‘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 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.
‘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
