Smokey the Cat
Claire Coughlan

Sixty seconds with Claire Coughlan...

Claire Coughlan has worked as a journalist for the past 18 years, most recently writing for publications including BookBrunch.co.uk and the Sunday Independent. Claire's first novel, Where They Lie, will be published in February 2024. She lives in Co Kildare with her husband and daughter.



RTE: Describe yourself in a sentence?

Coughlan: I don’t give up easily.

RTE: What's the one record you'd take to a desert island?

Coughlan: Rumors, by Fleetwood Mac.

RTE: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Coughlan: When I was about five years old, I briefly wanted to be a magician. But I've wanted to be a writer for about as long as I can remember.

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February 29 2024


Every four years an extra day, as if February weren't long enough as it is. Never mind, it will be March in a moment and we can turn our faces toward Spring. For the time being, let's take a look at a few books.

There was a time when crime fiction was neatly confined behind a sturdy wall of convention and writers were sternly admonished when they tried to leap over that wall. Readers read mysteries for entertainment, it was said, and to be reassured that justice would prevail and order be restored. That sort of crime fiction still bulks large on publishers' lists and is happily consumed by readers who do really want a bit of distraction. But other authors seek to expand the parameters of the genre and use fictional crime to explore the concerns of the real world. As usual, our list this month deals with both approaches and with some that are in between.

WHERE THEY LIE by Claire Coughlan is a debut historical set in Dublin inthe 1960s and 40s,but connects with the current concerns about abortionand women's control over their own lives. While Rebecca Nesvet felt that the historical period was perhaps not strongly enough elicited, the book still reminds us that as far as women's rights are concerned, we "are still living the same nightmares." Readers should be aware that thisreview contains several spoilers.

Jahmal Mayfield's SMOKE KINGS is also a debut, though not really an historical though it has a vivid awareness of the past. It centres on a group of young activists who extort reparations for past crimes against Black persons that went unpunished in the past. I found it a very strong approach to questions that remain unresolved, and one that recognized their complexity without submitting to despair, one of the strongest debuts I've read in a long time.

As the seventeenth entry in Mike Lawson's Joe DeMarco series, KINGPIN is far from a debut. It also deals more conventionally with the interplay between mob influence and Congressional powers. Rebecca concludes that readers who enjoy caper-like mob shenanigans with a backdrop of Congress will probably find this entertaining.

Those who have been hearing quite enough about Congress lately might be tempted by THE LANTERN'S DANCE by Laurie R. King which resurrects the iconic detective, Sherlock Holmes. Although Rebecca is dubious about King's representation of Sherlock's love life, she found this an engrossing read.

If an escape to the world of Sherlock Holmes doesn't quite do it, how about the North American wilderness? Well, there is the problem of bears that got there first. In C.J. Box's THREE-INCH TEETH, in order to hide a prison parolee's campaign of revenge against Joe Pickett, a grizzly is falsely accused of attacking folks. Anne Corey says the real problem with this book is that you can't stop reading it even if you really have something you should be doing. THE BOY WHO CRIED BEAR is the second entry in Kelley Armstrong's spin-off from her Rockton series, Haven's Rock. Sharon Mensing enjoyed it immensely, praising its plot and pace and remarking that one could easily begin the series with this one.

Lambda Literary and Bram Stoker Award winner Gwendolyn Kiste's THE HAUNTING OF VELKWOOD is a Gothic horror story with LGBT themes and a revisionist view of trauma as the source of personal failure. Rebecca reports that the characters' refusal to submit to the ghosts of past harm is inspiring and she is looking forward to Kiste's next work.

There are two but quite different Scandi novels this issue. GHOST ISLAND,Finnish author Max Seeck's fourth volume in his Jessica Niemi police series, is full of ghosts and his investigator is suffering from a form of schizophrenia that threatens to end her career. Sharon Mensing found the combination of both actual storm and psychological upheaval impossible to resist. Anders de la Motte's THE MOUNTAIN KING is, on the other hand, a skilful blending of standard fictional elements - plot, characters, crime, and misdirection, says Barbara Fister. But, she concludes, though its well-constructed and gripping, "just don't expect anything new."

EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT by Australian author Benjamin Stevenson is new, even if it does conjure up Agatha Christie and the Ten Commandments. But the narrator speaks directly to readers from time to time and feeds them clues. Lourdes Venard says that maybe it's more fun simply to sit back and enjoy the ride in this very clever novel.

Ruth Castleberry enjoyed both of the cozies she reviews this time and, in company with a few other books this week, both have supernatural content. GONE WITH THE WITCH by Angela M. Sanders features a librarian and her black cat familiar named Rodney. She is aided in her investigation by a very small Sherlock Holmes who simply appeared one day. She needs his aid because the mystery she confronts is full of misdirections and red herrings. Lynn Cahoon's FIVE FURRY FAMILIARS has a caterer for a protagonist and Ruth enjoyed its intriguing mystery and fascinating characters.

I think there's at least one book from this lot for every reader. Do find it and enjoy it. We'll be back in a month with more so come back and see what we read.

Claire Coughlan is our guest in the Sixty Seconds spot. Don't miss her.

The Editors:

Yvonne Klein

ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com

Rebecca Nesvet
nesvetr@uwgb.edu
  



P.S. If you wish to submit a book for review, please check here before contacting us. Please note that we do not review self-published books.


Our mascot and masthead is Smokey the Cat. Smokey the cat went to the great playground in the sky on April 29, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. He was about 13 years old, had diabetes and only 11 teeth left. He is much happier now. He will remain as our masthead and mascot.


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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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