“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, March 22, 2014

The Rosary Garden In The Gutter

I mentioned Nicola White’s debut IN THE ROSARY GARDEN (Cargo Publishing) a couple of weeks ago, a novel that comes to us with impressive advance praise from Declan Hughes, Denise Mina and Val McDermid.
  Set in Ireland in 1984, the novel opens with the discovery of a dead infant on the grounds of a convent. Complicating the tragedy is the fact that this is not the first time the schoolgirl who finds the body has unearthed a dead baby …
  As part of her UK and Ireland tour, Nicola White launches IN THE ROSARY GARDEN on Tuesday 25th March at The Gutter Bookshop in Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar at 6.30pm.
  For all the details, clickety-click here

Thursday, March 20, 2014

CRIME ALWAYS PAYS: The Countdown Begins …

It’s hard to believe it’s that time again, but my latest tome, CRIME ALWAYS PAYS (Severn House), is published next week, on March 27th. It feels kind of strange right now, because there’s a sense of being in limbo, of not knowing how it’s likely to be received. Meanwhile, as you might imagine, I’m cracking on with the new book, and just today hit the halfway point – although ‘cracking on’ might be a bit misleading, as there are very many days when ‘trudging waist-deep in treacle’ might be more apt.
  Anyway, the blurb for CAP runs as follows:
Karen and Ray are on their way to the Greek islands to rendezvous with Madge and split the fat bag of cash they conned from Karen’s ex, Rossi, when they kidnapped, well, Madge. But they’ve reckoned without Doyle, the cop who can’t decide if she wants to arrest Madge, shoot Rossi, or ride off into the sunset with Ray …
  If you’re in the mood for a short taster, Chapter 1 can be found here.
  If that piques your interest, and you’d like a review copy of CRIME ALWAYS PAYS, there are digital copies available via NetGalley. If you have any problems downloading it, just drop me a line and I’ll do my luddite best to help.
  Here endeth the shilling … for now.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Cometh The Winter, Cometh The Wolf

The launch for John Connolly’s latest Charlie Parker novel, THE WOLF IN WINTER (Hodder & Stoughton) takes place in Dublin’s Smock Alley tomorrow evening, March 20th:
We are delighted to announce another event our ongoing series of author talks with our neighbours, the Gutter Bookshop. Join us to celebrate the launch of the twelfth Charlie Parker thriller, THE WOLF IN WINTER. John Connolly will be joined by musicians Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell in what promises to be a unique and thrilling evening.
  As I understand it, the Smock Alley venue is entirely booked out, but John also plans a book signing after the event at ye olde Gutter Bookshop. For all the details, clickety-click here

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” DA Mishani

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
Probably ROSEANNA, by Swedish authors Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (1965), the first Martin Beck novel. It taught crime writers that pacey can also be slow and its bitter melancholy is intertwined with the funniest scenes ever written in a crime novel (especially those with American detective Kafka).

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
Any character living permanently in Paris. And since I wouldn’t mind being a real detective, at least for a while, why not Jules Maigret? He’s eating very well, drinking very well, smoking good tobacco, involved in the most interesting cases and still seems so relaxed.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
The Classics. Mainly Flaubert or Balzac. Now, for example, I’m reading a beautiful novel by Stefan Zweig and feeling very guilty I’m not reading crime.

Most satisfying writing moment?
Honestly? Writing the words ‘The End’. But also when a character surprises and sometimes even saves you. It happened to me while writing THE MISSING FILE: I thought the novel would end in a very sad way but then a female character I like a lot, Marianka, saved me and offered a new solution that I added to the novel.

If you could recommend one Irish crime novel, what would it be?
Since not many crime novels are translated to Hebrew I'm afraid I don’t know enough Irish crime novels – but I enjoyed immensely Benjamin Black’s CHRISTINE FALLS and THE SILVER SWAN. Obviously Black\Banville is an exceptional writer and I can’t wait to read his THE BLACK-EYED BLONDE.

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
The best thing about being a writer is the fact that everything you do counts as ‘work’. I can watch a crime series on television or read or even just walk for hours and listen to music and still tell myself and others I’m working, and even hard, and that might even be true because who knows, maybe at these exact moments writing is happening inside. The worst thing is that sometimes, no matter what you do and how much you try, writing stays inside and just doesn’t happen elsewhere and then you really feel like you’re doing nothing, staring at your computer screen for hours, while you could (and should) have done something else, real work for instance.

The pitch for your next book is …?
An explosive device is found in a suitcase near a daycare centre in a quiet suburb of Tel Aviv. A few hours later, a threat is received: the suitcase was only the beginning. Tormented by the trauma and failure of his past case, Inspector Avraham Avraham is determined not to make the same mistakes—especially with innocent lives at stake. He may have a break when one of the suspects, a father of two, appears to have gone on the run. Is he the terrorist behind the threat? Or perhaps he’s fleeing a far more terrible crime that no one knows has been committed? (The novel’s name is A POSSIBILITY OF VIOLENCE and it’ll be published in English in July 2014).

Who are you reading right now?
I just finished Ian McEwan’s SWEET TOOTH (what an ending!) after discovering Juan Gabriel Vasquez’ excellent THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING.

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
I can see my Ego jumping ahead and screaming ‘Write’! But that would have been a very miserable choice. Reading is much more important to my mental health.

THE MISSING FILE by DA Mishani is published by Quercus.