Louise Phillips's Blog, page 29
May 17, 2016
Unchartered Waters – Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard!
What happens when a person goes missing and there is no evidence of murder? It’s nothing more than an unexplained disappearance, or is it?
That’s the premise for the debut novel from Catherine Ryan Howard, author of the recently published crime thriller, DISTRESS SIGNALS (Corvus). Here, the potential scene of the crime is an unusual location, a cruise liner where maritime laws have their own distinct idiosyncrasies and the normal rules of investigative policing don’t apply.
When Adam Dunne’s girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return home from a business trip, her disappearance brings up many unanswered questions. Adam meets a series of obstacles, not least of which is the lack of belief from the police, and others, that Sarah hasn’t simply decided to be somewhere else. His unwillingness to accept this puts him on a collision course with a deadly predator, who may have discovered the perfect hunting ground.
Written in clear, crisp prose, DISTRESS SIGNALS, is a formidable debut, with short chapters, adding a page turning quality that will propel the reader forward. Skilfully plotted, with well-paced suspense, each segment pulls you further into unraveling this jigsaw of secrets. A warmth and empathy for the principle protagonist and sundry characters is skilfully woven in this tale, forged with vibrant dialogue that brings each of the main players wonderfully to life. Enjoyable throughout. A perfect holiday read.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
May 15, 2016
Flawed, Steely and Vulnerable - Sunday Business Post.....
THANK YOU Sunday Business Post for picking THE GAME CHANGER in Splendid Summer Reads....and very happy to see it as 1 of only 4 books marked as STAR READS......
"Phillips delivers a terrific, layered storyline and in Kate she develops a realistic, sympathetic protagonist: flawed, steely and vulnerable. The transatlantic nature of the plot elevates the novel beyond the parochial. A gripping detective thriller."
May 13, 2016
Today is one of those first days!!
Today is the first day any of my books have been part of a discounted eBook promotion!
Both RED RIBBONS & THE DOLL'S HOUSE are available (but ONLY for the next couple of days) at €2.49
VISIT LINK HERE: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Qu...
(p.s. The Doll's House won the Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year)
PLEASE share if you can, or if you fancy a read, do order!!
May 8, 2016
Homeless Hotel - The Irish Times
HOMELESS HOTEL by Louise Phillips(Published by The Irish Times 26th April 2016)
My name is Keeva. I am seven years old. I live in a hotel with my family because we don’t have a proper home. Some people think living in a hotel is good, but it isn’t. Before we came here, we slept in a car for three nights. When it got dark, we were freezing, and Dad said it was an adventure, and made us laugh. He used to laugh a lot, but he doesn’t do that anymore.A few days ago, teacher asked everyone to draw a picture of their house. I held a chunky blue crayon tight in my hand, and started with the sky. That bit was easy, then I got stuck. I don’t remember our old house. I only remember bits of it, like the washing machine and other stuff we don’t have anymore. My mind went blank, like the telly, when you turn it off with the remote control, and everything is dark and quiet. I looked at my friends drawing, and I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be anyone other than me.I understand what ‘ashamed’ means. It means not being as good as everybody else, being different, but not in a nice way. I’d like to be ordinary again, instead of being a homeless person. I told my sister what happened at school. She said I should have drawn a made-up house, because nobody would know it was a lie, but I didn’t want to.We don’t have a kitchen in our hotel room. In the mornings I eat my cereal in bed. Then I get two buses to school. It’s a long walk too, and sometimes I’m tired even though it’s early. Mam says we live in a dump, but it’s not really a dump, because the rubbish is put in bins.There are two beds and a cot in the room. Mam and Dad sleep in one, and I sleep with my sister in the other. My baby brother Sean has the cot. He cries a lot, especially at night. Mam says he’s sick because Dad has him stuck in the room all day, but Dad is stuck there too, especially if it’s raining. The room isn’t big. There is a television, a wardrobe and a small fridge in it. The fridge makes a funny sound, and it used to keep me awake, but that’s fine now.Some people stay in the hotel for a holiday. They have suitcases on wheels. I see them eating food in the restaurant, or watching television on the big screen. We’re not allowed to do that because those things are facilities. There are lots of facilities in the hotel. There is a list on the board in reception: the swimming pool, the sauna and the library. Other things are facilities too, like the magazines and newspapers on the tables, or the brochures in the clear plastic holders at the front door. The toilets are facilities as well, the ones with the brass women and men on the doors. At the weekends, because there is no school, I don’t have friends to play with. I used to like playing chasing, but we can’t do that in the hotel. At first, we went to a park, especially on the days that the room got all hot and stuffy, but that stopped when Dad stopped laughing.I don’t tell other people where I live, unless I have to. I think my Nana feels the same way, because in the afternoons, when Mam is working, and Nana picks me up from school, she makes me walk real fast, so nobody sees us. On Fridays, I stay in her flat because she has a washing machine to wash our clothes. Then afterwards, at hotel room, she piles the clean clothes on the coffee table, even though we don’t drink coffee.We had to get rid of loads of stuff before we came to the hotel, extra clothes, furniture, our cooker, pots and pans, the toaster and hot water bottles too. There wasn’t any room in the hotel for things like that. There are big cookers in the hotel, but they are part of the facilities, so we can’t use them. I like my food cold now. Mam says, its months since we’ve had a proper meal. ‘How can you have a proper meal in this dump?’ Dad doesn’t answer. I miss him smiling. I miss Mam smiling too. I hate being sad.I told Nana about the drawing at school and she didn’t say anything, but squeezed my hand tight.Yesterday, when we got off the bus, I was bursting to go to the toilet. Nana told me to hold it, but I couldn’t, so we sneaked into reception, instead of going through the door for the homeless people. The toilets with the brass lady on the door are there. I knew we could get into trouble, because the toilets are facilities, but Nana said she’d keep a look out. I washed my hands in all five basins, pressing the pink liquid soap. That made Nana laugh, so I wanted to do it again, but she said there was no point in pushing our luck.In the corridor, there was a big wooden frame with lots of words on a piece of paper. I wasn’t sure if it was a facility or not, so I asked Nana. ‘I suppose it is,’ she said.‘Why?’‘Because it’s belongs to the hotel, and it’s for the guests.’‘What does it say?’‘It’s the proclamation.’‘What’s that?’‘It doesn’t matter.’‘What’s a proc-la-mate-ion, Nana?’‘I told you, it’s not important.’ But it must have been because she did that strange thing with her face, when the lines on her forehead get deeper.A woman with a baby and a little girl passed us by. They were going to the toilets too. They looked like they were part of the ‘everybody else’, the people who pay to stay in the hotel. Nana pretended we were like them, and that we weren’t in a hurry to get back to our room.‘Read it, Nana.’‘It’s very long.’‘Read it fast then,’ and I squeezed her hand the way she sometimes squeezes mine.It sounded like she was singing, the words tumbling out so quickly, but near the end, her voice slowed down. I saw a big fat tear run down her cheek before she wiped it away. Mam cries all the time, but Nana doesn’t, so that got me worried.‘What’s wrong, Nana?’‘Nothing, sweetheart.’And, I knew she was lying. ‘Read that bit again, Nana?’‘Okay.’I was happy her voice wasn’t cross.She read the bit about a thing called a republic and something about happiness. Then she got to the bit about cherishing children equally, and I thought she would cry again.‘What’s a re-pub-lic, Nana?’‘It’s a place without a King or Queen.’‘What does cherishing the children mean?’‘It means making sure they’re okay, cared for, and not left behind.’‘Why, where does the proc-la-mate-ion want to take them?’‘It’s not a place, honey. It’s a way of life.’‘Nana, why did you cry?’‘I didn’t.’‘You did. I saw it.’Then the woman with the little girl and the baby came out of the toilets. The baby looked like Sean. The mother smiled at Nana, and she pulled me close. After they disappeared, we started walking again.‘Where are we going, Nana?’‘We’re going to your room.’‘Will Dad and Simon be there?’‘Where else would they be?’‘Will we ever live in a house again, Nana?’‘I hope so.’‘I hope so too, because then you, and Mam and Dad, won’t be sad anymore.’Her grip got tighter, so I kept on talking.‘And I can draw the house, and Mam and Dad and everything else will be like it used to be.’‘That would be lovely, sweetheart.’‘The pro-clam-ate-ion people would like that too, wouldn’t they?’
‘I imagine they would.’
My name is Keeva. I am seven years old. I live in a hotel with my family because we don’t have a proper home. Some people think living in a hotel is good, but it isn’t. Before we came here, we slept in a car for three nights. When it got dark, we were freezing, and Dad said it was an adventure, and made us laugh. He used to laugh a lot, but he doesn’t do that anymore.A few days ago, teacher asked everyone to draw a picture of their house. I held a chunky blue crayon tight in my hand, and started with the sky. That bit was easy, then I got stuck. I don’t remember our old house. I only remember bits of it, like the washing machine and other stuff we don’t have anymore. My mind went blank, like the telly, when you turn it off with the remote control, and everything is dark and quiet. I looked at my friends drawing, and I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be anyone other than me.I understand what ‘ashamed’ means. It means not being as good as everybody else, being different, but not in a nice way. I’d like to be ordinary again, instead of being a homeless person. I told my sister what happened at school. She said I should have drawn a made-up house, because nobody would know it was a lie, but I didn’t want to.We don’t have a kitchen in our hotel room. In the mornings I eat my cereal in bed. Then I get two buses to school. It’s a long walk too, and sometimes I’m tired even though it’s early. Mam says we live in a dump, but it’s not really a dump, because the rubbish is put in bins.There are two beds and a cot in the room. Mam and Dad sleep in one, and I sleep with my sister in the other. My baby brother Sean has the cot. He cries a lot, especially at night. Mam says he’s sick because Dad has him stuck in the room all day, but Dad is stuck there too, especially if it’s raining. The room isn’t big. There is a television, a wardrobe and a small fridge in it. The fridge makes a funny sound, and it used to keep me awake, but that’s fine now.Some people stay in the hotel for a holiday. They have suitcases on wheels. I see them eating food in the restaurant, or watching television on the big screen. We’re not allowed to do that because those things are facilities. There are lots of facilities in the hotel. There is a list on the board in reception: the swimming pool, the sauna and the library. Other things are facilities too, like the magazines and newspapers on the tables, or the brochures in the clear plastic holders at the front door. The toilets are facilities as well, the ones with the brass women and men on the doors. At the weekends, because there is no school, I don’t have friends to play with. I used to like playing chasing, but we can’t do that in the hotel. At first, we went to a park, especially on the days that the room got all hot and stuffy, but that stopped when Dad stopped laughing.I don’t tell other people where I live, unless I have to. I think my Nana feels the same way, because in the afternoons, when Mam is working, and Nana picks me up from school, she makes me walk real fast, so nobody sees us. On Fridays, I stay in her flat because she has a washing machine to wash our clothes. Then afterwards, at hotel room, she piles the clean clothes on the coffee table, even though we don’t drink coffee.We had to get rid of loads of stuff before we came to the hotel, extra clothes, furniture, our cooker, pots and pans, the toaster and hot water bottles too. There wasn’t any room in the hotel for things like that. There are big cookers in the hotel, but they are part of the facilities, so we can’t use them. I like my food cold now. Mam says, its months since we’ve had a proper meal. ‘How can you have a proper meal in this dump?’ Dad doesn’t answer. I miss him smiling. I miss Mam smiling too. I hate being sad.I told Nana about the drawing at school and she didn’t say anything, but squeezed my hand tight.Yesterday, when we got off the bus, I was bursting to go to the toilet. Nana told me to hold it, but I couldn’t, so we sneaked into reception, instead of going through the door for the homeless people. The toilets with the brass lady on the door are there. I knew we could get into trouble, because the toilets are facilities, but Nana said she’d keep a look out. I washed my hands in all five basins, pressing the pink liquid soap. That made Nana laugh, so I wanted to do it again, but she said there was no point in pushing our luck.In the corridor, there was a big wooden frame with lots of words on a piece of paper. I wasn’t sure if it was a facility or not, so I asked Nana. ‘I suppose it is,’ she said.‘Why?’‘Because it’s belongs to the hotel, and it’s for the guests.’‘What does it say?’‘It’s the proclamation.’‘What’s that?’‘It doesn’t matter.’‘What’s a proc-la-mate-ion, Nana?’‘I told you, it’s not important.’ But it must have been because she did that strange thing with her face, when the lines on her forehead get deeper.A woman with a baby and a little girl passed us by. They were going to the toilets too. They looked like they were part of the ‘everybody else’, the people who pay to stay in the hotel. Nana pretended we were like them, and that we weren’t in a hurry to get back to our room.‘Read it, Nana.’‘It’s very long.’‘Read it fast then,’ and I squeezed her hand the way she sometimes squeezes mine.It sounded like she was singing, the words tumbling out so quickly, but near the end, her voice slowed down. I saw a big fat tear run down her cheek before she wiped it away. Mam cries all the time, but Nana doesn’t, so that got me worried.‘What’s wrong, Nana?’‘Nothing, sweetheart.’And, I knew she was lying. ‘Read that bit again, Nana?’‘Okay.’I was happy her voice wasn’t cross.She read the bit about a thing called a republic and something about happiness. Then she got to the bit about cherishing children equally, and I thought she would cry again.‘What’s a re-pub-lic, Nana?’‘It’s a place without a King or Queen.’‘What does cherishing the children mean?’‘It means making sure they’re okay, cared for, and not left behind.’‘Why, where does the proc-la-mate-ion want to take them?’‘It’s not a place, honey. It’s a way of life.’‘Nana, why did you cry?’‘I didn’t.’‘You did. I saw it.’Then the woman with the little girl and the baby came out of the toilets. The baby looked like Sean. The mother smiled at Nana, and she pulled me close. After they disappeared, we started walking again.‘Where are we going, Nana?’‘We’re going to your room.’‘Will Dad and Simon be there?’‘Where else would they be?’‘Will we ever live in a house again, Nana?’‘I hope so.’‘I hope so too, because then you, and Mam and Dad, won’t be sad anymore.’Her grip got tighter, so I kept on talking.‘And I can draw the house, and Mam and Dad and everything else will be like it used to be.’‘That would be lovely, sweetheart.’‘The pro-clam-ate-ion people would like that too, wouldn’t they?’
‘I imagine they would.’
April 28, 2016
Why Louise Phillips turned from a life of crime to tackle homelessness....with The Irish Times!
Award-winning crime fiction novelist Louise Phillips has written a short story to highlight the plight of the 1,881 homeless children in Ireland, a State she feels has “failed” families.The story, Homeless Hotel, is based around the life of seven-year-old Keeva, who finds herself living in a hotel with her mother and father.The story contains the lines: “I don’t have a proper home...Before we came here, we slept in a car for three nights. When it got dark, we were freezing, and Dad said it was an adventure, and made us laugh.“He used to laugh a lot, but he doesn’t do that anymore.”Phillips, winner of the Irish Crime Novel of the Year 2013, has written several bestsellers, including Red Ribbons, The Doll’s House and Last Kiss. She has just released her latest psychological crime novel, The Game Changer.Writing a short story from the perspective of a homeless child is a departure from the author’s comfort zone but something she felt she was compelled to do by the anger she felt at the lack of action to deal with the burgeoning crisis.READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
April 25, 2016
Another Bumper Couple of Months for Irish Crime Fiction....
The great variety and number of Irish Crime Fiction novels published since the start of 2016 continues for April and May!!
ALL THINGS NICE by Sheila Bugler (April 4th)
Charlotte Gleeson is living the life she always dreamed of, but it's nothing like she imagined. Her daughter hates her, her husband is having an affair, her drinking is out of control. And now she’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation …For DI Ellen Kelly, this is her first big investigation in eight months – since she let a serial killer get away. There’s an awful lot riding on a good result, which means keeping up the pressure on Charlotte Gleeson and her messed-up family.As Ellen investigates, it becomes clear the Gleesons are harbouring some dangerous secrets. The more she digs, the more she uncovers … and the closer she comes to a deadly confrontation.
A TIME OF TORMENT by John Connolly (April 7th)
Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade. Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war. Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder. All in the name of the being they serve.THE CITY IN DARKNESS by Michael Russell (May 5th)
Christmas 1939. In Europe the Phoney War hides carnage to come. In Ireland Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie keeps tabs on Irishmen joining the British Forces. It's unpleasant work, but when an IRA raid on a military arsenal sends Garda Special Branch in search of guns and explosives, Stefan is soon convinced his boss, Superintendent Terry Gregory, is working for the IRA. At home for Christmas, Stefan is abruptly called to Laragh, an isolated mountain town. A postman has disappeared, believed killed, and Laragh's Guards are hiding something. Stefan is the nearest Special Branch detective, yet is he only there because Gregory wants him out of the way? Laragh is close to the lake where Stefan's wife Maeve drowned years earlier, and when events expose a connection between the missing postman and her death, Stefan realises it wasn't an accident, but murder. And it will be a difficult, dangerous journey where Stefan has to finally confront the ghosts of the past not only in the mountains of Wicklow, but in Spain in the aftermath of its bloody Civil War, before he can return to Dublin to find the truth.
DISTRESS SIGNALS by Catherine Ryan Howard (May 5th)
Did she leave, or was she taken? The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her. Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...
THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER by Vanessa Ronan (May 5th)
After ten years in the Huntsville State Penitentiary, Jasper Curtis returns home to live with his sister and her two daughters. Lizzie does not know who she's letting into her home: the brother she grew up loving or the monster he became. Teenage Katie distrusts this strange man in their home but eleven-year-old Joanne is just intrigued by her new uncle. Jasper says he's all done with trouble, but in a forgotten prairie town that knows no forgiveness, it does not take long for trouble to arrive at their door ...
LITTLE BONES by Sam Blake (May 17th)
Little Bones introduces Cathy Connolly, a bright young heroine set to take the world of crime fiction by storm. Attending what seems to be a routine break-in, troubled Detective Garda Cathy Connolly makes a grisly discovery: an old wedding dress - and, concealed in its hem, a baby's bones. And then the dress's original owner, Lavinia Grant, is found dead in a Dublin suburb. Searching for answers, Cathy is drawn deep into a complex web of secrets and lies spun by three generations of women. Meanwhile, a fugitive killer has already left two dead in execution style killings across the Atlantic - and now he's in Dublin with old scores to settle. Will the team track him down before he kills again? Struggling with her own secrets, Cathy doesn't know dangerous - and personal - this case is about to become...'THE PLEA by Steve Cavanagh (May 19th)
For years, major New York law firm Harland & Sinton has operated a massive global fraud. When a client of the firm, David Child, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm. Eddie's not a man to be coerced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price.
ALL THINGS NICE by Sheila Bugler (April 4th)
Charlotte Gleeson is living the life she always dreamed of, but it's nothing like she imagined. Her daughter hates her, her husband is having an affair, her drinking is out of control. And now she’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation …For DI Ellen Kelly, this is her first big investigation in eight months – since she let a serial killer get away. There’s an awful lot riding on a good result, which means keeping up the pressure on Charlotte Gleeson and her messed-up family.As Ellen investigates, it becomes clear the Gleesons are harbouring some dangerous secrets. The more she digs, the more she uncovers … and the closer she comes to a deadly confrontation.A TIME OF TORMENT by John Connolly (April 7th)
Jerome Burnel was once a hero. He intervened to prevent multiple killings and in doing so damned himself. His life was torn apart. He was imprisoned, brutalized.But in his final days, with the hunters circling, he tells his story to private detective Charlie Parker. He speaks of the girl who was marked for death but was saved, of the ones who tormented him, and an entity that hides in a ruined stockade. Parker is not like other men. He died, and was reborn. He is ready to wage war. Now he will descend upon a strange, isolated community called the Cut, and face down a force of men who rule by terror, intimidation, and murder. All in the name of the being they serve.THE CITY IN DARKNESS by Michael Russell (May 5th)
Christmas 1939. In Europe the Phoney War hides carnage to come. In Ireland Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie keeps tabs on Irishmen joining the British Forces. It's unpleasant work, but when an IRA raid on a military arsenal sends Garda Special Branch in search of guns and explosives, Stefan is soon convinced his boss, Superintendent Terry Gregory, is working for the IRA. At home for Christmas, Stefan is abruptly called to Laragh, an isolated mountain town. A postman has disappeared, believed killed, and Laragh's Guards are hiding something. Stefan is the nearest Special Branch detective, yet is he only there because Gregory wants him out of the way? Laragh is close to the lake where Stefan's wife Maeve drowned years earlier, and when events expose a connection between the missing postman and her death, Stefan realises it wasn't an accident, but murder. And it will be a difficult, dangerous journey where Stefan has to finally confront the ghosts of the past not only in the mountains of Wicklow, but in Spain in the aftermath of its bloody Civil War, before he can return to Dublin to find the truth.DISTRESS SIGNALS by Catherine Ryan Howard (May 5th)
Did she leave, or was she taken? The day Adam Dunne's girlfriend, Sarah, fails to return from a Barcelona business trip, his perfect life begins to fall apart. Days later, the arrival of her passport and a note that reads 'I'm sorry - S' sets off real alarm bells. He vows to do whatever it takes to find her. Adam is puzzled when he connects Sarah to a cruise ship called the Celebrate - and to a woman, Estelle, who disappeared from the same ship in eerily similar circumstances almost exactly a year before. To get the answers, Adam must confront some difficult truths about his relationship with Sarah. He must do things of which he never thought himself capable. And he must try to outwit a predator who seems to have found the perfect hunting ground...THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER by Vanessa Ronan (May 5th)
After ten years in the Huntsville State Penitentiary, Jasper Curtis returns home to live with his sister and her two daughters. Lizzie does not know who she's letting into her home: the brother she grew up loving or the monster he became. Teenage Katie distrusts this strange man in their home but eleven-year-old Joanne is just intrigued by her new uncle. Jasper says he's all done with trouble, but in a forgotten prairie town that knows no forgiveness, it does not take long for trouble to arrive at their door ...LITTLE BONES by Sam Blake (May 17th)
Little Bones introduces Cathy Connolly, a bright young heroine set to take the world of crime fiction by storm. Attending what seems to be a routine break-in, troubled Detective Garda Cathy Connolly makes a grisly discovery: an old wedding dress - and, concealed in its hem, a baby's bones. And then the dress's original owner, Lavinia Grant, is found dead in a Dublin suburb. Searching for answers, Cathy is drawn deep into a complex web of secrets and lies spun by three generations of women. Meanwhile, a fugitive killer has already left two dead in execution style killings across the Atlantic - and now he's in Dublin with old scores to settle. Will the team track him down before he kills again? Struggling with her own secrets, Cathy doesn't know dangerous - and personal - this case is about to become...'THE PLEA by Steve Cavanagh (May 19th)
For years, major New York law firm Harland & Sinton has operated a massive global fraud. When a client of the firm, David Child, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm. Eddie's not a man to be coerced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price.
April 22, 2016
Calling all Book Clubs!!!
Calling all book clubs....I've so enjoyed my visits to book clubs over the last few years, that I've been working on a very special prize for one lucky book club.....(it involves lots of books). All will be revealed in a couple of weeks, but if you would like to be part of this competition....leave a comment, or message me via email, Twitter or Facebook.
April 12, 2016
Bluecoat Crime Fiction...
If you're in or around Liverpool this coming Saturday, you may be interested in this event!Saturday 16th April 2016, the Bluecoat will present a Crime Fiction event with a number of writers discussing their work and perspectives on the genre in relation to three main themes. "The Thrill of Finding Connections" aligns the thrill of connecting clues within the narrative to recognising literary influences and allusions, "Loving The Bad Guy" explores why we are drawn to characters who transgress moral boundaries, and "Shackled by Stereotype?" considers whether the genre offers a safe space for diverse cultural and gender identities.See more at: http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/events/...
April 5, 2016
ATTIC SESSIONS
Looking forward to chatting with the lovely Nessa O'Mahony and Peter Salisbury as part of the ATTIC SESSIONS, as they take on crime fiction on the double, with myself and the wonderful Paul Perry. Recording 24th May for broadcast 28th May......A Date for the Diary!
Incredibly Proud....
I'm incredibly proud to be part of this wonderful publication listing from POLIS BOOKS for the Fall of 2016!
D. W. BUFFA served as a defense attorney for ten years. He is the author of the acclaimed novels: THE JUDGMENT, nominated for the EDGAR AWARD for Best Novel of the Year, THE LEGACY, THE PROSECUTION, THE DEFENSE, STAR WITNESS and BREACH OF TRUST, which was described as one of the few books that fifty years from now will really matter, offering a scintillating look at Washing politics. HILLARY, his latest novel is due for publication in the Fall of 2016 by Polis Books. www.dwbuffa.com
ROB HART is the author of NEW YORDED and CITY OF ROSE. He’s also the associate publisher at Mysterious Press and class director at LitReactor. Previously, he has been a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He’s received both a DERRINGER AWARD nomination and honorable mention in The Best American Mystery Stories 2015. His third novel, SOUTH VILLAGE, will be published by Polis Books in October 2016, followed by a fourth in summer 2017. He’s also co-writing a novella with JAMES PATTERSON as part of the BookShots program. https://robwhart.com
GRANT MC KENZIE is the internationally-published author of four edge-of-your-seat thrillers, plus an ongoing mystery series set in San Francisco. His debut novel, Switch, was published by Bantam UK, Heyne Germany and Penguin Canada before launching in the U.S. and Taiwan. Under the pen name, M.C. Grant, he writes the Dixie Flynn series that began with Angel With A Bullet. As a journalist, Grant has worked in virtually every area of the newspaper business from the late-night “Dead Body Beat” at a feisty daily tabloid to senior copy/design editor at two of Canada’s largest broadsheets, and Editor-in-Chief of Monday magazine. He currently resides in Victoria. http://grantmckenzie.net
LOUISE PHILLIPS is an author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers, each shortlisted for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. THE DOLL’S HOUSE, her second novel, won the award in 2013. Louise’s work has formed part of many literary anthologies, and she has won both the Jonathan Swift Award and the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform. She is the recipient of an Arts Bursary for Literature and a Writers’ Residency at Cill Rialaig Artist retreat. She was also a judge on the Irish panel for the EU Literary Award. RED RIBBONS, will be published by Polis Books in the Fall of 2016. www.louise-phillips.com
KRISTINA RIGGLE, lives and writes in West Michigan. Her debut novel, REAL LIFE & LIARS, was a Target ‘Breakout’ pick and a ‘Great Lakes, Great Reads’ selection. Her later novels, KEEPSAKE and THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD, was lauded by Bookreporter.com as ‘a riveting and thought-provoking page-turner that will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Chris Bohjalian. Kristina has published stories in the Cimmarron Review, Literary Mama, Espresso Fiction, and elsewhere, and is a former co-editor for fiction at Literary Mama. Her novel, VIVIAN IN RED will be published by Polis Books in the fall of 2016. www.kristinariggle.net
D. W. BUFFA served as a defense attorney for ten years. He is the author of the acclaimed novels: THE JUDGMENT, nominated for the EDGAR AWARD for Best Novel of the Year, THE LEGACY, THE PROSECUTION, THE DEFENSE, STAR WITNESS and BREACH OF TRUST, which was described as one of the few books that fifty years from now will really matter, offering a scintillating look at Washing politics. HILLARY, his latest novel is due for publication in the Fall of 2016 by Polis Books. www.dwbuffa.com
ROB HART is the author of NEW YORDED and CITY OF ROSE. He’s also the associate publisher at Mysterious Press and class director at LitReactor. Previously, he has been a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He’s received both a DERRINGER AWARD nomination and honorable mention in The Best American Mystery Stories 2015. His third novel, SOUTH VILLAGE, will be published by Polis Books in October 2016, followed by a fourth in summer 2017. He’s also co-writing a novella with JAMES PATTERSON as part of the BookShots program. https://robwhart.com
GRANT MC KENZIE is the internationally-published author of four edge-of-your-seat thrillers, plus an ongoing mystery series set in San Francisco. His debut novel, Switch, was published by Bantam UK, Heyne Germany and Penguin Canada before launching in the U.S. and Taiwan. Under the pen name, M.C. Grant, he writes the Dixie Flynn series that began with Angel With A Bullet. As a journalist, Grant has worked in virtually every area of the newspaper business from the late-night “Dead Body Beat” at a feisty daily tabloid to senior copy/design editor at two of Canada’s largest broadsheets, and Editor-in-Chief of Monday magazine. He currently resides in Victoria. http://grantmckenzie.net
LOUISE PHILLIPS is an author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers, each shortlisted for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. THE DOLL’S HOUSE, her second novel, won the award in 2013. Louise’s work has formed part of many literary anthologies, and she has won both the Jonathan Swift Award and the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform. She is the recipient of an Arts Bursary for Literature and a Writers’ Residency at Cill Rialaig Artist retreat. She was also a judge on the Irish panel for the EU Literary Award. RED RIBBONS, will be published by Polis Books in the Fall of 2016. www.louise-phillips.com
KRISTINA RIGGLE, lives and writes in West Michigan. Her debut novel, REAL LIFE & LIARS, was a Target ‘Breakout’ pick and a ‘Great Lakes, Great Reads’ selection. Her later novels, KEEPSAKE and THE WHOLE GOLDEN WORLD, was lauded by Bookreporter.com as ‘a riveting and thought-provoking page-turner that will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Chris Bohjalian. Kristina has published stories in the Cimmarron Review, Literary Mama, Espresso Fiction, and elsewhere, and is a former co-editor for fiction at Literary Mama. Her novel, VIVIAN IN RED will be published by Polis Books in the fall of 2016. www.kristinariggle.net
