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Thursday, April 28, 2016

Why Louise Phillips turned from a life of crime to tackle homelessness....with The Irish Times!

Award-winning crime fiction novelist Louise Phillips has written a short story to highlight the plight of the 1,881 homeless children in Ireland, a State she feels has “failed” families.
The story, Homeless Hotel, is based around the life of seven-year-old Keeva, who finds herself living in a hotel with her mother and father.
The story contains the lines: “I don’t have a proper home...Before we came here, we slept in a car for three nights. When it got dark, we were freezing, and Dad said it was an adventure, and made us laugh.
“He used to laugh a lot, but he doesn’t do that anymore.”
Phillips, winner of the Irish Crime Novel of the Year 2013, has written several bestsellers, including Red Ribbons, The Doll’s House and Last Kiss. She has just released her latest psychological crime novel, The Game Changer.
Writing a short story from the perspective of a homeless child is a departure from the author’s comfort zone but something she felt she was compelled to do by the anger she felt at the lack of action to deal with the burgeoning crisis.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Monday, April 25, 2016

Another Bumper Couple of Months for Irish Crime Fiction....

The great variety and number of Irish Crime Fiction novels published since the start of 2016 continues for April and May!!

ALL THINGS NICE by Sheila Bugler (April 4th)
All Things Nice
Charlotte Gleeson is living the life she always dreamed of, but it's nothing like she imagined. Her daughter hates her, her husband is having an affair, her drinking is out of control. And now she’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation …For DI Ellen Kelly, this is her first big investigation in eight months – since she let a serial killer get away. There’s an awful lot riding on a good result, which means keeping up the pressure on Charlotte Gleeson and her messed-up family.As Ellen investigates, it becomes clear the Gleesons are harbouring some dangerous secrets. The more she digs, the more she uncovers … and the closer she comes to a deadly confrontation.

A TIME OF TORMENT by John Connolly (April 7th)
A Time of Torment
Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade. Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war. Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder. All in the name of the being they serve.
THE CITY IN DARKNESS by Michael Russell (May 5th)
The city in darkness
Christmas 1939. In Europe the Phoney War hides carnage to come. In Ireland Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie keeps tabs on Irishmen joining the British Forces. It's unpleasant work, but when an IRA raid on a military arsenal sends Garda Special Branch in search of guns and explosives, Stefan is soon convinced his boss, Superintendent Terry Gregory, is working for the IRA. At home for Christmas, Stefan is abruptly called to Laragh, an isolated mountain town. A postman has disappeared, believed killed, and Laragh's Guards are hiding something. Stefan is the nearest Special Branch detective, yet is he only there because Gregory wants him out of the way? Laragh is close to the lake where Stefan's wife Maeve drowned years earlier, and when events expose a connection between the missing postman and her death, Stefan realises it wasn't an accident, but murder. And it will be a difficult, dangerous journey where Stefan has to finally confront the ghosts of the past not only in the mountains of Wicklow, but in Spain in the aftermath of its bloody Civil War, before he can return to Dublin to find the truth.

DISTRESS SIGNALS by Catherine Ryan Howard (May 5th)
Distress Signals
Did she leave, or was she taken? The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her. Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...

THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER by Vanessa Ronan (May 5th)
The Last Days of Summer
After ten years in the Huntsville State Penitentiary, Jasper Curtis returns home to live with his sister and her two daughters. Lizzie does not know who she's letting into her home: the brother she grew up loving or the monster he became. Teenage Katie distrusts this strange man in their home but eleven-year-old Joanne is just intrigued by her new uncle. Jasper says he's all done with trouble, but in a forgotten prairie town that knows no forgiveness, it does not take long for trouble to arrive at their door ...

LITTLE BONES by Sam Blake (May 17th)
Little Bones
Little Bones introduces Cathy Connolly, a bright young heroine set to take the world of crime fiction by storm. Attending what seems to be a routine break-in, troubled Detective Garda Cathy Connolly makes a grisly discovery: an old wedding dress - and, concealed in its hem, a baby's bones. And then the dress's original owner, Lavinia Grant, is found dead in a Dublin suburb. Searching for answers, Cathy is drawn deep into a complex web of secrets and lies spun by three generations of women. Meanwhile, a fugitive killer has already left two dead in execution style killings across the Atlantic - and now he's in Dublin with old scores to settle. Will the team track him down before he kills again? Struggling with her own secrets, Cathy doesn't know dangerous - and personal - this case is about to become...'
THE PLEA by Steve Cavanagh (May 19th)
The Plea
For years, major New York law firm Harland & Sinton has operated a massive global fraud. When a client of the firm, David Child, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm. Eddie's not a man to be coerced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Calling all Book Clubs!!!

Calling all book clubs....I've so enjoyed my visits to book clubs over the last few years, that I've been working on a very special prize for one lucky book club.....(it involves lots of books). All will be revealed in a couple of weeks, but if you would like to be part of this competition....leave a comment, or message me via email, Twitter or Facebook.


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Bluecoat Crime Fiction...


If you're in or around Liverpool this coming Saturday, you may be interested in this event!
Saturday 16th April 2016, the Bluecoat will present a Crime Fiction event with a number of writers discussing their work and perspectives on the genre in relation to three main themes. "The Thrill of Finding Connections" aligns the thrill of connecting clues within the narrative to recognising literary influences and allusions, "Loving The Bad Guy" explores why we are drawn to characters who transgress moral boundaries, and "Shackled by Stereotype?" considers whether the genre offers a safe space for diverse cultural and gender identities.
See more at:
http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/events/view/events/3367

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

ATTIC SESSIONS




Looking forward to chatting with the lovely Nessa O'Mahony and Peter Salisbury as part of the ATTIC SESSIONS, as they take on crime fiction on the double, with myself and the wonderful Paul Perry. Recording 24th May for broadcast 28th May......A Date for the Diary!

Incredibly Proud....

I'm incredibly proud to be part of this wonderful publication listing from POLIS BOOKS for the Fall of 2016!




D. W. BUFFA served as a defense attorney for ten years. He is the author of the acclaimed novels: THE JUDGMENT, nominated for the EDGAR AWARD for Best Novel of the Year, THE LEGACY, THE PROSECUTION, THE DEFENSE, STAR WITNESS and BREACH OF TRUST, which was described as one of the few books that fifty years from now will really matter, offering a scintillating look at Washing politics. HILLARY, his latest novel is due for publication in the Fall of 2016 by Polis Books. www.dwbuffa.com




ROB HART is the author of NEW YORDED and CITY OF ROSE. He’s also the associate publisher at Mysterious Press and class director at LitReactor. Previously, he has been a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He’s received both a DERRINGER AWARD nomination and honorable mention in The Best American Mystery Stories 2015. His third novel, SOUTH VILLAGE, will be published by Polis Books in October 2016, followed by a fourth in summer 2017. He’s also co-writing a novella with JAMES PATTERSON as part of the BookShots program. https://robwhart.com




GRANT MC KENZIE is the internationally-published author of four edge-of-your-seat thrillers, plus an ongoing mystery series set in San Francisco. His debut novel, Switch, was published by Bantam UK, Heyne Germany and Penguin Canada before launching in the U.S. and Taiwan. Under the pen name, M.C. Grant, he writes the Dixie Flynn series that began with Angel With A Bullet. As a journalist, Grant has worked in virtually every area of the newspaper business from the late-night “Dead Body Beat” at a feisty daily tabloid to senior copy/design editor at two of Canada’s largest broadsheets, and Editor-in-Chief of Monday magazine. He currently resides in Victoria. http://grantmckenzie.net




LOUISE PHILLIPS is an author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers, each shortlisted for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. THE DOLL’S HOUSE, her second novel, won the award in 2013.  Louise’s work has formed part of many literary anthologies, and she has won both the Jonathan Swift Award and the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform. She is the recipient of an Arts Bursary for Literature and a Writers’ Residency at Cill Rialaig Artist retreat. She was also a judge on the Irish panel for the EU Literary Award. RED RIBBONS, will be published by Polis Books in the Fall of 2016. www.louise-phillips.com





KRISTINA RIGGLE, lives and writes in West Michigan. Her debut novel, REAL LIFE & LIARS, was a Target ‘Breakout’ pick and a ‘Great Lakes, Great Reads’ selection. Her later novels, KEEPSAKE and THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD, was lauded by Bookreporter.com as ‘a riveting and thought-provoking page-turner that will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Chris Bohjalian. Kristina has published stories in the Cimmarron Review, Literary Mama, Espresso Fiction, and elsewhere, and is a former co-editor for fiction at Literary Mama. Her novel, VIVIAN IN RED will be published by Polis Books in the fall of 2016.  www.kristinariggle.net


Monday, April 4, 2016

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival!



Known as the friendliest festival with its feet firmly on Yorkshire ground, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival guarantees thrills, and a few spills at the hotel bar, as thousands descend for one long summer weekend.


Heading to Harrogate for the 14th festival are Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid and Gerald Seymour, and over 80 more fantastic authors.

Readers and authors alike meet their heroes, as well as the Next Big Things, thanks to Val McDermid’s annual New Blood panel, which cherry picks the best debut novels of the year.

The Festival will also feature the 12th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Awards, and will see the return of the day-long creative writing workshop for aspiring writers, Creative Thursday.


All Tickets are now on sale. Details HERE

Friday, April 1, 2016

Taking a pic......Giveaway!

The competition for winning signed copies of The Game Changer runs until Sunday....so if you're out and about this weekend and you spot the novel on some bookshelf....take a pic and either share or pm me and you'll be in with a chance.....


A Poet's Rising

It was an absolutely wonderful evening last night at the Irish Writers' Centre. A packed house celebrated A Poet's Rising, with beautiful haunting music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and poems by Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Paul Muldoon, Jessica Traynor, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Theo Dorgan and Thomas McCarthy.

Thanks to Valerie Bistany and Padraig Burke for my invitation, and to everyone in the Irish Writers' Centre, and the Arts Council of Ireland, who helped to create these important works for years to come.

A Poet's Rising app will be available following the broadcast of the poems which will take place on the anniversary of the Rising, 22- 29th April 2016. The poems will also be printed in the Irish Times during this period.










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