On Thursday 8th December Irish PEN is holding an event on Crime Writing (fiction and true crime), with leading authors including

• Abigail Rieley
• Sandra Mara and
• Arlene Hunt.

ARLENE HUNT is a unique voice in Irish crime fiction. Her dark and atmospheric stories perfectly capture the grimy underworld of Dublin and beyond. Arlene’s first novel, Vicious Circle, was published by Hodder Headline in 2004. Her second novel, False Intentions, published in 2005, introduced John and Sarah of Quick Investigations. She has written a further four novels in the John and Sarah series, Black Sheep in 2006, Missing Presumed Dead in 2007, Undertow in 2009, and Blood Money in 2010. Arlene’s most recent novel, The Chosen, has been described by Tana French as “A taut, sharp, gripping re-imagining of the serial-killer novel”.

SANDRA MARA was Ireland’s first female private investigator, following in the footsteps of her father Bill Kavanagh, who started Ireland first detective agency in 1947. An international investigator for over twenty-five years, she acted for government agencies, multi-nationals, professional bodies and media outlets around the world. Sandra was the recipient of several awards and was voted International Investigator of the Year by the World Association of Detectives. Sandra has a Masters in journalism and also worked as an investigative journalist. Her first book, No Job For A Woman, was published by Poolbeg in 2008, and describes the inside story of Ireland’s first female private investigator. Her second book, Dead Men Talk, is a fascinating look at how forensics solved Ireland’s most notorious crimes.

ABIGAIL RIELEY is a writer and journalist based in Dublin, where she mainly works as a freelance court reporter covering murder trials for the Irish media. Abigail’s first book, The Devil in the Red Dress, was published by Maverick House in 2008, and told the story of the Sharon Collins hitman for hire trial. Her second book, Death on the Hill, published by O’Brien Press in 2010, is about the killing of Celine Cawley and the subsequent murder trial of her husband, Eamon Lillis, in the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin.

This event will be chaired by Maire Moriarty of Irish PEN.