Dublin Historia Live! When History Meets Mystery

Our programme of Historia Live Dublin events continues this summer with ‘When History Meets Mystery’ featuring bestselling authors, Sinead Crowley, Amanda Geard and Carmel Harrington.

The past lends itself perfectly to novels that revolve around secrets or sinister deeds, and this engaging and entertaining discussion will look at novels with dual or multiple timelines and narrators, the skill of creating suspense on the page, the difficulties of weaving a historical mystery across time, and the creative challenges of setting a story in the past.

Suitable for readers and writers, the event will be held at Pearse Street Library on Wednesday 1st May from 6.30-8pm and will be followed by an open Q&A session. Event attendees will have the opportunity to meet the authors during a book signing, with books available to purchase on the night. Refreshments will also be provided.

Historia Live Dublin events are run in association with the Historical Writers' Association (HWA) and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

About the authors

Sinéad Crowley is the Irish Times best-selling author of the DS Claire Boyle crime series as well as the dual timeline mystery, The Belladonna Maze. Her latest historical mystery, A Maid on Fifth Avenue will be published in September 2024. A former television journalist with Irish national broadcaster RTE, she now works in media development.

Amanda Geard writes historical mysteries. Her debut, The Midnight House, centres around the disappearance of a young woman in County Kerry in 1940, and the disgraced journalist who, eight decades later, sets out to find her. It was inspired by Amanda’s renovation of a 200-year-old house on the shores of the wild Atlantic, and was a Richard & Judy pick, selling more than 150,000 copies. Her second novel, The Moon Gate, grew out of a childhood spent reading Banjo Paterson and exploring Tasmania’s rugged west coast. It is the twisty tale of a tumbledown house with a century of secrets, following three generations of women from County Kerry to Tasmania, and back again. She has been a creative writing tutor at the University of Galway, and loves discussing the experience of writing stories that sweep across time and place. She lives in County Kerry with her family.

Carmel Harrington is an internationally bestselling author from Wexford, where she lives with her husband, children, and rescue dog, George Bailey. Her debut was a multi-award-winning novel, and several books have been shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. She is a regular on Irish TV screens and radio, and has been a guest speaker at Literary events in Ireland, UK and USA. She was also Chair of Wexford Literary Festival for three years. A storyteller with heart & emotion, Carmel's trademark is to write domestic dramas about the dark and light sides of life, with relatable characters and twisting plots. Her novels, including The Girl From Donegal, A Mother’s Heart and The Moon Over Kilmore Quay have been Irish Times, Sunday Times, USA Today and Amazon bestsellers. Her latest novel The Lighthouse Secret will be published in March 2024.

You event host, Hazel Gaynor, is an award-winning New York Times, USA Today, and Irish Times bestselling author known for her deeply moving historical novels which explore the defining events of the 20th century. Her debut, The Girl Who Came Home, won the 2015 RNA Historical Novel award, and her work has since been shortlisted for the 2019 HWA Gold Crown and for the Irish Book Awards in 2017 and 2020. Her latest novel, The Last Lifeboat, was included as a Times historical novel of the month pick in June 2023, was shortlisted for the 2023 Irish Book Awards, and received the 2024 Audie Award for Best Fiction Narrator. Hazel’s work is translated into twenty languages and is published in twenty-seven territories to date. She lives in County Kildare, Ireland, with her family.

Host or Publisher Historia - The HWA