Person to Person: 'I love any book that sucks me in and makes me lose sleep'

Tell us about yourself: I’m never sure if this section should include the sordid details of my relationship with Percy Pig jellies, or if I should just keep the focus on my work. Either way, it’s true about Percy.

It’s also true that I write psychological thrillers that fall very much on the darker side of fiction. Some of those include the Lindsey Ryan series and the bestseller, The Good Girl.

My most recent domestic thriller, A Good Mother came out in April and seems to be hitting quite close to home for a lot of readers!

My work has been translated into Czech and Italian and has been optioned for television. I’m one of those lucky people who can say in all honesty, that I love what I do!

As an extension of that, I also organise crime-themed literary festivals! I’m the founder of the Spike Island Literary Festival, which just had its hugely successful fourth year, and also get to work on Dublin’s International Crime Festival, Murder One, founded and organised by the force of nature that is Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin. This year’s festival is from October 16 to 19, so we’re DEEP in preparations for that right now.

Where were you born? I’m a proud Cork woman.

Where do you live? I live in Cobh.

Family? I live with my long-suffering husband, Dominic and my seven *and a half* year old daughter, Emily.

Best friend? I’d have to say Emily – she’s the best company!

Earliest childhood memory? My childhood was spent at the local rowing club – Cobh Fishermans RC - and just about every childhood memory I have involves that club, from learning how to swim (by being thrown overboard), the bus trips to regattas every Sunday, and hitting my dad up for money for chips after every race.

I also have fantastic memories of summer holidays spent in my aunt’s mobile home in Garretstown (with a huge number of cousins). I’m not sure which came first, the rowing or the mobile home holidays, but I have such vivid and happy memories of both.

Person you most admire? There are so many. Can I change this question to people I most admire? Because my mind automatically goes to the women in my life, and I couldn’t pick just one. Professionally, I’m a part of the very best support network imaginable - The Irish Murderesses. If you haven’t already heard about them, then you will soon enough (watch this space!) But seeing these women succeed through incredibly hard work and dedication to their craft, while also supporting, encouraging and celebrating the successes of other writers, is just inspirational.

Person who most irritates you? Hmm, if I tell you that, then I might never be allowed to visit the States again!

Where was your most memorable holiday? That’s a tough one – my idea of a good holiday changed dramatically when my daughter came along. Where once I would have loved to explore the road less travelled with Dominic, now it’s all about those kids’ clubs! I absolutely loved Thailand. The people there are beautiful in every way, just like the country itself.

Favourite TV programme? I’m working my way through Mindhunters at the moment, and loving that. I’m also watching The Killing Kind, which is the adaptation of Jane Casey’s book and is fantastic. I love watching series and movies that have been adapted from books, so I can’t wait for Andrea Mara’s All Her Fault and Ruth Ware’s The Woman In Cabin 10 (all three of these authors will be at Murder One!)

Favourite radio show? I’m a PJ Coogan fan!

Your signature dish if cooking? I make a mean enchilada (I think!)

Favourite restaurant? Cork has so many fantastic places to eat! When I’m out with friends, I love Cask on McCurtain Street. Or when I’m having a girls’ day in the city with my daughter, she loves going to the 115 on Oliver Plunkett Street. They do the best milkshakes!

Last book you read? I’m reading two at the moment. On audiobook, I’m listening to Ruth Ware, The Woman In Cabin 10, ahead of the Netflix movie with Keira Knightley in a few weeks! I’ll be chatting with Ruth at Murder One in a few weeks as well, so I can’t wait for that! On my Kindle, I’m reading The Tenants by M.A. Hunter. Both are really good!

Best book you read? An impossible question to answer! I love any book that sucks me in and makes me lose sleep. I particularly like audiobooks, so a good narrator can really make a book stand out in my mind, too. If I had to pick one from my recent haul, it would be All the Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker. That was outstanding. (Chris is also coming to Murder One by the way!)

Last album/CD/download you bought? The Soundtrack to K-Pop Demon Hunters! I didn’t have much of a say in that, but it’s not a bad soundtrack! I prefer something a little more Maroon 5 or Kingfishr myself.

Favourite song? Pretty much anything from The Greatest Showman. I love This is Me.

One person you would like to see in concert? Cher. I realised now from the last few questions that my taste in music is all over the place, so I might as well throw in Guns n’ Roses, too – the whole band!

Do you have a pet? I have two goldfish called Lilo & Stitch. And another two recently deceased - rest in peace, Cotton and Candy. I can provide alibis for my entire family should they be required.

Morning person or night owl? Definitely morning. I’m useless after 7 pm.

Your proudest moment? Honestly, that’s a tough one. There are things we all dream of achieving, but when we do, we move our own goal posts. We want to achieve something bigger and better, and it can be easy to let that dull the shine on what we’ve already achieved!

I was proud to have earned a UN medal for Peacekeeping and All-Ireland medals for rowing. They were huge moments in my younger life that I hardly think about now. 

I was so proud of my first translation. There was a time when I never would have imagined my work being translated into another language, let alone multiple. 

I’m proud every day of the person my daughter is growing into. In her ability to spread happiness and joy everywhere. Maybe that’s it – I’m a very, VERY proud mother!

Spendthrift or saver? Ask my husband…

Name one thing you would improve in your area in which you live? I absolutely LOVE the town of Cobh, but would you believe, it doesn’t have a BOOK SHOP!!

What makes you happy? Proper, quality time with my family, and long, drawn-out coffees with friends.

How would you like to be remembered? To be remembered at all must mean you did something memorable. I’d be happy with that!

What else are you up to at the moment? I’m deep in preparations for Murder One now, with only a few weeks to go. The incredible line-up includes multiple Irish Murderesses, as well as the very best of international bestselling authors, all converging on the stunning DLR Lexicon in Dun Laoghaire October 16-19.

As well as working on the organisation of the festival, I’ll be interviewing two authors I hugely admire, Ruth Ware and Steve Cavanagh, so lots of preparation is happening for that. I’m still wrapping up the Spike Island Literary Festival as well – lots of reporting to be done on that!

I’ve also recently signed a six-book deal, so for the next few years at least, the answer to what are you up to, will always involve, writing and/or editing! The first book in this new contract is The Imaginary Friend (yes, it’s as creepy as it sounds) and it comes out on November 27.