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Thursday, October 28, 2021

AN POST IRISH CRIME NOVEL of the YEAR 2021 Nominations are revealed!!!

   The much-anticipated nominations for AN POST IRISH CRIME NOVEL of the YEAR 2021 have been revealed!!

And it's an abolute cracker of list, but...

WHO WILL WIN THE COVETED TITLE??

 



 

IN AUTHOR ALPHABETICAL ORDER, THE NOMINATIONS ARE....

 

April in Spain by John Banville

John Banville previously published his crime novels under the pseudonym name Benjamin Black, and April in Spain sees a change of direction in this. Banville is well known for his series of crime novels based on the 1950’s pathologist Quirke, which were also adapted for T.V., starring Gabriel Byrne.

April in Spain is set on the idyllic coast of San Sebastian, where pathologist Quirke is struggling to relax - despite the beautiful beaches, cafes, and the company of his wife. When he glimpses a familiar face, April Latimer, at a bar, at first it’s hard for him to know whether his imagination is running away with him, because April was murdered years before. The Irish Independent who sponsors the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award, describes the novel as “a slow-burning mystery, a love story and a study of the corruption and power of the Irish political elite – quite a lot to pack into one crime novel. Banville has achieved it with grace and poise.”

 

The Dark Room by Sam Blake

Sam Blake is the pseudonym for Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, founder of the writers’ resource website, Writing.ie, as well as The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy, and is the tour-de- force behind Murder One, Ireland’s premium crime-writing festival. She is also a board member of the Society of Authors, fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, past chair of Irish PEN and convenor of the Irish Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Sam Blake has achieved enormous success with her Garda Detective Cat Connolly series and two other standalone mysteries, becoming a Number One bestseller in Ireland. In The Dark Room we follow Rachel Lambert, from London, and Caroline Kelly, from New York, to Hare’s Landing in West Cork. The two women have their own reasons for coming to this remote spot but must join forces in their investigations to uncover the truth about a 30-year-old missing person’s case. The Irish Independent says of The Dark Room, “a book which delivers a well-paced and layered plot that cleverly combines cold cases with present day drama, resulting in and intriguing read with plenty of twists and turns…Blake has a wonderful gift for description, ensuring the reader can picture every scene…”

 

The Killing Kind by Jane Casey

Jane Casey has been nominated several times for the Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award, winning the award in both 2015 and 2019. Well known for her fantastic London-based Maeve Kerrigan series of police procedurals, in 2015, she won the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award at the Edgars for her novel The Stranger You Know. A graduate of Oxford she also has received a M. Phil from Trinity College, Dublin. 

In The Killing Kind, a standalone novel, lawyer Ingrid finds her life under threat and needs to call on the help of the person who had previously stalked her. The Irish Independent review describes The Killing Kind as “that just-right blend of serpentine plot, believable characters and a hero we want to root for, plus a thriller tension that’s ratcheted so tightly at times, you almost need to put the book aside and take a breather.”

Could this be Jane’s third time as a winner?

 

The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh

Steve Cavanagh was nominated for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year in 2019 for Twisted, and last year, 2020, for Fifty-Fifty. In The Devil’s Advocate, he continues his popular Eddie Flynn series, sending Eddie into America’s Deep South. Steve has achieved great success with his novels, becoming an International Award-Winning & Bestselling Author. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel.

Steve is a practicing lawyer and co-hosts the chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. The Irish Independent review of The Devil’s Advocate says, “Cavanagh has outdone himself with The Devil’s Advocate. Intense and intoxicating, it gets to the heart of a remote town, rife with racism and corruption. The compelling plot is expertly crafted with plenty of unexpected twists, while the evocative writing places the reader right in the middle

 

All Her Fault by Andrea Mara

Andrea’s debut novel, The Other Side of the Wall, was an instant hit with readers, followed by One Click, which was shortlisted for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year in 2018. This is Andrea Mara’s second time in contention for the award.

All Her Fault takes place in a quiet Dublin suburb, as Marissa Irvine goes to pick up son Milo from a play date with a boy at his new school, but the woman who answers the door isn't a mother she recognises. She isn't the nanny. She doesn't have Milo. And so begins every parent's worst nightmare.

In the Irish Independent’s review of All Her Fault, it says, “If you’re a parent, there’s no way to read the opening chapter of All Her Fault without thinking ‘That could be me!’. In a few short pages Andrea Mara manages to take the soothingly – boringly! – normal and turn it into something terrifying. In just a few lines she dismantles the web of trust, the assumption of security, that surrounds so much of what we do with our children and shows how very fragile both those things are. The result is a story that is chilling and compelling.”

 

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard has previously been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year three times, initially for Distress Signals, then Rewind, which is being currently being developed for television, and in 2020, for The Nothing Man. Her second novel, The Liar’s Girl, was also a finalist for the prestigious 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel, and she has also been shortlisted for the John Creasey Blood Dagger Award, as well as being included in the Guardian’s list of 50 Great Thrillers by Women Written Since 1945.

56 Days will be her fourth nomination for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. The Irish Independent describes 56 Days as “a tricky, brilliantly entertaining — and very timely — thriller about Oliver and Ciara, who meet and hit it off just days before the first Covid lockdown was announced in March 2020. They decide to see out the curfew in the throes of a passionate affair — but one, or both, of them is hiding some very dark secrets…”

 

YOU CAN VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE NOVEL  HERE

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Yay...copy edits are in!!!




YAY - Copy edits are in, and yes, I'm about THIS happy.....lovely feedback too from copy editor....so I may just treat myself to a chocolate donut!!

"Another stupendous novel….and what a tangled web of lies and deceit Louise has woven, and indeed, what a marvellous and talented storyteller she is - Gripping, compelling, absorbing, and so much more."

Phew!

Monday, August 23, 2021

THE HIDING GAME - GREAT NEWS!!!

A few months back I mentioned I had some Good News......Well today I can let you know, 'THE HIDING GAME', is currently under Option/In Development with a Major US Film & T.V. Production Company!!

(Let's out low scream of excitement!!)


A long way to go yet, but keep your fingers crossed!

#thehidinggame #goodnews #film #tv #crimefiction #irishcrimefiction

Friday, June 18, 2021

'In the Event of Contact' by Ethel Rohan is now published in Ireland & the U.K.

 "In the Event of Contact" by Irish writer Ethel Rohan has been published in Ireland and the UK this month!! I'm very familiar with Ethel's brilliant work, so I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!! This series of short stories has already received some amazing reviews, some of which are listed below.

You can order this delight online HERE 



ABOUT THE BOOK

In the Event of Contact contains fourteen gripping stories set in Ireland, England, and America. Stories from a singular survivor voice that chronicle crises of contact, various forms of injury, and characters making surprising bids for recovery.

Among them, a scrappy teen vies to be the next Sherlock Holmes; an immigrant daughter must defend her decision to remain childless; a guilt-ridden woman is haunted by the disappearance of her childhood friend; a cantankerous crossing guard celebrates getting run over by a truck; an embattled priest with dementia determines to perform a heroic, redemptive act, if he can only remember how; and an aspirational, angst-ridden mother captains the skies.

Amid backgrounds of trespass, absence, and necessity, the indelible characters of In the Event of Contact seek renewed belief in humanity and the remains of wonder. 

REVIEWS

“Terrific, insightful stories…through subtly wrought metaphors and similes, Rohan draws us beyond the accommodations [injured characters] have made in order to survive, and into the heart of their trauma…compelling this reader to marvel at how doggedly so many of us recreate and repeat our trauma…[an] extremely fine collection.” The Irish Times

 

In the Event of Contact is a timely read about the importance of connecting with other people on our own terms.” BITCH Magazine Selected Feminist Reads for 2021 


“Through her brilliant storytelling, Rohan explores the deep desire for human relationships, and the physical or psychological distances that affect them.”  Booklist

 

“Social distancing marked the lonely horror that was this year; paradoxically a demonstration of how affection and empathy for our fellow humans required us to retreat into ourselves, connection now defined by the absence of contact. Ethel Rohan’s book of short stories examines something similar in its evocation of what connection or its lack can do to us. In the Event of Contact is a loving homage to humanity in all its complexity.” The Millions

 

“A striking collection about loners.” Publisher’s Weekly

 

“The stories straddle the faultlines of the lives of their characters and as a collection quietly and subtly accumulate a potency that by the end leaves the reader breathless.” The Westmeath Independent

 

 “A taut and melancholy meditation on human (dis)connection in overlooked places and among underseen people.” San Francisco Chronicle

 

 “Rohan excels in the movement of characters, positioning them as efficiently as a stage manager. She knows at precisely which scene the Peters and the Dohertys of the world should enter, and she understands the limited space she is working with. This control ensures that her stories are never at a loss for momentum…Rohan captures the emigrant experience for what it is, a process of becoming an alien in two countries — and as glad as her characters might be that they left, they understand that everywhere has become, in some way, a separate world, in which there will still also be men.” Necessary Fiction

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

An Introduction to Crime Fiction Writing with Louise Phillips!!!

 



THIS IS GOING TO BOOK UP VERY FAST....so if interested click on the link below and register for this FREE ONLINE CRIME FICTION WORKSHOP happening next Monday and Tuesday evening!!!....

An Introduction to Crime Writing with Louise Phillips

Join one of Ireland’s most successful crime writers for this two part introduction to crime writing. This is an adult event, participants must be 18+ years. Louise Phillips is the author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers. Her debut novel Red Ribbons and her subsequent novels, The Doll’s House, Last Kiss and The Game Changer, were each nominated for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. She won the award in 2013.

These classes will take place through Zoom. You must be able to attend both sessions.

You can book your place HERE

 

Thursday, April 15, 2021

CWA Dagger Awards Longlists Announced!!!

The CWA Dagger Awards Longlists has been announced, and HUGE CONGRATS to all the authors including IRISH AUTHORS, CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD - THE NOTHING MAN, MICHAEL RUSSELL - THE CITY UNDER SIEGE,  JAX MILLER - HELL IN THE HEARTLAND,  and JOHN BANVILLE - SNOW!!


 


The world-famous Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre, and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

Past winners of the prestigious Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the crime novel of the year, include Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Reginald Hill and Ruth Rendell. This year sees 2019’s winner of the Gold Dagger, M W Craven, return with The Curator. The former probation officer credited the CWA Debut Dagger competition in 2013 for opening the door to his career as an author.

Amer Anwar, who won the Debut Dagger competition in 2008, makes the list with Stone Cold Trouble. Anwar is up against the mighty JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, alongside multi-award-winning authors including Nicci French, Elly Griffiths and Antonia Hodgson.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is famed for showcasing blockbuster thrillers – past winners include Gillian Flynn and Robert Harris. Robert Galbraith is once more in the running, along with Ian Rankin, Stuart Turton, Catherine Ryan Howard, Ruth Ware and Michael Robotham, last year’s Gold winner.

Holly Watt, who won the Fleming Dagger in 2019, also returns to the longlist with The Dead Line.  Another to watch on the Fleming longlist is Chris Whitaker; his book Tall Oaks won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2017. Whitaker is long-listed for his latest novel We Begin At The End, which was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and has sold in 17 territories, with screen rights snapped up by Disney.

Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The CWA Dagger awards are unparalleled for their reputation and longevity. The longlists showcase authors – established and new – at the top of their game. It’s not surprising that sales of crime fiction have been so strong during Covid-19. Both fiction and non-fiction have proven to be a great escape for many as we have been stuck at home. As our longlists show, these stories and insights take readers all over the world and through time, from Bombay of the 1950s to ancient Athens to modern-day California and many points between. 

“Crime books can be thrilling mysteries, but they can also provide social commentary, insights into true crime, or explore big questions in life. The vast and diverse talent in these longlists show why it’s the UK’s most popular and enduring genre. We are proud to provide a platform for debut, emerging and established authors, and to honour the very best in crime writing.”

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. Among the rising stars of 2021 is Susan Allot with her Australian-set debut, The Silence, praised by the Wall Street Journal as ‘emotionally wrenching’.

New writing duo Chris Rickaby and Barney Thompson, writing under the pseudonym Ben Creed, also feature with their debut, City of Ghosts, a tense historical novel set in 1951 Russia. The global theme continues with Stephanie Scott’s accomplished debut, What’s Left of Me Is Yours, set in modern day Japan, exploring romantic and familial love, duty and murder.

Booker prize winner John Banville is a heavyweight contender on the Sapere Books Historical Dagger longlist. The prizewinning novelist and literary polymath, considered Ireland’s greatest living novelist, is in the running for Snow, his first murder mystery published under his real name rather than his nom de plume, Benjamin Black.

This Sapere Books Historical Dagger longlist also includes Nicola Upson, who was shortlisted for the award in 2018, and S J Parris, whose Giordano Bruno books, Heresy, Sacrilege and Treachery have all been previously shortlisted. Vaseem Khan also features on the list as he swaps his contemporary light-hearted Baby Ganesh Agency series with his historical crime novel Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1950s Bombay.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger sees the bestselling Jo Nesbo on the list with his stand-alone thriller, The Kingdom, translated by Robert Ferguson. Joining the Norwegian is Swedish writer Mikael Niemi with his sumptuous blend of historical fact with fictional intrigue, To Cook a Bear, centred around the Laestadian revivalist movement of the 1850s, translated by Sarah Death.

From one of Israel’s most beloved writers is Three by D A Mishani, translated by Jessica Cohen, and from South Korea, Yun Ko-eun’s original and inventive thriller The Disaster Tourist makes the longlist, with translator Lizzie Buehler.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Christopher Fowler, the award-winning author of the Bryant & May mystery novels, has written over 50 novels and short story collections. Fowler, who won the CWA Dagger in the Library in 2015, is longlisted for his short story, Head Count. The list also features acclaimed authors Clare Mackintosh and Stuart Turton. Founding member of the North East Noir crime writers’ group, Robert Scragg, also dominates the category as an editor and writer of short stories.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction features the 2020 CWA Diamond Dagger winner, Martin Edwards, with Howdunit. A renowned editor, prolific novelist, and leading authority on crime fiction, Howdunit offers a masterclass in crime writing by leading exponents of the genre.

Dan Smith also features with The Peer and the Gangster which tells the incredible story of one of the largest-scale political cover-ups in British history – the 1964 scandal of an alleged homosexual affair between Lord Boothby, a well-known member of the House of Lords, and London’s most notorious mobster Ronnie Kray.

The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year sees firm favourites from the genre including Nicci French, Lisa Jewell, Margaret Murphy, Erin Kelly, Peter May and Denise Mina on the longlist.

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, pits big publishing houses Harper Fiction and Faber & Faber against independent publishers such as No Exit Press. 

The CWA Dagger shortlist will be announced in May with the awards ceremony taking place at the start of July. The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, has already been announced, awarded to Martina Cole.

The Longlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

Amer Anwar: Stone Cold Trouble (Dialogue Books, Little, Brown Book Group)

S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group)

M W Craven: The Curator (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction, Welbeck Publishing Group)

Garry Disher: Peace (Viper, Profile Books)

Mick Finlay: Arrowood and the Thames Corpses (HQ, HarperCollins)

Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)

Antonia Hodgson: The Silver Collar (Hodder & Stoughton)

S G Maclean: The House of Lamentations (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)

C D Major: The Other Girl (Thomas & Mercer)

Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown, Little, Brown Book Group)

S J Parris: Execution (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)

Tade Thompson: Making Wolf (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)

Rebecca Whitney: The Hidden Girls (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

 

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Charles Cumming: Box 88 (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ryan Gattis: The System (Picador, Pan Macmillan)

Ian Rankin: Song for the Dark Times (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

Rod Reynolds: Blood Red City (Orenda Books)

Craig Robertson: Watch Him Die (Simon & Schuster)

Michael Robotham: When She Was Good (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Catherine Ryan Howard: The Nothing Man (Atlantic Books)

Stuart Turton: The Devil and the Dark Water (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ruth Ware: One by One (Harvill Secker, Vintage)

Holly Watt: The Dead Line (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier Books UK) 

 

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda)

Susan Allott: The Silence (Borough, HarperCollins)

Emma Christie: The Silent Daughter (Welbeck Publishing                )

Catherine Cooper: The Chalet (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Publishing)   

Judi Daykin: Under Violent Skies (Joffe Books)    

Egan Hughes: The One That Got Away (Little Brown, Sphere)

S W Kane: The Bone Jar (Thomas & Mercer)         

Rob McInroy: Cuddies Strip (Ringwood Press)     

Stephanie Scott: What's Left of Me Is Yours (Orion, Weidenfeld)

Stephen Spotswood: Fortune Favours the Dead (Headline, Wildfire)

John Vercher: Three Fifths (Pushkin Press)           

S R White: Hermit (Headline)

 

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

J M Alvey: Justice for Athena (Canelo Digital Publishing Limited)

John Banville: Snow (Faber)

Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)

Laurie King: Riviera Gold (Allison & Busby)

Chris Lloyd: The Unwanted Dead (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

S J Parris: Execution (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Pastor: The Night of Shooting Stars (Bitter Lemon Press)

Michael Russell: The City Under Siege (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

David S. Stafford: Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons (Allison & Busby)

A D Swanston: Chaos (Bantam Press, Transworld)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

 

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Fredrik Backman: Anxious People, translated by Neil Smith (Michael Joseph, Penguin)

Roxanne Bouchard: The Coral Bride, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)

Marc Elsberg: Greed, translated by Simon Pare (Black Swan, Penguin)

Yun Ko-eun: The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent's Tail)

Volker Kutscher: The March Fallen, translated by Niall Sellar (Sandstone Press)

D A Mishani: Three, translated by Jessica Cohen (Riverrun, Hachette Book Group)

Jo Nesbo: The Kingdom, translated by Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Penguin)

HÃ¥kan Nesser: The Secret Life of Mr Roos, translated by Sarah Death (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Mikael Niemi: To Cook a Bear, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (Maclehose Press, Quercus)

Agnes Ravatn:  The Seven Doors, translated by Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books)

Maike Wetzel: Elly, translated by Lyn Marven (Scribe UK)

 

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Robert Scragg: ‘A Dog is for Life, Not Just for Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Elle Croft: ‘Deathbed’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Dominic Nolan: ‘Daddy Dearest’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Adam Southward: ‘Especially at Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Christopher Fowler: ‘Head Count’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Victoria Selman: ‘Hunted’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Stuart Turton: ‘Murder Most Vial’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Livia Llewelyn: ‘One of These Nights’ in Cutting Edge: Noir Stories by Women, edited by Joyce Carol Oates (Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo)

James Delargy: ‘Planting Nan in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Simpson Grears: ‘The Foot of the Walk Murders’ in The Foot of the Walk Murders, edited by Simpson Grears (Rymour Books)

 

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday, Penguin)

Amanda Brown: The Prison Doctor; Women Inside (HQ, HarperCollins)

Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close (William Heinemann, Penguin)

Martin Edwards: Howdunit (Collins Crime Club, HarperCollins)

Andrew Harding: These Are Not Gentle People (MacLehose, Quercus)

Debora Harding: Dancing with the Octopus (Profile Books Limited)

Nick Hayes: The Book of Trespass (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ben MacIntyre: Agent Sonya (Viking, Penguin)

Jax Miller: Hell in the Heartland (HarperCollins)

Daniel Smith: The Peer and the Gangster (The History Press)

Ravi Somaiya: Operation Morthor (Viking, Penguin)

Kate Summerscale: The Haunting of Alma Fielding (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Mark Townsend: No Return (Guardian, Faber & Faber)

 

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Lin Anderson

Nicci French

Lisa Jewell

Erin Kelly

Peter May

Denise Mina

Margaret Murphy

James Oswald

L J Ross

C L Taylor

 

 

Monday, April 5, 2021

6 Weeks Crime Writing Course with Louise Phillips!!!




This is going to book up like hot cakes.....

Louise Phillips' 6 week Crime Fiction course for residents of South Dublin County

FREE

Register your interest NOW!

Limited Places.....

BOOK HERE


Friday, March 26, 2021

CWA Presents - Walking Through A Crime Scene!

Don't miss out on these great online events- booking details for Part 1 below, and Part 2 & 3 at the end of the post.



 

APRIL 22 @ 7:30 PM

PART 1 – ‘SECURING THE SCENE’ WITH GRAHAM BARTLETT AND KATE BENDELOW

Learn with the Crime Experts
22 April 7.30pm

Tickets: http://bit.ly/SecureTheScene

 

The CWA minds behind February’s Blending Fact and Fiction have put together a thrilling three-part series: Walking Through A Crime Scene.

Accuracy underpins plausibility in any novel, and in crime fiction, it’s imperative not to make any mistakes. The CWA’s bestselling author Sam Blake and Crime Fiction PhD student Luke Deckard are bringing an ex-senior police officer, a CSI officer, a forensic expert and a pathologist to a screen near you to describe their role and answer your questions.

Wherever you are in your writing career, discover up-to-the-minute techniques that will inspire and guide you in this fascinating series. Research is crucial to writing believable crime, and in this series, the CWA bring you the experts who can help make that easier.

At this open discussion and Q&A you will learn who’s involved, who’s responsible for what, and crucially, what can go wrong at a crime scene!

Graham Bartlett and Kate Bendelow join forces to show you exactly what happens at a crime scene, who is involved, who is responsible for what, and the series of events that transpire from that 999 call and the first officer arriving on the scene. Who does what when? And crucially, what can go wrong?

Graham Bartlett
 was a UK police officer in Sussex for thirty years. He mainly policed the city of Brighton and Hove, rising to become its police commander. On the way, he was a homicide senior investigating officer and led on managing dangerous offenders, sexual offences, domestic violence, child protection and hate crime. He was a qualified strategic firearms and public order commander, leading the policing of many armed operations, large scale protests and sporting events.

Since retiring, he has become a police procedural and crime advisor helping scores of authors and TV writers (including Peter James, Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths and Dorothy Koomson) achieve authenticity alongside their drama. He works flexibly with authors at all stages of their writing career and adopts an ethos of ‘creativity with credibility.’ Graham runs a series of hugely popular online courses and workshops under the banner of ‘Crime Writing: Making it Real’. He is also a best-selling crime writer, with two non-fiction books – Death Comes Knocking and Babes in the Wood – to his name, and a crime novel in the pipeline.

Kate Bendelow
 is a serving Crime Scene Investigator with 18 years of experience. She has worked on thousands of crime scenes including rapes, robberies and murders. Kate can provide you with an insight into what really goes on behind the crime scene tape. She can tell you who is allowed access, how evidence types are recovered and how long DNA, fingerprints and toxicology samples take to be analysed.

Kate can share what it is really like to work with death and come face to face with some of the most heinous criminals – from the practical to the emotive. She is also a writer and the author of The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers and has a novel out in May 2021.
Hosted by Sam Blake and Luke Deckard.

Tickets £5.00 per session. (Spaces are limited)

CWA members are entitled to free tickets. For your promo code, see details in News & Events in the members section or contact Admin.

Next events in the series are 20 May & 24 June

Part 2 – Murder Under the Microscope with Dr Jim Fraser
20 May 7.30pm – Tickets: http://bit.ly/MurderUnderMicroscope

Part 3 – Pathology Opened Up with Dr Marie Cassidy
24 June 7.30pm – Tickets: http://bit.ly/pathologyopenedup


Wednesday, March 3, 2021

International Women's Day Event



If anyone is interested in signing up for this FREE event on the 8th March see link below for booking....


https://www.sdcc.ie/en/events/library-events/popular-library-events/an-evening-with-louise-phillips.html

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Ireland Reads Day!!!

 



My read or rather re-read for Ireland Read Day is TATTY by Christine Dwyer Hickey - Being a Dublin girl it's one of my all time favourites...plus it was Dublin's One City One Book Choice 2020 so for perfect for today

#irelandreads

#irelandreadsday

#Dublin

#reading

#tatty

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Martina Cole Wins CWA Diamond Dagger Award!!



Martina Cole is the recipient of the highest honour in British crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger.

The long-reigning Queen of Crime Drama is a publishing powerhouse. Martina has written 25 novels, all published by Headline, seventeen of which reached No.1 and her books have collectively spent over 4 years in the bestseller charts. Total sales stand at over 17 million copies, making her Britain’s bestselling female crime writer and with The Faithless she became the first British female adult audience novelist to break the £50 million sales mark since Nielsen Bookscan records began.  Her books have been translated into 31 languages and adapted for multiple stage plays and television series. 

Martina’s own story is as remarkable as any bestseller plot. Martina grew up on an Essex council estate and Ronnie and Reggie Kray once visited her family’s home when she was a child.

The youngest of five children in a large, poor, Irish Catholic family, she attended a convent school, where her struggle against authority started; this culminated in two expulsions. She finished school at 15 with no qualifications; was married at 16, divorced at 17 and pregnant at 18. A single mum, she struggled to bring up her son, Chris, taking on waitressing jobs.

Aged 21, she lost both her parents and started to write her iconic debut novel, Dangerous Lady, but it wasn’t until she was 30 that she gave up her job and decided to devote herself seriously to writing and finished the manuscript. Dangerous Lady caused a sensation when it was published in 1992 – and the rest is history.

Martina is a passionate advocate for prisoner rehabilitation and visits prisons to give writing classes. She often quips to her classes: ‘there’s one thing you’ve got that all writers want – time’. It’s therefore no surprise her books are the most requested in Her Majesty’s prison libraries, and the most stolen from bookshops.

The Diamond Dagger award recognises authors whose crime-writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to crime fiction writing.

The CWA Diamond Dagger is selected from nominations provided by CWA members. Martina Cole joins icons of the genre who have been recognised with the accolade, including Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, Lindsey Davies, Peter Lovesey, and John Le Carré.

Martina said: “It means so much to me to be receiving this prestigious award from my peers at the CWA. I can’t believe it’s nearly thirty years since Dangerous Lady was published - some people dismissed me as an Essex girl and a one-book wonder – but as one of my favourite songs goes: ‘I’m still here’!”

Linda Stratmann, Chair of the CWA, said: “We are delighted to award the Diamond Dagger to a crime-writing legend.”

Maxim Jakubowski, Hon CWA Vice Chair, said: “A much-overdue reward for a major crime author who has often been badly overlooked by the critical establishment. Martina has single-handedly created a new crime genre and brought so many new readers on board, and has always been a vocal supporter of her fellow writers in word and deed.”

Thursday, February 18, 2021

WHO KILLED EDEN MULLIGAN?

A MASSIVE CONGRATS to Sharon Dempsey whose novel 'WHO TOOK EDEN MULLIGAN' is out today! It's been getting great reviews and I for one can't wait to get reading, especially with the amazing blurb below.....


 ‘A dark, disturbing and gripping read ... Sharon Dempsey will be one to watch!’ Claire Allan, USA Today bestselling author

‘They’re dead. They’re all dead. It’s my fault. I killed them.’

Those are the words of Iona Gardener, who stands bloodied and staring as she confesses to the murder of four people in a run-down cottage outside of Belfast.

Outside the cottage, five old dolls are hanging from a tree. Inside the cottage, the words “WHO TOOK EDEN MULLIGAN?” are graffitied on the wall, connecting the murder scene with the famous cold case of Eden Mulligan, a mother-of-five who went missing during The Troubles.

But this case is different. Right from the start.

Because no one in the community is willing to tell the truth, and the only thing DI Danny Stowe and forensic psychologist Rose Lainey can be certain of is that Iona Gardener’s confession is false....

A creepy, gritty and very compelling crime novel, perfect for fans of Patricia Gibney, Angela Marsons and Jane Casey.

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Mystery Writers of America Announces 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations!

Mystery Writers of America, as they celebrate the 212th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, announce the nominees for the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2020.

The 75th Annual Edgar® Award Winners will be celebrated on April 29, 2021.

And of course I'm delighted to see "Guilt Rules All" - Irish Mystery, Detective, and Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Mannion & Brian Cliff being on the shortlist for Best Critical/Biographical, in which Rosemary Johnsen has written a critical piece on my fictional character Dr. Kate Pearson.

Congrats to all the nominees!

M.W.A. SHORTLIST

BEST NOVEL

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
The Distant Dead by Heather Young


BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
 
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel


BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
 
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman
Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey
The Keeper by Jessica Moor
East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

BEST FACT CRIME

Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre

Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch

Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife by Ariel Sabar
 

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
 
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club edited by Martin Edwards
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane
Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery & Fiction by Erin E. MacDonald
Guilt Rules All:  Irish Mystery, Detective, and Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Mannion & Brian Cliff 
This Time Next Year We'll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear
 

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Leslie Elman
"Dust, Ash, Flight," Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste
"Fearless," California Schemin' by Walter Mosley
"Etta at the End of the World," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Joseph S. Walker 
"The Twenty-Five Year Engagement," In League with Sherlock Holmes by James W. Ziskin

 

BEST JUVENILE

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor
Nessie Quest by Melissa Savage

Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders
 
 
BEST YOUNG ADULT
 
The Companion by Katie Alender
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
They Went Left by Monica Hesse
Silence of Bones by June Hur
The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"Episode 1, The Stranger" – Harlan Coben's The Stranger
"Episode 1, Open Water" – The Sounds
"Episode 1, Photochemistry" – Dead Still
"Episode 1" - Des
"What I Know" – The Boys
 
 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"The Bite," Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft

 

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD 


Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day
The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Cold Wind by Paige Shelton

 

THE G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
 
The Burn by Kathleen Kent
Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht
Dead Land by Sara Paretsky
The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tuti
Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER
Jeffery Deaver
Charlaine Harris

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf

The Edgar Awards, or "Edgars," as they are commonly known, are named after MWA's patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents.

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