“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Great Scott

I mentioned earlier in the week that I’ll be interviewing Scott Turow in Dublin on November 11th – he’ll be appearing at Smock Alley in Temple Bar to promote his latest thriller, IDENTICAL (Mantle). The details run like this:
We are delighted to announce another event in our ongoing series of author talks with our neighbours, The Gutter Bookshop. Meet the bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow, who will be discussing his new thriller Identical, a gripping masterpiece of dark family rivalries, shadowy politics and hidden secrets.
The event will be chaired by award winning Irish crime writer Declan Burke.

  11th November @ 6pm in the Main Space

  Scott Turow is the author of nine best-selling works of fiction including Innocent, Presumed Innocent and The Burden of Proof, and two non-fiction books including One L, about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages, sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into film and television projects. He frequently contributes essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Playboy, and The Atlantic.
  For all the details, clickety-click here

Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival

The full line-up for November’s ‘Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival’ in Trinity College (see below) has been released, and it looks very much like this:

Friday 22 November (free tickets)

7.00pm-8.30pm: ‘A Short Introduction to Crime Fiction: Why We Write It, How We Write It, and Why We Read It’.
Panellists: Jane Casey, John Connolly, Alan Glynn, Declan Hughes, and Eoin McNamee.

Saturday 23 November (free tickets for daytime events)

10.00am-11.15am: ‘Historical Crime Fiction’.
Panelists: Kevin McCarthy, Eoin McNamee (chair), Stuart Neville, Peter Quinn, and Michael Russell.

11.30am-12.45am: ‘Irish Crime Fiction Abroad’.
Panelists: Declan Burke (chair), Jane Casey, John Connolly, Conor Fitzgerald, Alan Glynn, Arlene Hunt.

12.45pm-1.30pm: lunch

1.30-3.30pm: Surprise Film Screening

3.45pm-5pm: ‘Crime Fiction and Contemporary Ireland’.
Panelists: Paul Charles, Declan Hughes, Gene Kerrigan, Brian McGilloway (chair), Niamh O’Connor, Louise Phillips.

Saturday 23 November, Closing Event

6pm (doors open 5.30), Exam Hall, Trinity College (€6 tickets)
‘An Evening With Michael Connelly’.
John Connolly will be interviewing Michael, who will be signing books, including his newest novel The Gods of Guilt, which will have its Irish launch at this event.

Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival

I’m very much looking forward to ‘Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival’, which takes place at Trinity College Dublin over the weekend of November 22nd / 23rd. It should be a terrific event, blending as it does some new voices with established international best-sellers, although the highlight will undoubtedly be John Connolly in conversation with Michael Connelly (I believe Michael slips in under FIFA’s ‘grandparent rule’; his Irish roots are to be found in north Cork, I think).
  The blurb:
Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival
Trinity College Dublin and New York University are holding a festival devoted to Irish crime fiction, featuring more than a dozen of the most exciting Irish crime novelists. This will be a memorable event, devoted to a key genre of contemporary Irish writing, with a wide events, so please make plans to join us.
  Among the confirmed participants are Declan Burke, Jane Casey, Paul Charles, John Connolly, Conor Fitzgerald, Alan Glynn, Declan Hughes, Arlene Hunt, Kevin McCarthy, Brian McGilloway, Eoin McNamee, Niamh O’Connor, Louise Phillips, Peter Quinn, Michael Russell and Stuart Neville.
  We’re particularly pleased to announce that our weekend will conclude with a major event: for the Irish launch of his newest novel, The Gods of Guilt (Orion Books, November 2013), Michael Connelly will be interviewed by John Connolly.
  For all the details, including how to book tickets for the Michael Connelly event, clickety-click here

Friday, November 1, 2013

An Incite Job

One of the most interesting aspects of the Irish crime fiction sub-genre over the last couple of years has been the number of writers who have set their stories beyond these shores. David Graham’s debut thriller, INCITEMENT (Andromeda Publishing), is something of a globe-trotting affair, with stop-offs in Mexico, Miami and Kosovo. To wit:
A brutal conflict unleashed. Who stands to win? A bloody massacre at a Mexican heroin refinery; a Miami-bound freight ship hijacked for its cargo of illegal narcotics; the ruthless assassination of a Kosovar drug lord – a war has erupted between two drugs superpowers. As DEA agent Diane Mesi investigates she becomes convinced that the conflict is being orchestrated by an unknown third party. But she is marginalised by her colleagues and her judgement is challenged at every turn. Only if she can expose the truth will she be able to stop the violence and save her career. Michael Larsen is an ex-soldier and hired mercenary who has been contracted to fuel the conflict at every opportunity until it destroys both sides. As he battles his own demons, he hopes that by directing the violence he will attain some measure of redemption. But neither Mesi nor Larsen know the full extent of the forces at play or of what is truly at stake. As they each pursue their own resolution, the violence escalates and they become increasingly vulnerable to the dangers that stalk them.
  David will launch INCITEMENT at the Gutter Bookshop on November 8th, with festivities commencing at 6.30pm.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Stranger Danger

Michael Russell follows up last year’s debut THE CITY OF SHADOWS with another title featuring Garda Sergeant Stefan Gillespie, THE CITY OF STRANGERS (Avon) – and a very handsome cover it is, too. Quoth the blurb elves:
“The past didn’t only come up at you out of the ground in Ireland; it walked around the streets following you, and if you turned round to complain it spat in your face.”
  New York, 1939: A city of hope. A city of opportunity. A city hiding dark secrets …
  A brutal murder in an affluent suburb of Dublin and the unexplained death of an Irish diplomat in Manhattan … Garda Sergeant Stefan Gillespie is sent to America to bring a killer to justice, but his mission soon becomes part of an increasingly personal struggle.
  A chance encounter with an old friend draws him deep into a network of conspiracy, espionage and terror with disturbing connections to home. When he suddenly becomes part of an Irish woman’s bid for freedom from the clutches of a corrupt Manhattan power-broker, Stefan discovers that the war that is looming in Europe is already being played out on the streets of New York, with deadly consequences.
  In a time when people must make a stand for what they believe in, willingly or not, the stakes for Stefan Gillespie, and everything he holds dear, couldn’t be higher.
  Michael will be appearing at ‘Irish Crime Fiction: A Festival’ in Trinity College at the end of November. Meanwhile, for more on Michael and his novels, clickety-click here

Monday, October 28, 2013

Gone, Baby, Gone

Adrian McKinty publishes the third (and what he suggests will be the ‘swansong’) in his Norn Iron-set ‘Duffy’ series next March, said tome rejoicing in the title of IN THE MORNING I’LL BE GONE (Serpent’s Tail). Quoth the blurb elves:
It’s 1983 and Sean Duffy’s life has hit what looks like rock bottom. Humiliated by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and stripped of his rank, with no social life, no one to love, he is wasting his time away. He has no plan and no desire to get one. While Sean has sunk so low, his school friend - and rival - Dermot McCann has risen up the ranks of the IRA before being fitted up by the RUC and sent to serve at Her Majesty’s pleasure at the notorious Maze prison. So, when Sean gets a late-night call to duty because Dermot and his comrades have made a daring escape, all their history comes back to him. And as Sean stands at a road-block in the pouring rain, on a country lane in the dark, he has plenty of time to think about Dermot McCann. And he knows, with the chilly certainty of a fairy story, that their paths will cross again.
  For a flavour of the book, Adrian is offering the first six chapters of IN THE MORNING I’LL BE GONE over at his interweb lair. For all the details, clickety-click here

Derry’s Killer Books

Brian McGilloway is curating the ‘Killer Books’ event in Derry next month, which takes place under the aegis of the City of Culture 2013 and runs from November 1st to November 3rd. Brian took to Facebook a couple of days back to give a flavour of the event, which runs a lot like this:
“I’m hugely excited to be curating Killer Books at the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry, supported by Easons, from 1-3rd Nov. Guest authors include Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Colin Bateman, Stuart Neville, Claire McGowan, Declan Burke, Declan Hughes, Louise Phillips, William Ryan, John McAllister, Gerard Brennan, Andrew Pepper, Alan Glynn, Arlene Hunt, Paul Charles, Dave Barclay, Garbhan Downey, Des Doherty and more. I’ll also be launching HURT on Friday 1st in the Verbal Arts at 7pm. There will also be CSI demonstrations, Victorian murder tours of the city walls, story telling, special kids events and much, much more.”
  For details on how to book tickets, etc., contact the Verbal Arts Centre on 02871 266946.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Black Is This Year’s Black

Brian McGilloway’s LITTLE GIRL LOST, featuring PSNI DS Lucy Black, sold in excess of 300,000 e-books. Nice. The sequel, HURT (Constable & Robinson), has just been published, and the set-up runs a lot like this:
Late December. A sixteen-year- old girl is found dead on a train line. Detective Sergeant Lucy Black from the Public Protection Unit is called to identify the body. The murdered girl, Karen Hughes, having a father in prison and an alcoholic mother had no choice but to live in residential care and DS Black soon discovers the only clue to the girl’s movements are her mobile phone and social media - where her ‘friends’ may not be all they seem.
  Meanwhile, Black is still haunted by Mary Quigg’s death in a house fire over a year ago. Her pain is then intensified when she finds Mary’s grave vandalised - Black is deeply upset and spurred on in her pledge to find the man she knows is responsible for the fire. But Lucy has to tread carefully: with a new DI to contend with, and her fractious mother, the Assistant Chief Constable, looking over her shoulder, she can’t afford to make a mistake...
  The stunning sequel to the number one bestseller LITTLE GIRL LOST, HURT is a tense crime thriller about the abuse of power, and how the young and vulnerable can fall prey to those they should be able to trust.
  Brian will be launching HURT at 7pm in Derry’s Verbal Arts Centre next Friday, November 1st, as part of the ‘Killer Books’ festival.