“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, May 19, 2009

Sheila, Take A Bow

I was on my way to take part in a panel on Saturday at Bristol’s Crime Fest when I met Sheila Quigley (right) on the stairs, coming back from the swimming pool. “You’d want to get downstairs for a swim, son,” she says, “you look like shite.” Nice.
  I’d come across Sheila’s name before, and presumed with a moniker like that she was an Irish crime writer, only to find she’s a Sunderland lass going back generations – it’s her husband who brings the ‘Quigley’ element to the party. Anyway, as of last weekend, I’m officially adopting Sheila Quigley as an Irish crime writer under the ‘married-to-bloke-who-has-an-Irish-grandfather’ rule, mainly because she’s so shy and retiring and seems to need someone to speak up on her behalf (koff) …
  So – the business end of things. Sheila’s current novel is EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE, but THE ROAD TO HELL is due in November, from indie publisher Tonto Books, which has this for its manifesto: “To help support and nurture writers and value them as an integral part of the publishing industry.” Y’know, it’s so damn crazy it might just work …

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds just like Sheila; she was great, wasn't she!

Anonymous said...

She won't be voting for you, then.

Donna said...

LOL - I can just imagine her saying it. She's brilliant. And she obviously knows what she's talking about since she told ME I looked 10 years younger than last year...mind you, she might have meant I looked about 90 last year...
Donna

sheila quigley said...

I LOVE YOU SON.
I did vote for you the other day but it wouldn't let me do it again today, clever buggers these machines.
Also you forgot about my sat nav with sexy Irish voice. Whom I constantly argue with on long journeys.

Declan Burke said...

Sheila, love, those sexy Irish voices ... they're all in your head. Worst thing is, they're always bloody right ...

Donna? It's your shoes. Next year I'm wearing kitten heels ...

Cheers, Dec