“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, July 1, 2013

The Irish Crime Novel of the Year

So here we are, halfway through the year, roughly speaking, and I’m throwing an eye forward towards November and the Irish Book Awards and wondering what the shortlist for the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year might look like.
  It’s an interesting year in many respects, not least because 2013 is a year in which many of the big names in Irish crime fiction – John Connolly, Tana French, Gene Kerrigan, Eoin McNamee, Colin Bateman, Arlene Hunt, Alex Barclay, Declan Hughes – haven’t published a crime fiction title. That said, the list of possible contenders below contains a number of previously nominated authors, as well as one or two winners.
  Of the 16 titles already published this year, there are at least nine novels that I would consider worthy winners, let alone nominees. And there are a further six titles, that I’m aware of, to be published in the second half of the year.
  If I’ve missed out on any, by the way, please feel free to drop a comment in the box below tipping me off.
  Anyway, here’s the list of possible contenders – in no particular order – that have already been published:

GRAVELAND by Alan Glynn;

THE DEAL by Michael Clifford;

THE STRANGER YOU KNOW by Jane Casey;

THE CITY OF SHADOWS by Michael Russell;

CROCODILE TEARS by Mark O’Sullivan;

SCREWED by Eoin Colfer;

THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT by William Ryan;

COLD SPRING by Patrick McGinley;

HIDDEN by Casey Hill;

RATLINES by Stuart Neville;

THE POLKA DOT GIRL by Darragh McManus;

HOLY ORDERS by Benjamin Black;

I HEAR THE SIRENS IN THE STREET by Adrian McKinty;

THE JERUSALEM PUZZLE by Laurence O’Bryan;

IRREGULARS by Kevin McCarthy;

THE STATION SERGEANT by John McAllister;

ONCE IN ANOTHER WORLD by Brendan John Sweeney;

STIFFED by Rob Kitchin;

  And then there are the novels that will be published in the second half of the year:

THE MEMORY THEATRE by Conor Fitzgerald;

BLINK by Niamh O’Connor;

THE DOLL’S HOUSE by Louise Phillips;

THE CROSS OF VENGEANCE by Cora Harrison;

PURGATORY by Ken Bruen;

ECHOLAND by Joe Joyce;

HURT by Brian McGilloway;

  If you can pick the six titles out that lot that will make the Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year shortlist, you’re a better man and/or woman than I …

UPDATE: Louise Phillips points out that Arlene Hunt will publish THE OUTSIDER in October. Thanks kindly, ma’am.

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