magic Theatre Company; his first novel, The Wrong Kind of Blood won the Shamus Award for Best First PI novel and the Le Point magazine prize for best European crime novel. Subsequent novels include The Colour of Blood; The Dying Breed; All The Dead Voices and City of Lost Girls. His books have been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Theakstons, CWA New Blood Dagger and Irish Book awards. His latest novel is All The Things You Are. Declan lives in Dublin.

Arlene Hunt is an author of ten novels and co-founder of Portnoy Publishing. She is currently working on a new series, the first to be published early 2019. Her last novel was released in May 2018, entitled The Last Goodbye. She lives in Dublin with her husband and can usually be found half way up a mountain with two German Shepherds.

Peter James is an international bestselling thriller writer. He is a New York Times bestseller, as well as having 11 consecutive Sunday Times No 1s, and he is published in 37 languages. His DS Roy Grace crime novels have sold 18 million copies worldwide. Prior to becoming a full-time author, he was responsible for 25 movies. In 1994 Penguin published his novel, Host, on two floppy discs as the world’s first electronic novel. His novels have won numerous awards, most recently the coveted 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence, and he was publicly voted by WH Smith – Britain’s biggest book selling chain – The Best Crime Author Of All Time. Visit Peter James on YouTube: www.peterjames.com/youtube

Lisa Jewell wrote her first book when she was twenty-seven and had just been made redundant from her job as a secretary. Inspired by Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, a book about young people just like her who lived in London, she wrote the first three chapters of what was to become her first novel, Ralph’s Party. It went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 1998.  Fourteen bestselling novels later and a move to crime has opened up a whole new world.  Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

Olivia Kiernan is an Irish writer living in the UK and author of crime thriller, Too Close to Breathe. She was born and raised in County Meath, near the famed heritage town of Kells and holds an MA in Creative Writing awarded by the University of Sussex. Website: www.oliviakiernan.com

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

Lynda’s novels have all been international bestsellers. Her original script for the much-acclaimed PRIME SUSPECT won awards from BAFTA, Emmys, British Broadcasting and Royal Television Society as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Writer’s Award.  Since 1993 Lynda has spearheaded La Plante Productions. In that time the company has produced a stunning slate of innovative dramas with proven success and enduring international appeal. Based on Lynda’s best selling series of Anna Travis novels, Above Suspicion, Silent Scream, Deadly Intent and Silent Scream have all adapted into TV scripts.

Lynda has been made honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and was awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Writer’s Award 2000, and in 2008 Lynda was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List (Writer and Producer for services to Literature, Drama and to Charity).

Her latest book, Murder Mile is out now.

Visit www.lyndalaplante.com for further information. You can also follow Lynda on Facebook and Twitter.

Sheena Lambert grew up in County Dublin, where she worked as an environmental engineer before becoming a full-time writer. Her stories, novels and screenplays have been shortlisted in a number of prestigious UK competitions. The Lake, was published by HarperCollins and she is represented by Laetitia Rutherford at Watson, Little.

Ali Land: After graduating from university with a degree in Mental Health, Ali spent a decade working as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse in both hospitals and schools in the UK and Australia. Ali’s debut novel Good Me Bad Me is a Sunday Times and international bestseller and translated into twenty-four languages. It was short-listed twice for Dead Good Reader Awards, the Crime Writers Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger, and won Book Of The Year at Heat magazine Unmissables Awards. It’s also a New York Times Editors choice and a Richard and Judy book club pick. Ali is now a full-time writer and lives in London. She is currently working on her second novel.

Clare Mackintosh spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children. Clare’s debut novel, I Let You Go, was a Sunday Times bestseller and the fastest-selling title by a new crime writer in 2015. It was selected for both the Richard and Judy Book Club (and was the winning title of the readers’ vote for the summer 2015 selection) and for ITV’s Loose Women’s Loose Books. It is a New York Times bestseller, with translation rights sold to more than 30 countries.

Andrea Mara is a freelance writer, author, and blogger. She writes features for Irish newspapers, and has won a number of awards for blogging on OfficeMum.ie.

Her first book, The Other Side of the Wall, was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien award in 2018. Her second book, One Click, is out now.

Niamh McBrannan was a nominee in the ‘No Exit Press’ 2015 short story competition. Her debut novel, The Devil Looks After His Own (Arlen House, 2018) is the first book in the gritty, Dublin-based Silver Bullet series. An extract from the forthcoming sequel, The Devil’s Own Job is published in Writing the Future, the Hodges Figgis 250th anniversary anthology.

Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community then read English at Oxford. She was a journalist for sixteen years, spending the last three as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. She divides her time between Northumberland and Cheshire

Paul McNeive’s debut thriller The Manhattan Project was published in May in the UK and Ireland, making the Irish bestseller list. Various foreign rights have also been sold. Paul is a motivational speaker and journalist. His autobiographical non-fiction book, “Small Steps,” is also a bestseller.

Helen Moorhouse is the author of The Dead Summer (2011), The Dark Water (2012), Sing Me To Sleep (2013) and Ever This Day (2017). As well as writing fiction, she works as a freelance voiceover artist and copywriter. Her interests include reading, TV, cinema, walking and things that go bump in the night. Originally from Co. Laois, she lives in Dublin with her family. For more, see www.helenmoorhouse.com

Bernice M. Murphy is lecturer in Popular Literature in the School of English, Trinity College, Dublin, and a Fellow of the college. She is co-director of the M.Phil in Popular Literature and has published extensively on topics related to popular literature, especially horror and Gothic fiction and film. Her books include The Rural Gothic: Backwoods Horror and Terror in the Wilderness (2013), The Highway Horror Film (2014), Key Concepts in Contemporary Popular Fiction (2017), and, with, Stephen Matterson, the edited collection Twenty-First Century Popular Fiction (2018). She is the co-founder of the online Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies and is a founding member of the recently established Irish Network for Gothic Studies (INGS).

Liz Nugent worked in Irish film, theatre and television before becoming a fulltime novelist. In 2014 her first novel, Unravelling Oliver, was a Number One bestseller and won the Crime Fiction Prize in the 2014 Irish Book Awards. Her second novel, Lying in Wait, went straight to Number One in the Irish bestseller charts, remained there for nearly two months and won her a second IBA. Skin Deep is her third bestseller. She lives in Dublin with her husband.

Laurence O’Bryan had three crime/mystery novels published by Harper Collins. He has been published in 10 languages and has won awards for his writing. He recently self-published two further novels in the puzzle series. He is on the committee of the Irish Writers Union and founded the Dublin Writers Conference.

Niamh O’Connor is a crime journalist and best-selling author of true crime and crime fiction. She has been nominated three times for an Irish Book Award and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. She is represented by Jane Gregory at the David Higham agency.

Cormac O’Keeffe is the security correspondent of the Irish Examiner, where he has covered crime, policing, drugs, justice, terrorism and legal issues since 2000. Black Water is his debut crime novel and tells the tale of a young boy groomed into a criminal gang and the fight to save him.

Nessa O’Mahony is a Dublin-born writer. She has published four books of poetry and is a recipient of two literature bursaries from the Arts Council. She was Writer Fellow at the John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies in UCD in 2008/09. She produces and presents a monthly podcast for writers called The Attic Sessions. The Branchman (Arlen House 2018) is her debut crime novel.

Adele O’Neill is published with Aria Fiction, an imprint of Head of Zeus. Her debut, Brothers and Sisters, a number one bestseller on Amazon was awarded The Annie McHale Debut Novel Award 2017 and her second novel, Behind a Closed Door was also a number one Amazon bestseller. When The Time Comes, is due for release in 2019

Julie Parsons’ most recent thriller, The Therapy House, won the Crime Fiction Book of the Year award at the Irish Book Awards, 2017. She has been a full-time writer since 1998 when her first novel Mary, Mary was published to critical and commercial success. It was translated into 17 languages and published in the US. Her subsequent novels were The Courtship Gift, Eager to Please, The Guilty Heart, The Hourglass and I Saw You. Julie is currently a columnist with the Irish Times. Her column, ‘In Praise of Older Books’ appears weekly in The Ticket.

Karen Perry is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Your Closest FriendCan You Keep A Secret?Girl UnknownOnly We Know and The Boy That Never Was, which was selected for the Simon Mayo BBC Radio 2 Book Club. Her books have been translated into several European languages, and have been optioned for both film and television. She lives in Dublin with her family.

Anthony J Quinn is the author of eight novels, including Undertow, which was published in June. His  debut novel Disappeared was a Daily Mail Crime Novel of the Year, and was shortlisted for a Strand Literary Award in the US. It was also picked by Kirkus Reviews as one of the top ten thrillers of the year, and by the Sunday Times as one of the best books of the year.

Alex Reeve is a university lecturer, intermittently working on his PhD. The House on Half Moon Street is his debut novel, and the first in a series of books featuring Leo Stanhope.

Catherine Ryan Howard is from Cork, Ireland and now lives in Dublin. Her debut novel, DISTRESS SIGNALS, was an Irish Times and USA Today bestseller, shortlisted for both the IBA Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger Award, and was optioned for TV by Jet Stone Media. Her second novel, THE LIAR’S GIRL, was released in 2018. Catherine has just completed a BA in English Literature at Trinity College Dublin as a mature student and is currently working on her third novel.

William Ryan is the author of five novels, including the Captain Korolev series set in 1930s Moscow. They have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the CWA’s Steel, Historical and New Blood Daggers, the Irish Fiction Award and the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year, as well as published in 18 jurisdictions. Writing as WC Ryan, his latest novel, A House of Ghosts, has been described by Liz Nugent as ‘almost unbearably creepy and beautifully written’.

Jo Spain is the author of No. 1 Bestseller The Confession and the international bestselling DCI Tom Reynolds series. A Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller finalist, Jo’s books have sold in over 13 countries. Jo writes for TV and has co-written new Irish crime drama Taken Down for RTE. Her Reynolds series has also been optioned for TV. She lives in Dublin with her husband and four children.

Sharon Thompson’s debut crime novel The Abandoned launched as a Number 1 bestseller on Amazon kindle. Sharon writes crime fiction, short stories and commercial fiction. Sharon’s short stories have been published in various on-line magazines. www.Indulgeinwriting.com is her new online writing group. She is a regular contributor to Donegal Woman with her Woman’s Words column. Indulgeme.ie features her short-list of Irish, monthly, book releases at #indulgeinbooks. Sharon co-founded the trending, writing tweet-chat, called #WritersWise.

Simon Trewin is a Partner in the global entertainment agency WME. He has been an agent for over twenty years and is a three time nominee for the Bookseller Industry Awards Literary Agent of the Year. Trewin began his career in the theatre and moved to the world of literary agenting 25 years ago and has worked with a string of internationally bestselling authors who have, between them, either been nominated or have won the Man Booker, the Baileys, the Costa, the CWA Daggers, the Irish Book Awards and the IMPAC. Simon represents a number of crime and thriller writers including Robert Goddard, Alex Barclay, Luke Delaney, A A Dhand, Jake Woodhouse and Sam Blake. Simon Trewin is always on the look out for new talent in this area and he also has a particular affinity for the Irish market – representing, as he does, John Boyne, Mary Costello, Alex Barclay, Paul Lynch, Claire Kilroy, John Connell, Sarah Griffin and Sam Blake.

Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs Westaway have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times, and she is published in more than 40 languages. Ruth lives near Brighton with her family. Visit www.ruthware.com to find out more, or find her on facebook or twitter as @RuthWareWriter

 

 

 

 

 

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Murder One Main Space Events 2018

 

Sorry! This is what you missed in 2018, we’ve so much more to come in 2019!

All events listed below lasted approximately 60  minutes and occured in the Main Theatre Space in Smock Alley. Books were on sale in The Banquet Hall where our our stellar authors were very happy to sign them.

Use these links to jump to:

 Friday Events

Saturday Events

Sunday Events

Our WEEKEND ROVER TICKET will get you into every single event below for just €130, saving you money and all the hassle of fiddling with multiple tickets, PLUS rover ticket holders will receive some extra special, exclusive killer goodies….scroll down to see all the incredible authors appearing…

Friday 2nd November

 

Friday 2nd November 7pm

A Mind to Kill                       

Liz Nugent & Ali Land with Declan Burke

Now a massively-popular sub-genre of crime writing, Domestic Noir takes as its premise the belief that the domestic sphere can be a dark and dangerous environment for women.  Two fresh and highly-successful new voices discuss how their work fits into the genre with Declan Burke.

Ali Land’s debut novel Good Me Bad Me became a Sunday Times and international bestseller. It was short-listed for Dead Good Reader Awards and for the Crime Writers Association New Blood Dagger.  It also became a Richard and Judy book club pick. Ali is currently working on her second novel.

In a mere four years, Liz Nugent has become one of Ireland’s most popular and successful novelists.  With her three intriguing and deeply sinister novels, Unravelling Oliver, Lying in Wait, and most recently Skin Deep, she has built an enormous following both at home and abroad.

 


 

Friday 2 November 8.30pm                             

Peter James in conversation with Breda Brown

From the number one bestselling author, Peter Jamescomes an explosive standalone thriller that will grip you and won’t let go until the very last page. Investigative reporter Ross Hunter nearly didn’t answer the phone call that would change his life – and possibly the world – for ever.  Britain’s number one  crime writer shares  some of his secrets with Breda Brown.

Peter James’s novels have been translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over eighteen million copies. In 2015 WH Smith customers publicly voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he became the recipient of the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence.

 

 


Saturday 3 November

 

Saturday 3 November 11am   

Fresh Blood: Paul McNeive, Olivia Kiernan & Alex Reeve with Sam Blake

Bestseller Sam Blake brings you some of the strongest new voices in crime fiction and finds out just how they did it.

Paul McNeive’s debut The Manhatten Project is set in New York, with its insatiable hunger for fast food, easy fixes and life lived at breakneck speed. But the city that never sleeps is hurtling towards disaster. John Wyse, an ordinary New York cop, looks set to be the only person who can thwart catastrophe on an apocalyptic scale. Bioterrorism is a very real threat today, and this breakneck bestseller will take you to the edge of your seat.

In Too Close to Breathe, Olivia Kiernan introduces DCS Frankie Sheehan, a trained profiler. When Dr Eleanor Costello is found hanging in her immaculate home, something about the scene doesn’t add up and Sheehan immediately spots foul play, but what at first looks like an open and shut case of suicide quickly starts to fall apart.

In The House on Half Moon Street Alex Reeve brings us the first in a truly original series, set in Victorian London and rich with atmosphere. Introducing Leo Stanhope, a Victorian transgender coroner’s assistant who must uncover a killer without risking his own future, this is a gripping, clever debut.

 


 

Saturday 3 November 12.30                 

Clare Mackintosh in conversation with Sinead Crowley

Since the shocking suicides of her parents, Anna, their daughter, has struggled to come to terms with their loss.  Now with a young baby of her own, Anna starts to ask questions but by digging up the past, is she putting her future in danger? Sometimes it’s safer to let things lie.  Clare Mackintosh discusses her third novel, Let Me Lie, with author and RTE Arts correspondent Sinead Crowley

Clare Mackintosh spent twelve years in the police force, including time on the CID, and as a public order commander. Her debut novel, I Let You Go, was the fastest-selling title by a new crime writer in 2015 and became a New York Times bestseller, with translation rights sold to more than 30 countries.

 


 

Saturday 3 November  2.15pm 

The Devil’s in the Detail: A Dublin & Edinburgh UNESCO Cities of Literature Event

Val McDermid with Niamh O’Connor 

                 

        

Val McDermid needs little introduction to crime fans.  In a writing career that spans more than three decades and roughly forty books she has become one of the key figures in British crime writing and her novels have won countless literary awards. In 2010 she won the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding achievement. Val McDermid has also written the seminal text for crime writers who want to get their procedure right. She talks all things forensic with Niamh O’Connor.

 


 

Saturday 3 November 4.00pm                  

Murder by the Book: Lisa Jewell & Ruth Ware with Madeleine Keane

A disastrously ill-judged crush on the gentleman next door, an inheritance letter mistakenly sent to the wrong beneficiary; these are the ingenious premises of Lisa Jewell’s and Ruth Ware’s latest novels.  How does a thriller writer know when the right premise demands to be developed into a novel?  Two highly inventive authors discuss the well-springs of inspiration.

Since her first book, Ralph’s Party (1998) Lisa Jewell has published another fourteen books which have demonstrated a remarkable versatility and development in subject and style.  Recently, she has made the transition into the realm of domestic thrillers with consummate mastery and brilliance.

A former bookseller, TEFL teacher and press officer, Ruth Ware is the author of four splendid psychological thrillers which have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. The Woman in Cabin 10 was a number one New York Times bestseller.  Her latest novel is the Death of Mrs Westaway.

Madeleine Keane is the Literary Editor of the Sunday Independent.

 


 

Saturday 3 Nov 5.30pm                 

Mark Billingham in conversation with Declan Hughes

In Mark’s latest novel, The Killing Habit, DI Tom Thorne is tasked with catching a notorious killer of domestic cats.  Knowing the psychological profile of such offenders all too well, he sees the chance to stop a series of homicides before it happens. Mark talks to fellow crime-writer Declan Hughes about his new book and the writing life in what promises to be a vastly entertaining event.

Having worked for some years as an actor, a TV writer, and stand-up comedian, Mark Billingham published his first crime novel in 2001. Since then, his series of crime novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne has earned him his rightful place at the top table of UK crime fiction.

 


 

Saturday 3 November 7pm                        

Lynda La Plante in conversation 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, discusses 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?

Economic chaos has led to widespread strikes across Britain. Jane Tennison, now a Detective Sergeant, has been posted to Peckham Criminal Investigation Department, one of London’s toughest areas. As the rubbish on the streets begins to pile up, so does the murder count: two bodies in as many days. There are no suspects and the manner of death is different in each case. The only link between the two victims is the location of the bodies, found within a short distance of each other near Rye Lane in Peckham. Three days later another murder occurs in the same area. Press headlines scream that a serial killer is loose on ‘Murder Mile’ and that police incompetence is hampering the investigation. Jane is under immense pressure to catch the killer before they strike again. Working long hours with little sleep, what she uncovers leaves her doubting her own mind.

 


Sunday 4th November

 

Sunday 4 November 11am         

Stranger than Fiction: Shane Dunphy, Andrea Carter & Cormac O’Keefe with Jane Casey

How much does real life influence fiction? Is the truth sometimes stranger? Four crime writers with close ties to the law and law makers, discuss how real life has influenced their writing and how much they just plain make up.

Shane Dunphy is the million-selling author of ten books. His series of non-fiction titles, relating to the years he spent as a child protection worker, have been internationally successful. Writing as S.A. Dunphy, Shane has recently turned to crime, his novels featuring the emotionally damaged criminologist David Dunnigan. When She Was Gone was released earlier this year.

After studying law in Trinity, Andrea Carter moved to the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal where she ran the most northerly solicitors’ practice in the country. After ten years, she moved to Dublin to work as a barrister before turning to writing crime. Her Inishowen Mysteries series, featuring Solicitor Benedicta ‘Ben’ O’Keeffe, Death at Whitewater Church, Treacherous Strand and The Well of Ice are published internationally and have recently been optioned for television. Murder at Greysbridge came out in October.

Cormac O’Keefe’s debut novel Black Water draws on his experience as the award-winning security correspondent for the Irish Examiner – work that has given him unique access to contacts in the police and the community. Using his first hand experience of crime and criminals to inform and fuel his debut novel, Black Water focuses on The Grand Canal and Dublin’s criminal gangs.

Jane Casey worked in publishing before she debuted with her International award winning Maeve Kerrigan series. Married to a barrister, Jane has unique access to the world Maeve Kerrigan occupies, but how much can writers draw on the truth and how much do they make up? In Jane Casey’s seventh novel to feature London-based police detective Maeve Kerrigan, Let the Dead Speak, an unusually naïve 18-year-old, returns home from a weekend away to discover a bloodbath in the family home, all the signs point to the frenzied murder of Chloe’s mother, Kate — except there is no body.

 


 

Sunday 4 November 12.30

The Confessions of a Secret Agent                                  

Simon Trewin has spent the last twenty-five years as a literary agent working with some of the biggest names in the world and helping launch the careers of countless debuts. In this candid, and, at times, irreverent event he will lock the doors, swear you all to secrecy and reveal his top ten essential tips to getting published and also tell some stories of people who got it terribly terribly wrong…and right.

Simon is a Partner in the global entertainment agency WME. He has been a three time nominee for the Bookseller Industry Awards Literary Agent of the Year. Trewin began his career in the theatre and moved to the world of literary agenting. He has worked with a string of internationally bestselling authors who have, between them, either been nominated or have won the Man Booker, the Baileys, the Costa, the CWA Daggers, the Irish Book Awards and the IMPAC. Simon represents a number of crime and thriller writers including Robert Goddard, Alex Barclay, Luke Delaney, A A Dhand, Jake Woodhouse and Sam Blake. Simon Trewin is always on the look out for new talent in this area and he also has a particular affinity for the Irish market – representing, as he does, John Boyne, Mary Costello, Alex Barclay, Paul Lynch, Claire Kilroy, John Connell, Sarah Griffin and Sam Blake.

 


 

 Sunday 4 Nov 2.15pm                  

Bloody Woman: Patricia Gibney, Jo Spain and Claire Allan with Tanya Farrelly

Are female writers deadlier than the male? What do they think of violence in crime fiction and how do they handle it in their books? Do crime novel have to be bloody? Our panel of bestselling ladies will discuss with crime author Tanya Farrelly   whose novel When Your Eyes Close was launched at the start of our festival.

Patricia Gibney is the million selling author of the Lottie Parker series. With five titles released in digital, The Missing Ones, the first of the series now is out in print. Lottie Parker is a woman living on the edge, struggling with grief following the death of her husband and juggling her full-time Detective Inspector job while trying to do her best for her three teenage children.

Jo Spain’s The Confession opens with a violent and bloody scene – late one night a man walks into the luxurious home of disgraced banker Harry McNamara and his wife Julie and launches an unspeakably brutal attack on Harry. It looks like Harry’s many sins have finally caught up with him. But sometimes a confession is only the beginning.

Claire Allan is a former journalist with the Derry Journal who made the jump to writing full time in 2016 with a series of bestselling women’s fiction novels. Claire has now switched to a life of crime, with Her Name is Rose hitting the bestseller lists earlier this year.

€12/€10 BOOK HERE

 


 

Sunday 4 Nov 3.45pm                 

Criminal Intent: Solo or Serial? Karen Perry, WC Ryan, Anthony J Quinn with Catherine Ryan Howard

How does an author decide to write a series or a book that stands alone, is it the plot or the characters who guide them? And what do readers think? What makes a series character and why are the most talked about books often stand alones? Catherine Ryan Howard will cross examine our expert panel.

Karen Perry’s sixth standalone thriller Your Closest Friend opens with a bang – with a terrorist attack in London, developing into a complex psychological thriller.

WC Ryan’s latest novel is another departure from his Korolev series, taking us back to wartime, but in A House of Ghosts, it’s winter 1917 and on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But it gradually becomes clear that each of his guests has something to hide.

Anthony J Quinn brought us Celcius Daly, a Belfast Police Inspector laden with flawed judgment and misplaced loyalties, but in his latest book The Listeners, Detective Carla Herron is leading the investigation into the savage murder of a respected psychotherapist whose decapitated head has been found in a forest clearing.

The Liar’s Girl is Catherine Ryan Howard’s second novel, following the award winning bestseller Distress Signals. In The Liar’s Girl, Dublin’s notorious Canal Killer, Will Hurley, is ten years into his life sentence when the body of a young woman is fished out of the Grand Canal.

 


 

Sunday 4  Nov 5.30pm     

Does Genre Matter? Mick Herron & Robert Goddard with Martin Doyle

The novels of Robert Goddard have ranged freely across the generic landscape.  Mick Herron has said “my earlier novels were crime fiction but I wanted to write about broader issues, and the spy genre offers that opportunity.”    So how important is the concept of genre?  Is it a burden for authors to bear, a useful taxonomic principal, or an irrelevance in the new century. The authors discuss the issue with Irish Times Literary editor Martin Doyle.

Mick Herron has been called “the UK’s new spy novel master” and the natural heir to Len Deighton and John Le Carre.   Combining wit and ingenious plotting, his Slough House series, featuring the incorrigible Jackson Lamb, have earned him numerous CWA Daggers and a passionately loyal readership.

Robert Goddard’s writing has been classified under various genres from thriller to mystery and crime as well as historical romance but regardless of category, Goddard is a consummate stylist and a champion of the traditional virtues of pace, narrative propulsion and plot. Panic Room is his 27th novel.

Literary Editor of the Irish Times, Martin Doyle digs into the truth about crime fiction with two of its most successful proponents.