By John Banville I have a thing against Venice. In fact, I have a number of things against Venice. The avarice. The tourists. The smells. Some years ago I was strolling along one of those dim, dank alleyways near St Mark’s Square, in the company of a friend who shares my aversion to the place. Suddenly a rat scuttled past us and dived part way into a drain, leaving its long pink tail draped on the flagstones. My friend and …
Category: Crime
Usually when asked where my inspiration comes from, I tend to say that it begins with character. But The Night I Killed Him started with a location – specifically the …
It Should Have Been You is about a woman named Susan who writes a mean, gossipy message to her sisters all about a neighbour, Celeste, who gets on her nerves. …
The Kindness of Strangers. In an increasingly volatile world, I’ve been thinking about kindness. What does it mean? And why is it important. My new novel, Two Kinds of Stranger, …
Commissario Guido Brunetti returns with a gripping case about the murkiness of power and a test of loyalties in A Refiner’s Fire, by Donna Leon. She shares a few words …
Someone in the Attic is about Dublin born Julia and Gabe, who move back to Ireland from the US for reasons they don’t like to discuss. They’re settling into a …
Fiona McPhillips shares a few words on a forthcoming book, When We Were Silent. Dubray Grafton Street is where it all began. I launched my first nonfiction book there in …
It’s a heat-wave summer in the small West of Ireland village of Ardnakelty. Cal Hooper, who took early retirement from the Chicago police force and moved there looking for peace, …
When my debut novel Breaking Point came out, I quickly wrote a second novel. But after sending the draft to my editor, I realised a different story had been percolating …
Marie Cassidy shares how she came about to write her new read, Body of Truth. One of the most important skills we can teach our children is reading. But it …
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