Review of All the Dead Voices by Declan Hughes (John Murray, 2009)

Private Investigator Ed Loy has been hired to do two jobs.  The first is keep an eye on up-and-coming footballer Paul Delaney, who seems to have fallen into the orbit of Dublin gangster, Jack Cullen.  The second is to look into the murder of a tax inspector fifteen years previously on behalf of his daughter.  The case was seemingly solved, but the convicted man was released on appeal after evidence withheld from the first trial came to light.  That evidence revealed that Brian Fogarty had been investigating the tax affairs of three men, two known gangsters, George Halligan and Jack Cullen, and a now wealthy businessman, Bobby Doyle who is on the verge of opening a landmark bridge in the city.  Cullen is a long time member of the IRA and is now in a bitter dispute with the INLA over drug turf in the city.  The last thing he wants is Loy digging around in the past.  Then two hoodlums that attack Loy are found dead, and so is Paul Delaney, and the past rushes forward to meet the present, and a complex and dangerous game starts to unfold.

All the Dead Voices jaunts along at a nice pace, with plenty of intrigue and action as private investigator Ed Loy tries to make sense of the two cases he’s taken on that quickly become entwined in lethal ways.  Hughes writes with an engaging voice and quickly hooks the reader in.  The characterisation and social and historical context is nicely realised, with a good sense of place regarding Dublin and the tail-end of the Celtic Tiger boom and the period immediately prior to the peace process.  The story is quite complicated, yet the plot remains clear to follow, with a nice mix of threads and intrigue.  However, one does have to suspend one’s sense of belief for the plot to work given the coincidences of the two intersecting plots, Loy's acquaintance with a number of characters,  and at a number of points I kept wondering why Loy was still alive?  Nevertheless, the story is an entertaining and enjoyable addition to the Ed Loy series.

Crime Pays: Free all-day online TV workshop with Bruen, Casey, Hughes and O'Connor

On October 30th a WritersWebTV will broadcast an online workshop on all aspects of crime fiction with best-selling crime authors Ken Bruen, Jane Casey, Declan Hughes and Niamh O’Connor.  The workshop will run from 10am to 4pm and will be streamed live from a multi-camera broadcast studio in Dublin.  Viewers will be able to interact with those in studio to help them develop their skills.

Multi-award-winning Ken Bruen - the author of the Jack Taylor series which has become a TV hit starring Iain Glen – will talk through writing great hook-lines and how to develop characters across a series. Jane Casey, author of the Maeve Kerrigan series of crime novels will guide participants through the basics of narrative and plot. Declan Hughes - author of the Ed Loy PI series - rigorously plans his writing and he’ll be giving his insights on how to plan for your novel while being open to new sources of inspiration. Niamh O’Connor, one of Ireland’s leading crime journalists, will lead us through the research process and crack the code of juggling family, writing and a day-job.

WritersWebTV has developed a world-first innovation in online education for writers by providing livestreamed interactive workshops to a global audience, featuring Irish and international best-selling writers and industry professionals.  The authors will interact with an in-studio audience of aspiring writers, who present their work for critique. Online viewers can communicate with those in the studio using Twitter, Facebook or email. They can ask a question, take part in a workshop exercise, comment online and benefit from on-screen feedback from the authors in-studio.

Led by experienced workshop facilitator Vanessa O’Loughlin, founder of writing.ie, the panel will consider the key elements of fiction writing and furnish viewers with tips, advice and actionable insights to help them improve their writing and get it on the path to publication.

Sounds like it will be an interesting set of sessions and worth tuning in for.  More info can be found on the WritersWebTv site.