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 Main Space Events 2019

Friday 1st November

The Gutter Bookshop 10th Birthday Celebrations @ The Gutter Bookshop

Join Bob Johnston and the Murder One team to celebrate Bob’s 10 years in Temple Bar – an informal evening of chat with some criminally good speeches – rub shoulders with your writer friends and colleagues to celebrate with one of
Dublin’s landmark independent bookshops!

The Gutter Bookshop  

Friday 1 November, 6.30pm | Free entry
Booking essential

Book now


Saturday 2nd November

Things that Go Bump in the Night: CJ Tudor & Stuart Turton in conversation with Sinéad Crowley

If you loved The Chalk Man and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, this is the event for you.
Taking crime fiction in new directions, two incredible authors discuss inspiration, outstanding debuts and spine tingling goings on with bestselling crime author, RTE’s Sinéad Crowley. C.J. Tudor’s debut novel, The Chalk Man, was published by Penguin in January 2018 and was a Sunday Times Bestseller. Her second novel, The Taking of Annie Thorne, was published in February 2019. Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle won the Books Are My
Bag Readers Award for Best Novel and the Costa First Novel Award 2018.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
11.00am -12.00 pm | €12/€10

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Destination Murder: Alex Barclay and Lucy Foley with WC Ryan

From a luxury inn on a remote west coast peninsula in Ireland, to a Scottish hunting lodge, these dark stories are told by two of crimes leading female voices. Chaired by WC Ryan, author of House of Ghosts, a man who knows a thing or two about dangerous, lonely places. Lucy Foley’s departure to the dark side is her fourth bestseller, and Alex Barclay, the first lady of Irish crime, brings us her first Irish set standalone in a gripping event that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
12.30pm-1.30pm | €12/€10

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Untold Stories: The Five. Hallie Rubenhold with Joseph O’Connor

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers. What they had in common was the year of their murders – 1888 – and their murderer, the man known as Jack the Ripper. Historian Hallie Rubenhold talks to Joseph O’Connor and sets the record straight, giving these women back their stories. Set just ten years previously, in his latest novel Shadowplay, O’Connor reveals the hidden stories of Bram Stoker’s life. Enter the dark world of Victorian London with two eminent authors.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
2.00pm-3.00pm | €12/€10

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Sam Blake’s Fresh Blood Meet three stunning debut authors: Holly Jackson, Catherine Kirwan and James Delargy

Three completely different stories, three completely different books but one passion. Find out how these authors got their break and what made the difference for them. How did they get their ideas and how long did it take to go from idea to bookshelf? From ingenious premise, to writing what you know, do good girls really get away with murder?

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November                                                                                3.30pm-4.30pm | €12/€10

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Past Crimes: Jess Kidd, Henrietta McKervey and Paddy Hirsch with Declan Burke

From Things in Jars to Violet Hill, London’s only female detective, via Hudson’s Kill and the Irish
gangs of New York, three novelists use the past as a backdrop to their page-turning adventures of deception, danger – and detection. Declan Burke, previously Dublin City of Literature’s Writer in Residence is an award winning author whose latest book is due soon from No Alibi’s Press.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
5.00pm-6.00pm | €12/€10

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Martina Cole in conversation with Breda Brown

Martina Cole’s first novel Dangerous Lady caused a sensation when it was published, and launched one of the bestselling fiction writers of her generation. Twenty-seven years later, Martina has gone on to have more No.1 original  fiction bestsellers than any other author. She won the British Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year with The Take , which then went on to be a hit TV series for Sky 1.  Her new novel No Mercy was published by Headline in October.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
7.00pm-8.00pm | €12/€10

Book now


Sunday 3rd November

All About Agatha: John Curran and Andrew Wilson with Anna Carey

John Curran is one of the world’s leading experts on Agatha Christie and author of Agatha Christie’s Complete Secret Notebooks; Andrew Wilson brings her to life as the protagonist in his fiendishly plotted 1920’s mysteries – as AJ Finn put it, ‘Andrew Wilson’s Christie novels do Dame Agatha proud’. The latest, Death in a Desert Land takes Christie to 1928 Baghdad. Journalist and author Anna Carey discusses the living legend that is Agatha Christie, one of the world’s greatest crime writers with two authors whose lives she has influenced.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
11.00am-12.00pm | €12/€10

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Steve Cavanagh in Conversation with Andrea Carter

Multi award winning author of the phenomenal international bestseller Thirteen, Steve Cavanagh is back this year with Twisted. Barrister turned bestselling crime writer Andrea Carter discusses life, the law and stunning plot twists with one of Ireland’s most brilliant writers.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
12.30pm-1.30pm | €12/€10

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Watching the Detectives: John Banville, Jane Casey and Roz Watkins with Brian Cliff

Creating brilliant detectives is never easy, especially when so many great writers have left their mark on history. Mutli award winning authors John Banville (Benjamin Black), Jane Casey and Roz Watkins reveal who their fictional favourites are and why, and how they make their own characters stand out.  Brian Cliff is an Assistant Professor of English at Trinity College, Dublin. His most recent book is Irish Crime Fiction (2018), and he has published essays on authors including Emma Donoghue, John Connolly, Tana French, Paul Muldoon, and Deirdre Madden.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
2.00pm-3.00pm | €12/€10

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Staring Death in the Eye: Unnatural Causes, Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd in conversation with Paul Carson

As the UK’s leading forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has faced serial killers, natural disaster, ‘perfect murders’ and freak accidents, all in the pursuit of the truth. And while he’s been involved in some of the most high-profile cases of recent times, it’s often the less well-known encounters that prove the most perplexing, intriguing and even bizarre. In or out of the public eye, his evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads. In his bestselling memoir, Richard Shepherd gives a unique
insight into a remarkable profession, and above all a powerful and reassuring testament to lives cut short.

In conversation with international bestselling crime writer Dr Paul Carson, Shepherd will take you into his world where he stares death in the eye.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
3.30pm-4.30pm | €12/€10

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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

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CrimeHawks: Three Must-Reads Before You Die

Rick O’Shea quizzes bestselling authors Catherine Ryan Howard, Louise Phillips and Liz Nugent on the three books they each recommend as lifetime must reads, bring your notebooks!

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
6.30pm-7.30pm | €12/€10


Book now