Sports publisher Hayes pens own thriller

Sports biography publisher Liam Hayes has branched out with his first thriller, You Haven't Got All the Time in the World... Heidi Wells (2018).

What if you were told the date of your own death and how you will die? When young London chef Heidi Wells learns the date on which either she or twin sister Gracie will die, depending on who is the oldest, she decides not to tell Gracie but to find out who was born first.

The book is published under the pen name William Hayes through his Umbrella Publishing company.

'Taken Down' police drama starts on RTÉ

RTÉ's latest police procedural Taken Down began this week. The six-part series is set in Dublin and involves asylum seekers and a murky underworld of trafficking and prostitution.

New academic study of Irish crime fiction

Irish Crime Fiction (2018) by Brian Cliff includes chapters on Northern Irish crime fiction, novels set in the Republic, women protagonists, and transnational themes. A preview is available on Palgrave Macmillan's website, where it currently costs €96.29 in hardback or €74.96 for the ebook.

The author is Assistant Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin, and co-organised the Irish Crime Fiction festival in 2013.  His other recent publications include essays on John Connolly and Tana French.

New Karen Perry novel already set for TV

Karen Perry’s latest thriller, Your Closest Friend (2018), has been optioned for UK television. It takes place in London on the night of a terror attack:

'Love/Hate' team shoot new drama in Dublin

The team behind RTÉ's Love/Hate series have started filming Taken Down, a new Irish crime drama set in Dublin.

Spiral Pictures' Stuart Carolan, Love/Hate director David Caffrey and executive producer Suzanne McAuley have been  joined by crime fiction writer Jo Spain.

The cast includes Lynn Rafferty (above) who played Nadine in Love/Hate, as well as Brian Gleeson, Orla Fitzgerald and Barry Ward. Rafferty plays a detective  investigating the death of a young Nigerian migrant close to a Direct Provision centre.

'West Cork' podcast about Toscan du Plantier murder

"West Cork" is a new 13-part podcast series about one of Ireland's longest-standing murder investigations, the unsolved murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier near her holiday home in County Cork in 1996.

'Murder One' crime festival for Dublin

Murder One is a new international crime writing festival at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin on 2-4 November 2018. Run in association with Dublin Libraries and UNESCO City of Literature, it is the brainchild of  Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin and Bert Wright.

• Official Website: Murderone.ie

Sherlock Holmes: the Irish connections

A documentary on Irish radio station Newstalk investigates the numerous Irish connections of Sherlock Holmes - and asks why the detective is as popular as ever.

Julie Parsons wins Irish Crime Novel of Year

Julie Parsons has won the Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year award at this year's Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Her thriller The Therapy House is her first novel in nine years.

Voting begins for Irish crime book of the year

Voting is under way in the 12th annual Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

BBC green light for Tana French drama series

The BBC has given the green light for an eight-part adaptation of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series of novels. Deadline reports that filming will begin in Dublin and Belfast next year. Euston Films and Veritas Entertainment Group optioned the rights in 2015 and have joined up with Irish production company Element Pictures.

Haughey stars in Peter Cunningham thriller

Peter Cunningham's latest novel Acts of Allegiance (2017) is an espionage thriller set at the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and includes characters based on real people such as politician Charlie Haughey.

Tom Vaughn-Lawlor in 'Maze' drama

'Lady Killers' at Bray Literary Festival

Crime fiction authors Arlene Hunt, Louise Phillips and Sam Blake will take part in the "Lady Killers" panel discussion at the Bray Literary Festival this Sunday, 24 September 2017. The event takes place in the Town Hall at 2 pm.

New Belfast thriller by John Steele

John Steele's debut novel Ravenhill is a thriller set in his home town of Belfast. It is the first book in a series featuring Jackie Shaw, and has been described by Tony Parsons as "a taut, intelligent thriller that ranks as the best Belfast thriller since Harry's Game by Gerald Seymour".

Irish authors at 'Bloody Scotland' festival

Irish author Liz Nugent explores Celtic and criminal connections with Scottish writer Denise Mina this Sunday as part of the Bloody Scotland festival. It takes place in Stirling from 8-10 September.

Domestic noir debut by OfficeMum blogger

Andrea Mara is a freelance writer and award-winning blogger (OfficeMum.ie) who lives with her family in Dun Laoghaire.

Published by Poolbeg, her debut novel The Other Side of the Wall was partly inspired by the constant night-time waking of her youngest child - though Andrea is quick to point out that unlike her main character she never saw a body in the neighbours' garden!

Crime fiction panel at Boyle Arts Festival

Declan Burke, Louise Phillips, Arlene Hunt and Andrea Carter will take part in a crime writing panel at the Boyle Arts Festival on 22 July, in the Family Resource Centre at 5 pm.

'Dalkey Noir': rise of female thriller writers

Authors Jane Casey, Liz Nugent and Sinead Crowley will talk about the rise of the female thriller writers who dominate the bestseller lists in "Dalkey Noir", in the Masonic Lodge in Dalkey on Saturday 17 June. The morning event is part of this year's Dalkey Book Festival.

Video: Chris O'Dowd in latest 'Get Shorty'

Chris O'Dowd and Ray Romano are set to star in the 10-episode reimagining of Elmore Leonard's thriller comedy novel Get Shorty, and Epix has just released the official trailer.