Declan Burke: The Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Shortlist: Trumpet Please, Maestro

“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

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Shortlist: Trumpet Please, Maestro

The Irish Books Awards crime fiction shortlist was announced today, for novels published in the last twelve months, and there’s nary a sign of John Connolly, Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes or Adrian McKinty. Sacrilege! X 4! Happily, there is Alex Barclay (right) (BLOOD RUNS COLD), Arlene Hunt (UNDERTOW), Tana French (THE LIKENESS) and Brian McGilloway (GALLOWS LANE). Quoth the blurb elves:

We are delighted to announce the addition of a new category in the 2009 awards, the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award. Crime fiction ranks among the most vibrant genres in contemporary Irish publishing and the new award, adopted by one of our key media partners, Ireland AM, represents an exciting new addition to the Irish Book Awards.

To vote for your favourite, clickety-click here …

2 comments:

Peter Rozovsky said...: Some surprising omissions, but I have to think it's a good sign that the awards' organizers acknowledge crime fiction. That's more than some awards do.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/; March 31, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Janet Rudolph said...: Yep, I agree with Peter. It's great that crime fiction is recognized as literature.; April 1, 2009 at 12:12 AM