“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

Monday, March 19, 2012

The At Last Girl

Jane Casey (right) is quietly becoming one of the stars of the Irish crime writing scene, penning London-set psychological thrillers - THE MISSING, THE BURNING, THE RECKONING - which feature the very likeable heroine DC Maeve Kerrigan. Her latest offering is another Maeve Kerrigan novel, THE LAST GIRL (Ebury Press / May 24th), and the blurb elves have been wittering thusly:
High summer. Wimbledon. 14-year-old Lydia Kennford returns home to discover the bodies of her mother and twin sister in the family living room, while her father, Philip, lies unconscious and bleeding in an upstairs bedroom. DC Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent begin to investigate, discounting a burglary quickly and focusing instead on Philip Kennford QC himself. There is no easy explanation for why he survived when the others were shown no mercy, and they suspect he might have staged the attack on himself after killing his wife and daughter. But Kennford is a self-possessed, intelligent man who knows criminal law inside out; proving that he’s guilty will be difficult.
  Jane Casey has twice been shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in the last couple of years, and gone home empty-handed each time. Will THE LAST GIRL become THE AT LAST GIRL, ands see her finally taking home the gong? Only time, that notoriously doity rat, will tell …

2 comments:

Peggy Ann said...

This series sounds very good. I have not read any of it yet but it is on my list of to read! Sounds to me like a great candidate for Masterpiece Mystery episodes! Thanks for sharing this. I really have to stop by more often:)

Jane Casey said...

Thanks, Declan! Very kind, as ever.