“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, June 17, 2017

Publication: THE LIAR by Steve Cavanagh

Published on May 18th, THE LIAR (Orion) is Steve Cavanagh’s third novel to feature his incorrigible New York attorney (and former con artist) Eddie Flynn (“Plotting that takes the breath away,” according to one Ian Rankin). Quoth the blurb elves:
IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE ...
  WHO IS DEADLIER ...
  Leonard Howell’s worst nightmare has come true: his daughter Caroline has been kidnapped. Not content with relying on the cops, Howell calls the only man he trusts to get her back.
  ... THE MAN WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH ...
  Eddie Flynn knows what it’s like to lose a daughter and vows to bring Caroline home safe. Once a con artist, now a hotshot criminal attorney, Flynn is no stranger to the shady New York underworld.
  ... OR THE ONE WHO BELIEVES A LIE?
  However, as he steps back into his old life, Flynn realizes that the rules of game have changed - and that he is being played. But who is pulling the strings? And is anyone in this twisted case telling the truth...?
  For more on Steve Cavanagh, clickety-click here

Friday, June 16, 2017

Publication: BAD BLOOD by Brian McGilloway

The fourth in Brian McGilloway’s increasingly impressive Derry-set series featuring DS Lucy Black, BAD BLOOD (Corsair) was published on May 18th. Quoth the blurb elves:
A young man is found in a riverside park, his head bashed in with a rock. The only clue to his identity is an admission stamp for the local gay club.
  DS Lucy Black is called in to investigate. As Lucy delves into the community, tensions begin to rise as the man’s death draws the attention of the local Gay Rights group to a hate-speech Pastor who, days earlier, had advocated the stoning of gay people and who refuses to retract his statement.
  Things become further complicated with the emergence of a far right group targeting immigrants in a local working class estate. As their attacks escalate, Lucy and her boss, Tom Fleming, must also deal with the building power struggle between an old paramilitary commander and his deputy that threatens to further enflame an already volatile situation.
  Hatred and complicity abound in the days leading up to the Brexit vote in McGilloway’s new Lucy Black thriller. Compelling and current, Bad Blood is an expertly crafted and acutely observed page-turner, delivering the punch that readers of LITTLE GIRL LOST have grown to expect.
  For the Financial Times’ review of BAD BLOOD, clickety-click here

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Publication: SILVER’S CITY by Maurice Leitch

Turnpike Books republish Maurice Leitch’s SILVER’S CITY, which won the Whitbread Prize on its original publication in 1981, describing it as ‘one of the most seminal fictional portraits of the Troubles’ and the novel which ‘introduced a new authenticity to the literature of Northern Ireland’. Quoth the blurb elves:
Belfast is Silver’s city. The city always made you pay for your dreams. Silver Steele, the folk-hero who fired the first shot of the Troubles, escapes from a prison cell into a city where he is remembered only in graffiti and finds a world where he is a symbol of a cause he no longer belongs to. Silver discovers that he has swapped a cell for the illusion of freedom: he is now the prisoner of Galloway, one of a new generation of gunmen. Against the background of a city at war, Silver and Galloway engage in a private duel to the death.
  For more on Maurice Leitch, clickety-click here

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Publication: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL by Andrea Mara

Andrea Mara published her debut thriller, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL (Poolbeg), on June 6th, with the blurb elves delivering what sounds like a gripping domestic noir set-up. To wit:
When Sylvia looks out her bedroom window at night and sees a child face down in the pond next door, she races into her neighbour’s garden. But the pond is empty, and no-one is answering the door.
  Wondering if night feeds and sleep deprivation are getting to her, she hurriedly retreats. Besides, the fact that a local child has gone missing must be preying on her mind. Then, a week later, she hears the sound of a man crying through her bedroom wall.
  The man living next door, Sam, has recently moved in. His wife and children are away for the summer and he joins them at weekends. Sylvia finds him friendly and helpful, yet she becomes increasingly uneasy about him.
  Then Sylvia’s little daughter wakes one night, screaming that there’s a man in her room. This is followed by a series of bizarre disturbances in the house.
  Sylvia’s husband insists it’s all in her mind, but she is certain it’s not - there’s something very wrong on the other side of the wall.
  For more on Andrea Mara, clickety-click here

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Launch: THE SWINGING DETECTIVE by Henry McDonald

Ireland correspondent for the Guardian and the Observer, Henry McDonald launches THE SWINGING DETECTIVE at No Alibis later this month. Quoth the blurb elves:
Set in Northern Ireland and Berlin, the novel takes us into the dark world of espionage, dirty dealing, journalism and the harsh reality of life in Berlin. Captain Peters is handed a video of a gruesome murder as he visits his favourite swinging cafe. Soon Berlin is in turmoil because of a serial killer leaving a trail of headless corpses while a populist leader surfs the crest of outrage to influence the upcoming mayoral elections. With the aid of a former girlfriend, Peters cuts a b-line for the murderer through the heady Berlin cast of seedy underworld figures, Russian mafia, corrupt politicians, neo-Nazis and Israeli avengers, but his private swinging life is starting to interfere with his investigation …
  The launch will take place at No Alibis, Belfast, on Thursday, June 22nd, at 6.30pm. The event is free, but you’ll need to book your ticket in advance here

Monday, June 12, 2017

One to Watch: THE ORPHANS by Annemarie Neary

Adding significantly to the number of Irish crime writers who also hold a Masters in Venetian Renaissance Art, Annemarie Neary publishes her third novel, THE ORPHANS (Hutchinson), in July. Quoth the blurb elves:
Eight-year-old Jess and her little brother were playing at the water’s edge when their parents vanished. For hours the children held hands and waited for them to return. But nobody ever came back. Years later, Jess has become a locker of doors. Now a lawyer and a mother, she is determined to protect the life she has built around her. But her brother Ro has grown unpredictable, elusive and obsessive. When new evidence suggests that their mother might be alive, Ro reappears, convinced that his sister knows more than she claims. And then bad things start to happen …
  THE ORPHANS will be published on July 27th. For more on Annemarie Neary, clickety-click here

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Event: Dalkey Noir with Liz Nugent, Jane Casey and Sinead Crowley

It’s not often I find myself urging people to visit a Masonic lodge, but the Dalkey Book Festival takes place next weekend, and the Masonic Lodge in Dalkey is where Liz Nugent, Sinead Crowley and Jane Casey will be holding court (like, seriously – there are actual thrones) and talking all things crime fiction on Saturday, June 17th, at 11.30am. To wit:
Join three phenomenally successful bestselling authors in one intimate room. Sinead Crowley’s latest thriller is partly set in (a fictionalised) Dalkey. Together with Jane Casey, author of the award-winning Maeve Kerrigan series, she will be talking to Liz Nugent about the rise and rise of the female thriller writers who dominate bestseller lists.
  For all the details, including how to book tickets, clickety-click here