Everything She Didn’t Say, by Jane Casey. Published by Hemlock Press, €16
I am a little late to the party with this one, and find myself reviewing a book that has sold well on the basis of the writer being popular, and having a dedicated fan base. Everything She Didn’t Say still has a place on the bestseller list, though it was published in mid-July.
Irish-born Jane Casey has quite a curriculum vitae when it comes to writing, and she has a valuable accomplice at home, her husband. He is a criminal barrister, and ensures that what she writes is both accurate and realistic. She has won the Irish Crime Novel of the Year, not once, not twice, but on three occasions within a decade, the last time in 2024. Could she garner a fourth?
Though Ireland is the land of her birth, this is her first work of fiction set here. A former editor, Jane has been prolific, writing a dozen books in the Maeve Kerrigan series, while Everything She Didn’t Say is her fourth standalone novel. Alongside three books for teenagers, she now has a total of 19 books to her credit.
Given that she is a lover of the work of Lisa Jewell and Catherine Ryan Howard, fans of both these writers will likely also be aware of Jane’s work. Ironically, Catherine Ryan Howard’s latest book, Buyer Beware, was published on the same day as Everything She Didn’t Say, and it came down to a choice for me as to which to review. Casey got the nod, but Buyer Beware gets a thumbs up too.
Jane was drawn to crime novels at an early age, being a fan of the queen of that genre, Agatha Christie, as young as nine. She describes writing as an addiction, in this case a benevolent one.
Mystery and surprise are the two main elements of Everything She Didn’t Say, and it begins with a very dramatic scene, understandably a key to the rest of the book. Ruth has been found covered in blood, not her own, and Detectives Liam Farrell and Ben Butler have a difficult task to uncover whose it might be. They have a reluctant witness, but the three are compelling characters.
There is mystery surrounding Ruth’s missing friend, Maura, and you will possibly find yourself moving from a sympathetic view of Ruth to one of contempt. With plenty of twists and turns, this book has it all, including an idyllic setting in Co Mayo.
The Comets: Collected short fiction, by Eoin McNamee. Published by Riverrun, €23
A resident of Sligo, Eoin McNamee’s work as a writer has spanned a number of areas. Twenty-five years ago his book The Blue Tango, a thriller based on the real-life 1952 murder of Patricia Curran in Northern Ireland, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Two of his recent works, The Bureau and Resurrection Man, drew praise from many literary giants.
McNamee is back with The Comets, a collection of short fiction comprising 17 stories whose common theme is the exploration of the fate of ordinary people in Ireland and Northern Ireland, many of whose lives teeter on the edge. We find affinity in unlikely places, the starkness of addiction, love and menace. The writing is concise, stylish and satisfying. The ability of McNamee to tell difficult stories in beautiful prose does not lessen their impact on the reader. Instead, it brings each tale to life.
Brian Cowen: Anatomy of a Taoiseach, by Gary Murphy. Published by Eriu, €25
It is not every biography that will become an important Irish historical reference, but Gary Murphy’s latest work, Brian Cowen: Anatomy of a Taoiseach will be consulted by many in the years ahead.
A Sunday Times columnist and professor of politics at Dublin City University, Murphy published a comprehensive biography of another former Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, Charles J Haughey five years ago, and now he is back with another. While Brian Cowen did not have a career as long as that of Haughey, he did hold the reins of power at one of the most turbulent times in Irish history. His 1,036 days as Taoiseach coincided with the collapse of our banking system.
Murphy does not shy away from any of the difficult topics that dogged Cowen’s time as Taoiseach, rather drawing on six months of talking with the book’s subject, family and others.
The Third Man, by Graham Greene. Published by Vintage Classic, €11.99
Graham Greene divided his work into two categories, novels and what he called ‘entertainments’. The former contained two of his most powerful works, The End of the Affair and The Power and the Glory.
The standout among his ‘entertainments’ must surely be his classic novella The Third Man. For some, this will be remembered as the movie starring Orson Welles, considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
Fast-paced and thrilling, it is the story of Rollo Martins who is summoned to Vienna in the aftermath of World War II by his boyhood friend, Harry Lime. Upon his arrival, Martins, a comic yet earnest figure, is told that Lime has apparently been killed in a traffic accident. Police allegations of Lime’s sordid criminality troubles Martins who has a growing suspicion that the so-called accident may actually have been murder.