“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, April 9, 2016

Publication: ALL THINGS NICE by Sheila Bugler

ALL THINGS NICE (Brandon), the third of Sheila Bugler’s novels to feature DI Ellen Kelly, was published on April 4th. To wit:
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.
  For more from Sheila Bugler, clickety-click here

Friday, April 8, 2016

One to Watch: LITTLE BONES by Sam Blake

Sam Blake is the pseudonym of Vanessa O’Loughlin, the founder of writing.ie, who makes her publishing debut with LITTLE BONES (twenty7), the first of a series featuring kick-boxing Garda Cathy ‘Cat’ Connolly. To wit:
Twenty-four-year-old Garda Cathy Connolly might be a fearless kick-boxing champion but when she discovers a baby’s bones concealed in the hem of a wedding dress, the case becomes personal.
  For artist Zoe Grant, the bones are another mysterious twist in her mother’s disappearance. Then her grandmother, head of the Grant Valentine department store empire is found dead, and a trail of secrets is uncovered that threatens to shake a dynasty.
  In a story that moves from London’s East End to the Las Vegas mafia, one thing is certain – for Cat, life will never be the same again.
  LITTLE BONES will be published on May 17th. For more, clickety-click here

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

First Look: THE CONSTANT SOLDIER by William Ryan

William Ryan established his fine reputation as the author of a series of police procedurals set in Stalin-era Moscow, but THE CONSTANT SOLDIER (Mantle), while still historical fiction, takes him in something of a new direction. To wit:
1944. Paul Brandt, a soldier in the German army, returns wounded and ashamed from the bloody chaos of the Eastern front to find his village home much changed and existing in the dark shadow of an SS rest hut - a luxurious retreat for those who manage the concentration camps, run with the help of a small group of female prisoners who - against all odds - have so far survived the war.
  When, by chance, Brandt glimpses one of these prisoners, he realizes that he must find a way to access the hut. For inside is the woman to whom his fate has been tied since their arrest five years before, and now he must do all he can to protect her.
  But as the Russian offensive moves ever closer, the days of this rest hut and its SS inhabitants are numbered. And while hope - for Brandt and the female prisoners - grows tantalizingly close, the danger too is now greater than ever.
  And, in a forest to the east, a young female Soviet tank driver awaits her orders to advance …
  THE CONSTANT SOLDIER will be published on August 25th. For more, clickety-click here

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Publication: TWISTED RIVER by Siobhan MacDonald

Cork-born but Limerick-based, Siobhan MacDonald published her debut thriller TWISTED RIVER (Penguin) on March 22nd. To wit:
She would never have fit as neatly into the trunk of his own car …
  Limerick, Ireland: the O’Brien family’s driveway. American Oscar Harvey opens the trunk of his hosts car and finds the body of a woman, beaten and bloody. But let’s start at the beginning …
  Kate and Mannix O’Brien live by Curragower Falls in Limerick, in a lovely house they can barely afford. Their autistic son Fergus is bullied at school, and their daughter Izzy blames herself, wishing she could protect him. Kate decides that her family needs a vacation, and is convinced her luck s about to change when she spots a gorgeous Manhattan apartment on a home-exchange website.
  Hazel and Oscar Harvey and their two children live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Though they seem successful and happy, Hazel has mysterious bruises, and Oscar is hiding things about his dental practice. They, too, need a change of pace. Hazel has always wanted her children to see her native Limerick, and the house swap offers a perfect chance to soothe two troubled marriages. But this will be anything but a perfect vacation. And the body in the trunk is just the beginning …
  It’s early days, but already TWISTED RIVER has been garnering very impressive reviews. For more, clickety-click here
  For Siobhan’s ‘Top Ten Irish Mysteries’ in Strand Magazine, clickety-click here

Monday, April 4, 2016

Publication: SIREN by Annemarie Neary

Annemarie Neary is best known as an award-winning short story writer, but her second novel, SIREN (Hutchinson), is a psychological thriller. To wit:
HE STOLE HER LIFE. AND NOW SHE WANTS IT BACK.
  Róisín Burns has spent the past twenty years becoming someone else; her life in New York is built on lies.
  A figure from her Belfast childhood flashes up on the news: Brian Lonergan has also reinvented himself. He is now a rising politician in a sharp suit. But scandal is brewing in Ireland and Róisín knows the truth.
  Armed with the evidence that could ruin Lonergan, she travels back across the Atlantic to the remote Lamb Island to hunt him down.
  But Lonergan is one step ahead; when Róisín arrives on the island, someone else is waiting for her …
SIREN was published on March 24th. For more, clickety-click here