Cry Havoc, And Let Sleep The Dogs Of War

Mark O’Sullivan’s CROCODILE TEARS was one of the most impressive debuts I read last year, so I’m looking forward to reading his follow-up title, SLEEPING DOGS (Transworld Ireland), when it appears in April. To wit:

Gangland boss Harry Larkin has taken three bullets and lies dying in a Dublin hospital. Amongst his delusional ravings to Senior Ward Nurse Eveleen Morgan, one name stands out: Detective Inspector Leo Woods. Harry’s message for his old ‘friend’ Leo: find my daughter Whitney.
  Leo is drawn into the murky world of the Larkin family, a hell he thought he had escaped from thirty years earlier. With the help of Detective Sergeant Helen Troy, his search for Whitney turns up more questions than answers, more darkness than light. Who shot Harry Larkin? What secrets are the Larkins hiding? Is there a connection with the young hit-and-run victim lying beside Harry in the intensive care unit? Why is a Libyan intern at the hospital taking such an interest? And is Leo himself compromised by his past affair with Harry’s wife, Liz?
  While Woods and Troy struggle with the truth about a family built on deception, the search for Whitney becomes increasingly desperate. Leo is looking to the future, and a tentative relationship with Eveleen - but the past won’t let him go that easily.

  For all the details, clickety-click here …

Spare Not The Corpses, James

Irish crime fiction fans will be spoiled for choice next Tuesday evening, June 25th, when two of the biggest names in international crime writing arrive into Dublin.
  Peter James (right) will be appearing at Hodges Figgis in the company of Irish writers Niamh O’Connor and Mark O’Sullivan, where the trio will be reading from their own work and chatting about crime writing in general. Peter has just published the latest Roy Grace novel, DEAD MAN’S TIME, while Niamh will publish WORSE CAN HAPPEN in August. Mark, an award-winning children’s author, recently published his crime fiction debut, CROCODILE TEARS. The event kicks off at Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street at 6.30pm.
  Meanwhile, as I mentioned last week, Jeffrey Deaver will be appearing at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, where he will be discussing his new Lincoln Rhyme novel, THE KILL ROOM, with John Connolly. I’ve read THE KILL ROOM in the interim, and it’s a fascinating piece of work. Jeffrey also contributed a terrific piece on John D. MacDonald’s THE EXECUTIONERS to BOOKS TO DIE FOR, which John edited, so that should be a cracking conversation on the crime novel. For all the details, clickety-click here …