Crime Fiction Month: The Write Stuff with... Sinead Crowley

Today is the final The Write Stuff with... feature as part of this Crime Fiction month so it's my absolute pleasure to welcome Irish author Sinead Crowley back to the blog.  Sinead has written a piece on location, talking about the part of Dublin where she set her third novel One Bad Turn which is out this Thursday.

The nice thing about living in a city like Dublin is that people often come to visit you, and when they do they ask for recommendations on what to do and where to go. Obviously you tailor your response to their own circumstances – how mobile are they? Do they have kids? Does their taste tend towards Caravaggio, or clubbing?

But there is one outing I’d recommend to anyone visiting my city, if they have time. It’s stunning, it’s accessible and, as I discovered in my new book, it’s the perfect place to lose a body. Crime writers, we’re a cheerful lot.

You might have read about Dublin’s DART train in a Roddy Doyle book or seen it in a movie adaptation. In more up to date TV dramas it has largely been replaced by the shinier Luas Light Rail System as a shorthand for transport in the city. But the DART is still there, chugging away along the coastline, bringing commuters from as far away as Howth and Greystones into the city centre. However if you’re on holiday and can avoid rush hour you can also turn it into one of the most interesting journeys in the capital.

Shortly after leaving the city centre you get to peer into the back of increasingly affluent houses – seriously, someone needs to write a novel based on that concept -  and then, as the train gathers speed towards the south Dublin suburbs the real fun begins. The Aviva stadium swings past, and then suddenly you’re out along the coast passing Booterstown, a childs playground, Seapoint where you can get out and have a swim if you are hardy enough. Dun Laoghaire, home to a fabulous book festival and much more besides and then onto Kiliney and further again, Dalkey.

This past of South Dublin is often compared to the Riviera and it’s not an idle comparison. You have golden sand, secluded beaches, sea walks and more than a sprinkling of famous faces. You could hop off the train in Dalkey and walk down into the village. Give a respectful nod to Maeve Binchy’s home along the way. Pass Finnegans pub where Bono brought Michelle Obama for a pint (I’m not joking about the A-Listers). Buy a book in the Gutter Bookshop’s south Dublin outpost. Or if you were feeling a bit more adventurous you could walk inland. Climb a hill, see some spectacular sea views. But watch out for the edge, now. Don’t go too close.

My book One Bad Turn begins with a woman jogging near her south Dublin home, a journey that ends with a kidnapping. In another chapter, a body is discovered along the shore line. I called my fictional village ‘Fernwood’. I don’t like using real placenames in my novels, mostly so I bend the truth – and geography – to suit my needs. But if you do read One Bad Turn – and I hope you enjoy it - then maybe one day you will take a train journey south from Dublin city centre. And maybe you’ll round a corner and see the sea, or look at a hill rising high above you. And think of a story. That’s the joy of books, they can take you anywhere.

Twitter: @SineadCrowley
Facebook: Sinead Crowley Author

Being held hostage at gunpoint by her childhood friend is not Dr Heather Gilmore's idea of a good day at work. It only gets worse when she hears that her nineteen-year-old daughter Leah has been kidnapped.

Sergeant Claire Boyle wasn't expecting to get caught up in a hostage situation during a doctor's appointment. When it becomes apparent that the kidnapping is somehow linked to the hostage-taker, a woman called Eileen Delaney, she is put in charge of finding the missing girl.

What happened between Eileen and Heather to make Eileen so determined to ruin her old friend? Claire Boyle must dig up the secrets from their pasts to find out - and quickly, because Leah is still missing, and time is running out to save her.

And thanks to the lovely Hannah at Quercus I have a copy of One Bad Turn to give away to a follower of the blog, sorry this is restricted to UK and Ireland residents only. As with all giveaways on the blog, this one is open to existing followers of the blog as a thank you for your support.  The winner will be selected at random when the giveaway ends and contacted for their postal address to enable me to pass onto Hannah to post the book to them. NB. Please do not add details of this giveaway to other sites without my permission.  

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